Crocheted Boat Neck Conundrum

I did a stupid thing. My daughter-in-law wanted me to crochet a vest for her. Just something simple. So I grabbed my hook and some lovely cotton yarn and crocheted two identical panels which I sewed together. I thought it would make a nice boat neck sort of the thing, which it seemed to do — till she tried it on. I forgot about shaping around the neck.
Truthfully, in all my 60+ years of crocheting, I have never crocheted a garment. Haven’t even thought about it. I knit garments. I crochet lacy shawls and sometimes doilies.
So here’s my query. Now that the thing is sewn together and the ends securely and permanently hidden, what can I do to increase the height of the back neck just a little?
It’s mainly double crochet (US terms) with a row of half double and then a row of single crochet edging. It looks good, but if she wears it so the panels are the same length front and back, it is uncomfortable around her throat. Anything short of taking it apart and redoing the neck is appreciated. Thanks.

Let’s ask the crochet gurus:
@OffJumpsJack @GrumpyGramma @ColoCro @ZKOhio

It’s not the thing I want to write here but I think you’ve created a learning experience. The only thing I can think to do is take out the shoulder seams to add the shaping. If someone else has another solution I look forward to seeing it.

eta I’d have the same take on this if it were knit. It’s the shaping of the pieces before assembly. At least it’s not fabric that’s been sewn which is less forgiving.

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Solution that GG gives is the only one I can think off too.

Unfortunately, I also think you have to undo the shoulders. But if you just add rows to the back, the back armhole will droop. You need to keep the length the same at the shoulder point, and add more at center back and where the neck/shoulder meet.

Or, you could create wedges on each shoulder and have more of a square neck. Like a triangle gusset? This is knitted, and not quite the right shape, but maybe gives you the idea? But in this case, it should go all the way out to the shoulder point.
image

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Or like this (also not crocheted…), with the idea that if you can’t hide it, feature it!
image

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Thanks, all of you. It’s also the only solution I can think of, but I hoped others with experience crocheting garments would have another take on it. Sigh. If I’d been knitting, I’d have done the shaping without even thinking about it — except for the math, of course. Live and learn! She really wants to wear the thing on her vacation trip to Taiwan, which is in a couple of weeks. The hardest bit is going to be taking out the shoulder seams. When I hide a thread end, it is meant to stay hidden forever! This yarn, lovely as it is, is black! And now I’m just complaining, so I’ll quit and go get busy. Thanks again.

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Truly a labor of love.

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I got the shoulder seams apart. It only took about 4 hours. I usually sew in ends in three directions. And because this is smooth cotton yarn, I split the ends and tied a tiny knot at the end of each thread. So it would normally take a while to unpick all of that. Additionally, this is black yarn, and my 73-year-old eyes don’t see as well as they once did. But I’m nothing if not tenacious (some say stubborn). Another hour and half and I now have three additional rows crocheted on the shoulders, front and back. So it isn’t a boat neck any more, but my DIL likes it even better. I mistyped yesterday. It isn’t sewn together. I used the slip stitch seam technique, which I really like. Once I had picked out the hidden ends, getting the seam apart was a cinch.
My thanks to all of you for your responses. Although they were all the very response I feared getting, I know it was the right thing to do. Well, I guess I already knew it, but I really hoped there would be some magical solution.
Next time I want to crochet a garment, I’ll look high and low till I find a pattern! But this girl of mine knew exactly what she wanted, and I couldn’t find a pattern that met her specifications anywhere. So I thought, “It’s crochet. It’s a very plain vest. It can’t be that difficult!” If I’d just remembered the neck shaping, it wouldn’t have been.
I’m waiting for daylight to seam the shoulders. If I remember, I’ll get a photo before she takes off for Taiwan.

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The no pattern thing is frustrating. My daughter has requested a hexigon cardigan with skulls. She saw one online - yes it’s a real crochet garment, not AI - and I’m trying to work out what she actually wants and how to pull it together. It doesn’t help that I can’t crochet right now because I hurt my shoulder. I’ve got to make some skull granny squares for her to see and choose from and make suggestions about. And that doesn’t address colors. I think if I ever figure out the skull squares and what colors to use the rest of doing the cardi shouldn’t be very hard. We must love our daughters very much.

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There are some lovely crocheted tops and sweaters by Lilla Bjorn Crochet. I think she even has a fairly basic vest pattern, though it’s not a boat neck. For your future reference:

Great to hear you managed to get the seams undone and the top reshaped! It’s worth all the extra effort and I’m sure it will be well loved and well worn!

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I’m also looking at hexigon cardigon patterns, GG. There are quite a few different takes on the basic design. So far I’ve only done some preliminary swatches, just to see how it works up. I’m quite taken with it. But I never thought of actually making an auxiliary design like skulls in it. I think I’d require a pattern before attempting such a thing. I hope you find something acceptable to your daughter.
My next crocheted garment, (I think I’m hooked!) will be a granny square cardi. Also for my DIL. It will be a Christmas gift. Granny squares go really fast, and she’s quite small. But first I need to finish knitting my grandson’s Christmas jumper — not a traditional ugly Christmas jumper, but a nice shaded one he can wear anywhere, any time. Oh, and I have a pair of socks to do as well. I think I’ll manage to keep busy for a few days!

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Thank you ColoCro. The problem wasn’t in finding patterns. They’re everywhere. I just couldn’t find anything DIL would be happy with. She has very specific, and often inflexible ideas about what she can and can’t wear. And she wears mainly black. Don’t get me wrong. She’s a lovely girl, and we all love her much. She’s just been on her own for most of her life, and isn’t used to making allowances for what others think. She gets an idea in her head, and it takes a lot of talking to get her to see things differently. But I refuse to be an interfering MIL, so I just go with the flow as much as possible.

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Yes, Creations. It’s most certainly worth all the effort. And I’ve learned my lesson about shaping. I hope.

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That’s cool. I found free squares with similar skulls. I have the main hexagons done in purple and now need to get the rest of the pieces figured out.