THE grand experiment - the collar

The book approached the collar in a very detailed way. The collar, to me, it THE detail that makes or breaks a shirt. I appreciate the steps, the work, the precision, the fine adjustments, the time and procedures that produce a GRAND collar.

The upper and lower collar, the lower has the iron on woven interfacing.

The under collar is trimmed on each end by one eighth of an inch to accommodate the curve.

I have stitched the collar at the half way point and will stitch each side from the center with the LONGER piece on the bottom and the walking foot disengaged. Note that eighth inch peeking out from the upper collar.

This should follow the next picture, but since this is to help ME remember, I can deal with that. So . . BELOW is the collar that has been sewn. NOTE the puckering, which will disappear when the collar is curved! ABOVE is a little technique that I doubted when I saw it, a system done by a professional. It works, enough said! That detail alone was worth the price of that book.

I decided to sew that little corner down for my own security. Didn't want it popping up when I turned the collar. Next time I will pull it a bit to encourage that downward pull. Two tools I used, a corner turner that I had found in the back of a drawer when I was "redoing" the sewing room, and a little hammer that was my grandmother's that I use to whack things with, like the corners of collars. Better than pressing with an iron, believe it or not, or at least more fun. Still miss my mamaw and am so glad to have known her.


Using the Quilting Foot to get the precise quarter inch top stitch that the professionals use.

Using a pin to make sure I turn at precisely a quarter inch from the second side.

This is a step I had never heard of. Laying the collar down and folding it over and pressing it. This makes SO MUCH sense, not sure why I never thought of it. Note the bottom collar peeking out.

After pressing.

Then it is sewn along the crease with the needle in the left hand position.

And trimmed.

And pressed on the HAM! SUCCESS! A beautiful collar!