How to get the perfect collar!
Use these tips and tricks on Gemma, Lena and Alex!
Creating Neat Corners
Stitch the front to the facing (right side to right side) then trim off the corners around the stitched line. You will also need to trim into the middle corner. This needs to go right up to the stitching to allow it to be turned through neatly.
Turn this through and press to create neat corners!
Tip: Adding interfacing to the facing will give your collar neater, sharper points however for a softer feel collar you can always leave the interfacing out like this one.
Attaching The Back
Once the facing is attached, the collar pieces need to be attached to the back neck.
Start by stitching them together at the centre back down the front piece and the facing. Press this seam.
Next is the fiddly bit! Carefully trim into the seam allowance at each corner of the collar. Cut to where you have stitched the shoulder seam together
Tip: Shoulder seam should finish 1cm from the edge of the fabric. As this doesn't follow the external line of the garment, it may feel like you have stitched further than you expect to. It is important that you sew to 1cm before the end of the fabric, not just to the end of the cut section. See image.
This separates the seam at the back of the collar. Turn this under by 1cm.
From the back of the shirt, carefully pin the turned under collar to the outer.
Tip: If you find the seam at the centre back of the collar is sitting bulky, this can be trimmed down.
Back on the inside of the garment, do the same for the collar facing.
Tip: Take your time pinning these into place, it is important that the seams are level on both the inside and the outside. It can help to pin together the opposite edge of the collar to, to ensure that it sits correctly. You could also tack this into place.
Once this is placed, secure with a row of topstitching and press.
Remove pins, turn through and secure the collar facing with a stitch line attaching it to the shoulder seam.
The rest of the collar facing can be hand sewn into place with a slip stitch to secure.
