If you’re an ATS dancer or a belly dancer that likes to have more coverage than just a bra top, choli tops are a great costuming option! It’s great as a lesson wear as well.
In this tutorial, I’ll share with you how to make this cute choli top featuring the cold shoulder look. Let’s get started!
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To make this ATS choli top, you need:
1m (1yd) stretch fabric – I’m using 110cm (43in) wide lightweight stretch velvet here, but you can use jersey knit, lace…. Any lightweight fabric with good stretch.
Fitted shirt – this will be used as a pattern.
4 Safety pins
Matching color thread
Useful tools: rotary cutter and wonder clips (see resources page for my recommendations!)
How to Make a DIY ATS Choli Top
First, put on your pattern shirt, and try not to stretch it down. And first mark where the underbust line is using a safety pin. And mark how deep the neck line should be.
And mark an approximate height for the top of the sleeve, since there’s a cold shoulder opening here. And your preferred length for the sleeves.
Once you mark these 4 points, take off your shirt and turn it inside out.
Next, take your fabric, and if you’re using velvet like I am here, first check the directional requirement. All you have to do is run you hand against the fabric and find the direction that feels the smoothest. This smoothest top-down direction is the direction in which we should cut our panels here.
With that in mind, fold your fabric right sides together and make sure the direction of stretch is perpendicular to the fold.
Fold your shirt in half so that you can see the front opening. Place it against the fold of the fabric and fold the sleeves so you can see the armhole curve well.
And trace your shirt on the fabric. For the neckline, simply mark the depth of the neckline you marked on the fold of the fabric, and just trace the shoulder seam, armhole, and side seam all the way to the underbust line.
Draw a horizontal line at the underbust line, and connect the point on the fold of the fabric and the beginning of the shoulder seam.
And add a 1 cm (3/8in) seam allowance all around except at the fold, and cut along the outline. This is the front panel.
Next, fold the fabric again the same way so the direction of stretch is perpendicular to the fold, and place the front side of the shirt again. And trace it the same way all the way to the underbust line. Skip the neck line for now.
Draw a horizontal line at the underbust line, and draw a vertical line from the top of the shoulder seam to the underbust line. Then add a 1 cm (3/8in) seam allowance all around and cut along the outline. These are the back panels.
Next, fold the fabric the same way again, and align the fold of the sleeve to the fold of the fabric. So the seam of your shirt is on the other side. And for velvet, the direction of the fabric is this way.
And trace the sleeve. The armhole part is a bit tricky, but just trace it as best as you can. Trace the sleeve up to your desired length. And mark the 2 points indicated by the safety pins on the fold.
Then draw lines that are perpendicular to the fold from these points. And add a 1cm (3/8in) seam allowance all around except for the fold.
Cut along the outer line, and repeat this to make 2 sleeve panels.
From the leftover fabric, make 2 long strips that are 6cm (2 3/8in) wide. Use the entire width of the fabric for the length. If your fabric is 100cm (40in) wide or so, make 3 strips.
Alright, now you have all the pieces ready. Let’s start sewing!
Set your sewing machine to do a zigzag stitch so the finished choli will be nice and stretchy. Also, use a stretch needle so you’ll have an easier time sewing. And I’ll be using a 1cm (3/8in) seam allowance.
First, place your front and back panels right sides together and align the shoulder seams. Do a zigzag stitch there.
And take your sleeve pieces, and fold 1cm (3/8in) from the straight edges towards the wrong side at the top of the panels. Do a zigzag stitch. And try to catch the raw edge as you sew so the finished seam will look nice and clean.
Next, open up the front and back panels, and align a sleeve panel right sides together. The finished edge of the sleeve is facing outward. Match up the corners and the rest as best as you can. Try not to stretch the curved sections. Just match them up here. Then do a zigzag stitch, and repeat for the other sleeve.
Fold everything right sides together, and sew from the end of the sleeve to the side seam. Do this for both sides.
At the neckline, fold 1cm (3/8in) from the edges towards the wrong side. At the bottom of the v neck, make a snip that is a little less than 1cm (3/8in), so the fabric lays flat. And fold in the same way all the way to the bottom of the back panels.
Similarly, fold the raw edges of the armholes and ends of sleeves towards the wrong side. Do a zigzag stitch along all these places while catching the raw edges.
Take one of the long strips. If you have 3 strips, first sew the 2 together so you have 1 very long strip.
Place it along the bottom end of the top right sides together, and again, if you’re using velvet, check the direction. The top edge of the strip should be matched up with the bottom end of the top. And I lined up the seam of the strip at one of the side seams so it’s not going to end up right in the front center. Match up the rest and do a zigzag stitch.
Now the length of my strip is uneven at ends, so I trimmed down the longer side to match the shorter side.
Then place everything right side down, and fold the strip 1cm (3/8in) from the edge, and fold again so the fold just covers the stitches from earlier. Do this for the entire width of the top.
For the rest of the strip, first fold the ends towards the wrong side. Then fold 1cm (3/8in) from the top and bottom edges and match up the folds. Keep folding for the rest of the strip.
Then do a top stitch all the way along the folds. I used a narrower zigzag stitch for this top stitch so the stitches don’t look as prominent.
Finally, take the last strip, cut it in half, and fold each one in half right sides together. Stitch along the long edge.
Turn it inside out, and fold in one end of the strap 1cm (3/8in) from the edge towards the wrong side and stitch along the fold, so you’ve got a nice, clean end.
Do this for both straps, and place the raw ends of the straps about 3cm (1 1/4in) from the shoulder seams on the wrong side of the back panels. Stitch them in place.
And your ATS choli top is complete! It’s so simple and pretty easy to make. The cold shoulder sleeves are cute and sassy, and you can adjust the fit with the ties at the back. Since it’s so simple, you can add your own flare to it!
You can use ribbon for the top 2 straps, make sleeve length long or short, scrunch the sleeves or center of the top…. Be creative! Since we used lightweight stretch fabric, it’s great for layering tops as well.
Oh, and as I was working on this, I realized a piece of scrap velvet is great for cleaning those fluffy lints that come out from cutting velvet fabric. So give it a try!
Hope you liked this choli top tutorial, and if you did, please share this tutorial with your dance sisters!
I have a whole bunch of ATS style tutorials now like this super popular 25-yard skirt….
Or pantaloons….
Or the bra top I was wearing on top of the choli top in the video 🙂
Give them a try! 🙂
And if you’re new to costume making but curious to give it a try, I have a free course for you! It’s called Belly Dance Costume Making 101 and you’ll get a good introduction to tools you need and easy projects to try! Sign up below and let’s start creating!
Click here to sign up for the free course, Belly Dance Costume Making 101!
Thanks for reading, and keep sparkling!
P.S. Pin this image on your DIY costume tops board! 😉
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