My mom started sewing before I was born. She continued to sew throughout much of my childhood. Watching her sew was most likely the impetus for my interest and desire to learn about sewing when I had my own child. She ended up having four girls (enough work in-and -of-itself, let alone while sewing!) and put up her sewing machine for about a decade.
This was me in a garment sewed by my mother….anyone else see a little Robby in a dress?
When I began sewing for my own little girl, my mom helped me whip up a bonnet, Bishop, Jamie, and learn the basics. Her re-entry into sewing has been incredibly eye-opening for me, as we’ve both improved our skills through dramatically different ways of learning and execution. What was clear to me as a high school teacher is now clear to me as a sewist. People learn and perform in different ways. Sewing is no exception. When I taught Biology, it was imperative to cover and test the same concept in multiple ways, in order to reach every learning style. The same applies in sewing.
Sewing is interesting because some people complete steps in different orders, prefer different stitch lengths, prefer different feet, etc. Sewing is as much an individual art as it is a group art. If you complete certain steps in a certain way and it works for you…it can’t be wrong.
It is my hope, in these blog posts to present information to you in a modality (fancy word I’m pretty sure one of my college professors made up) that works for you. If it doesn’t, find someone who speaks your language! Message me if you need help finding a teacher that makes things clear for you; I know a few good ones :).
Anyway; several weeks ago, my mom and I were sewing together in my kitchen. She watched the way I did my collar and was completely intrigued about the steps I was taking, she had never done it my way. She tried it and was pleasantly surprised. She suggested I do a blog post on it for others to try too. So here it is:
*In these pictures I am making two sets of collar pieces. One for a size 12 month shirt and one for a size 4 shirt.
1. Iron piping into a spiral shape using high heat and steam. 
2. This helps piping curve around collar pieces more easily. 
3. Iron collar pieces to baby interfacing. 
4. Sew piping to collar, use zipper foot and follow along piping stitch line. 
5. Do not cut collar pieces apart. Leaving the collar attached to the interfacing will help with maneuverability. 
6. Pull cording out of each end of the collar. Cut 3/8 inch of cording off. This helps reduce bulk. 
7. Pin collar lining to collar pieces. 
8. Flip interfacing over. Using the zipper foot sew collar lining and collar pieces together along piping line. 
9. At this point the collar is assembled but stitches can usually still be seen. 
10. Flip collar piece back over and sew just inside of previous stitch line. 
11. Trim fabric to just outside of the stitch line. Approximately 1/8 in away from seam. Its been sewn twice so its okay to get very close. 
12. Iron flat. Push and pull piping as needed to completely flatten out collar. 
13.Set machine to a zig zag stitch, reduce length to zero and increase width to approximately 7 mm. 
14.Place collar pieces directly next to one another. Make sure fronts are even, any pattern lines up, and there is no overlap. Bar tack the collar pieces together. 
As I mentioned above, there are quite a few ways to make a collar, this is just mine. I’ve created it by taking the advice of many sewers and combining into a technique that works best for me. If it works for you, let me know by tagging me in any pics you take. Seeing other people use my techniques give me immense joy. If you like this fabric you can find it at Farmhouse Fabrics by clicking the link.
Also-please don’t judge how filthy my cutting and ironing board are…let’s get real, when I have time to sew, I’m sewing. Not cleaning my cutting board…or painting my fingernails LOL.
9 Comments
Janie
Boy, this was a great post! Where do i get this baby interfacing?
ardyrd01@gmail.com
I linked it in one of the pictures where I mention it- just click on “baby interfacing”
Janie
Xo
Mary Leyden Johnson
This is a wonderful post. I love how you referred to your teaching. I am a visual learner, so this works for me. Thank you!
ardyrd01@gmail.com
Thank you!! It cracks me up how many parallels there are between teaching science and the rest of my life- be it being a mom or talking about sewing. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it
Brenda P Lowder
What a wealth of information you have in each segment. Thank you for sharing with the ones of us who never tire when it comes to learning to sew for children of all ages.
Sarah Purvis
Thank you for sharing this– so helpful! and I know sharing it takes time away from your sewing so that makes it even more of gift —
ardyrd01@gmail.com
You are so welcome!
Bev Dyrdek
Thank you so much for this post. I now can refer to it whenever I am doing a collar. My learning style is visual, and this post fits that bill. Love you babygirl <3.