Do you have any advice for making the head/shoulder/neck hole to a (slightly) off the shoulder top smaller?
There's a few options for that! Let's take a look at some ideas you could try.
How to make necklines smaller
If your top happens to have a boatneck neckline, you're in luck. Boatneck tops usually don't have a defined neckline: they're two straight edges sewn together to form a neck hole.
Either use a ladder stitch to close up the neckline, or add in wedges cut from a fabric of a similar weight and fibre if you want to customise the fit beyond just making the neck hole smaller.
(Image source) [ID: a Sinclair sewing pattern for a knit boatneck top called "Adele". On the left is a top-down photo of a woman modelling a boatneck top with white and navy stripes and fabric wedges at the shoulders. On the right is a diagram of the corresponding sewing pattern.]
Darts can also help to make a neckline fit better. They're little wedge-shaped pleats that are used to adjust the fit of a garment.
Turn your top inside-out and put it on, then pin small pleats at your neckline until it fits (or ask someone to do this for you). Take your top off again, being careful not to hurt yourself on the pins, then sew down the pleats.
You can either do this in the front or the back of your neckline, depending on your tastes and the construction of the garment you're trying to alter.
(Image source) [ID: diagram of the placement of four darts at the rounded neckline of a top. Text: Sewing For A Living. Make darts or small pleats with different depth, shape and length in order to get the best result.]
Taking in the shoulders of your top is also an option if darts aren't your thing. Put on your shirt inside out, pin new shoulder seams, take it off again, then sew your new seam.
(Image source) [ID: a v-neck wrap top with a green and white geometrical print turned inside out. Dotted lines and arrows show where to sew new hems to take in the shoulders and sleeves of the top.]
If you've got more advanced sewing skills, you could try to remove the current neckline and resew it.
If it's a double fold hem, undo the hem stitching and check if the extra fabric in the hem is enough to make your top smaller without having to add more fabric. If so, use that extra fabric to make a new hem that fits you better.
If you've got a bound neckline (like on t-shirts), you could try to remove the current binding and add a wider one, made from a similar fabric.
(Image source) [ID: close-up of a round bound neckline of a t-shirt with thin black and white stripes.]
If your neckline isn't bound but has a simple finish, an easy way to make it smaller is to gather the fabric for a pleated look. You could do this by machine or by hand.
If you want to take it a step further, you can also use a decorative technique to gather fabric by hand.
(Image source) [ID: five photo's demonstrating five different techniques to gather fabric by hand in a decorative way, shown with black thread on a white piece of fabric.]
A more decorative option is to add lacing at the neckline, if the neck's shaping allows for it: add grommets, eyelets, or loops at the neckline and thread a cord through them to adjust the fit. You could also tighten up the neck hole by modifying your neckline into a drawstring neckline.
Both options will allow you to adjust the fit of the neckline on the fly.
Another option that gives you some more flexibility is to add elastic to your neckline. This will result in a gathered look that stretches along with your body.
(Image source) [ID: a piece of white elastic sewn onto a scrap of pink fabric with a zig-zag stitch using blue thread. The elastic has caused the fabric to gather.]
If you're handy with knitting needles or a crochet hook, you could also knit/crochet a new neckline.
This makes for an easy alteration if your top's made of a knit material. Just pick up stitches around your neckline and knit/crochet a new one like you would for any other project.
If your top's made of a different type of fabric, you'll have to do an extra step before you can start picking up stitches. There are different methods to do this, but the easiest one is to sew a blanket stitch around your fabric edge and then use this blanket stitch edge to pick up stitches. You'll need an appropriate needle for this: one that has an eye large enough to fit your yarn and a point sharp enough to pierce your fabric.
(Image source) [ID: close-up on the neckline of a gray top with a round neck. A crocheted edge in orange yarn has been added to the top by first sewing a blanket stitch along the neckline, then picking up stitches from the blanket stitching.]
If you like the off-shoulder look, you could add straps to give your top a layered look while also keeping it from slipping off your shoulders. Your top'll look like you're wearing a bra or a tank top underneath.
Check out the brand Liz Lisa if you're looking for inspiration. They use this type of strapped off-shoulder design a lot.
(Image source) [ID: a pink knit off-shoulder sweater with puffed sleeves, cables, two pink bows, and lace. Two knitted straps sit at the shoulders to keep the sweater from slipping.]
There's a lot of options to make a neck hole smaller! Which one to choose comes down to your personal preference and the amount of effort you want to put into your alteration.
This post is not exhaustive, but gives a fair idea of where to start.
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