Thank you to all of you who left sympathetic comments about my collar stand.
The interesting thing about this focus on white shirts only is that I am thinking a little deeper about the details rather than going on to the next thing like I usually do.
I have decided to do a collar band only shirt next and to try out Gigi's method . It seems to me that her system focuses on my area of difficulty and it would be interesting to see if that helps.
I am also considering the issue of interfacing, I used a sew-in woven, narrower seam allowances (I trimmed them down but obviously working with a narrower seam allowance to start with might make things easier to manipulate) and how much I need to topstitch.
I have had a good look at the wide presser foot on my Pfaff 7570 and the wide opening in it that is used to accommodate the 9 mm. zig zag. Of course the kind of control I need around that tiny curve at the front of the band is hard to achieve with this much open space in the throat plate, I suspect a straight stitch plate and a straight stitch foot, both of which would increase the proportion of metal holding down the fabric, would help. I should probably get one each of those. In the meantime I might try my grandmother's Featherweight which has a lovely straight stitch.
We're not resting until we get this collar issue dealt with, or at least I'm not.
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- Barbara
- I am a mother, a grandmother, and a teacher. But whatever happens in my life, I keep sewing. I have worked as a political communicator and now as a teacher in my formal life. I have also written extensively on sewing. I have been a frequent contributor and contributing editor of Threads magazine and the Australian magazine Dressmaking with Stitches. My book Sew.. the garment-making book of knowledge was published in May 2018 and is available for pre-order from Amazon
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4 comments:
I'm not letting the collar issue rest either.
Some time ago I took apart one of DH's shirts that he wanted to throw away. I ripped out the stitching from half of the collar and band and wrote meticulous notes about order of construction.
I dug out those notes over the weekend and constructed a collar and band using that method. It looks wonderful. The only thing is that it's not attached to my shirt. :-)
I'm still debating if I want to rip out two rows of stitching on my completed shirt in order to swap out the collar/band for this new set. Perhaps I'll tackle that over the upcoming holiday weekend.
Lisa do you want to share those instructions? Sounds very promising.
Yes, Lisa, tell us what you learned. I also de-constructed a RTW shirt in order to copy the construction method. I came to the conclusion that I must construct the collar and collar stand, and then press into the perfect shape. Then hand-baste to the shirt, then machine stitch.
Also, I use fusible interfacing and only on the pattern piece (which does not include seam allowances). That way I don't have the extra bulk of interfacing in the stitching line or the seam allowance.
Also, measure, check, measure, check again. I've sewn up another one and ready to install on my shirt. Maybe tonight. I am quite happy to have a very simple Thanksgiving holiday coming up. Every year I decorate less, clean less and enjoy things more.
:)
I will try to pull something together over the next few days. Like I said, though, I haven't attached the new collar and band to my shirt (because I need to rip first), so I don't consider this to be a successful experiment yet.
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