Notched Collars
Barbara Weiland
With a few tricks "under your collar," you can stitch a professional-looking notched collar.
Page 4 - Finishing | Page 5 - Topstitching | Page 6 - Word Wise (definitions)
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Back to Basics Notched Collars Barbara Weiland With a few tricks "under your collar," you can stitch a professional-looking notched collar. Page 4 - Finishing | Page 5 - Topstitching | Page 6 - Word Wise (definitions) |
Follow the pattern directions to assemble the garment. After the shoulder seams are stitched and pressed open, begin the collar and facing assembly.
For the best results, apply a lightweight fusible interfacing to the facings and the upper collar. This professional trick adds a little extra weight and results in easier handling and pressing. It adds a cushion to hide seam allowances and makes topstitching much easier.
Stitch the front facings to the back neck facing at the shoulders, trim the seams to 1/4" and press open. Staystitch the facing neckline seam 1/2" from the edge.
With right sides together, pin the upper collar to the facing neckline, matching the centers and the large dots indicating the notched portion of the collar. Clip the facing neckline seam to the staystitching as needed. Stitch between the large dots, stitching in the direction of the arrows (4). Stitching toward the center back helps ensure that the collars won't slip out of place and result in different-sized lapels.
When backstitching at the beginning of each stitching, take care to stop at the dots. As an alternative to
backstitching, begin the stitching right at the dots and leave thread tails to tie off; overlap the stitching where it meets at the center back. Press the seam open over a pressing ham and trim the seam to 3/8".
Sew the undercollar to the garment neckline in the same manner (5). Trim the seam allowances to 1/4"
To be sure each side is symmetrical, fold the upper collar/facing unit in half with the collar ends even and check to see that the lapel edges are the same length. Repeat with the garment/under-collar unit. If they aren't equal, remove the stitching and adjust, then re-stitch.
With right sides together, pin the upper collar/facing unit to the undercollar/garment unit with the edges even (6).
To sew perfect notches that don't pucker, first stitch the undercollar to the upper collar. Before you begin, clip to the dot then turn the seam allowances out of the way- you must not catch them in any stitching. Begin at a large dot at the notch, and stitch from the notch to the center back of the collar. Repeat with the other half of the collar. If the collar is pointed rather than curved at the outer
corners, take two small stitches across the point (8).
Repeat to sew the facing to the garment, turning the seam allowances out of the way of the lapel. Stitch from the dot at the notch to the jacket lower edge, taking two small stitches across the corner of the lapel if pointed (9).
Don't try to begin the stitching exactly where the collar stitching ended. Beginning a thread or two from the stitching leaves a little "breathing space" for all the layers that will fill the corner when the facing is turned to the inside. There may be a tiny hole in the notch but it won't show unless someone is nose to nose with the finished jacket.
Before you trim the seams, compare the collar and lapel lengths and the length of the jacket fronts to make sure both sides of the garment are equal. Turn the collar and the lapel right side out to make sure there is no pucker at the inner corner where they meet. Remove and adjust the stitching if necessary.
Press all seams flat to set the stitches. Then position the seams over a point presser and/or contoured board such as the June Tailor Board, and press them open. Use a pressing ham to press the collar seam open. This pressing helps train the fabric and interfacing and promotes a better-looking roll line when the garment is turned right side out.
Barbara Weiland is a nationally known sewing, crafts and quilting author, editor and consultant. Her latest book is Secrets for Successful Sewing, published by Rodale Press Inc. She also is a contributing author to Serger Secrets from the same publisher.
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