Adding A Stand Up Collar

When I went about designing a stand up collar for tops, I had to dig deep into my brain and books to get what I wanted. After I used several patterns to get the top and darts I wanted, I dug out this book.

On page 157, I found my collar

My collar isn’t quite as curved at this one and I did several other things; curve the piece at the top front edge, not put it on the fold so I made it longer, and lay it on the bias.

When I cut out the top, I serge the shoulder, side and back seams. I put in the invisible zipper and sew up the shoulder seams. Press the shoulder seams open and open your zipper full length. No zipper in my mini example.

I lay the collar pattern onto a knit interfacing on the bias and cut out 4 pieces. I iron them onto the collar pieces.

I interface the front and back facing, sew them together and serge the raw edges. I do not hem them; less bulk. (Mine not serged as this is an example)

After you interface the front and back facings, sew them together at the shoulder seams and serge the outside edge. If mine are off a bit, I serge them to look nice.

Pin the collars together and sew around the curved edge. DO NOT sew the back of the collar closed.

 

Trim the curved edge with pinking shears close to the stitch line. If you don’t have pinking sheers, cut out V’s and trim close to the stitch line. I cut the straight part of the collar with regular sheers.

     

Press the straight part of the seam open.

Turn to right side and roll so you have a sharp edge. Press.

You are now ready to pin the collar onto the top, finding out where the back seam on the collar will be.

Measure down 3 1/2 inches from the shoulder seam to the center front and make a mark. I usually use a pin. Do both sides and fold in half to make sure the pins match. Adjust.

Make sure your zipper is lying how it should on the garment; teeth out and seam folded back.

Pin the collar on starting at the mark and work to the zipper. I know it seems funny but this is the easiest way to do it, I found. There will be a part of the back of the collar beyond the back seam.

Turn the top over and measure how much the back of the collar is over. That will end up being your stitching line. Mine is 1”.

Unpin the collar back just beyond the shoulder seam. Open the collar and measure the distance and mark it. That will be your stitching line.

Fold the collar so it is right sides together and stitch on your line. Trim seam allowance and clip the corner on an angle.

Turn and press the back seam.

Pin collar onto the neckline starting at the back edge and work towards the front. Adjust to fit but do not move the front edge. It must remain at the 3 1/2” mark.

Repeat for other side.

(Thank you Elliott for being a dork and annoying me while doing this).

Lay the facing onto the neckline. I pin it at the shoulder seams and at the back notch. I pin that section into place first as it is the hardest.

Next I pin the front of the V into the right place and work from the center up to the shoulder seams.

   

Sew from back to front and up to the back. I put my needle down at the center front and pivot. Next is to check and seams for puckers, caught up bits, etc. (I am not perfect)

Pick them out and pin them to look nice and restitch. All must be pretty smooth.

Cut notches down to the stitching line without cutting the stitching. I put three in the back to the shoulder seam and then do three down the front ending at the collar and then do one more past the collar.

    

I cut the V almost to the stitching. I applied a drop of Fray Check (or Fray Block) and left it to dry.

I next trimmed the seam allowances with the one closest to the body trimmed the shortest, the collar trimmed a bit longer and the facing seam trimmed about half off.

With the seams at the neckline pulled towards the facing and facing side up, I stitch a row near the seam line. I pull the facing and the garment fabric slightly so they are taut as I sew.

Underneath the seams face outwards towards the facing not inwards towards the garment. This will allow the facing to roll slightly inwards and not show on the outside of the garment.

Down to the point, back stitch, cut thread and then up the other side.

And the underside.

I laid it onto the ironing board and smoothed it with my hands. Pretty good with just a hand smooth.

I pressed the V with the iron first using steam. I then worked my way up each side to the should seams and around the back. This is the first pressing done.

I then get my pressing ham out and flip the shirt over so the facing is showing. I lay it on, and voilà, there are wrinkles.

I press them out so the facing is smooth, first with my hands and then the iron using steam. I work my way down the front and do the same on the other side. I do match up the shoulder seams on the top and the facing when pressing. .

When done on the inside, I flip to the right side and press one last time using steam.

The side

And the back. I am not as worried about the back if the hair covers the collar. This one is pretty darn good.

To conclude, I use these little scissors when sewing. I love them. They cannot be bought from Husqvarna Viking. I was sad about that.

But I found these and was told they are made by Pfaff. I would recommend a pair when sewing. Not only do they cut thread close to the garment, they are perfect to snip stitches apart when unsewing.

I hope this tutorial helps you out when putting a stand up collar onto a top.