This top was made for a child size 10 years and the colourful stripes (her choice) are each made of 2 rows of treble crochet (that's double crochet to US readers). I used some acrylic DK yarn: a bit less than half a 100g ball of each of the 3 colours so it was also cheap to make.
Being acrylic, it's not a top she'll be wearing on hot summer days, but we live in Ireland so that's fine. I would have used cotton yarn for a real summery top, but being broke, I did with what I had in the house.
I didn't waste time looking for a pattern. My daughter was wearing a cute top at the time with a simple shape: a front and a back piece with short sleeves as extensions of the top's shape, so I used that top as a template.
My daughter being the one who chose the colours and told me she wanted the same shape as the top she was wearing a the time, she also requested that I do 2 rows of treble crochet per stripe (first she asked me what was quicker and that was the quickest stitch I could use in making a crochet top so I think she was just in a hurry to have it), and she demanded that I start with the pink stripe, then the white, then the yellow, I might as well say this top was designed by her (I'm just the maker).
I finished by adding a pink border made from 1 row of double crochet (Single crochet for our US friends) all around the neckline after sewing the top together). I was going to do the same for the sleeve edges, but it looked good enough without, and I was afraid this would make the sleeves too tight (not that my 9 year old has huge biceps, but I want her to have freedom of movement for those star jumps and cartwheels!)
With all the stripes, the yarn ends were a bit of a pain to sew in, but not a major issue.
And that's how you crochet a piece of clothing like a Boss!
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