Est. 2010
How to Update a Too-Big Collar
I seem to be on a collared dress kick lately, don’t I?
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Whether I’m removing the collar from a dress, or refashioning a collared dress into a top, or taking in a dress from the front to hide a really juvenile-looking collar, I can’t seem to stay away from them!
This collar, however, was a doozy.
Needless to say, I’m not a fan.
But I don’t hate everything about this dress, or even that collar. Celadon green is one of my favorite colors, and that decorative stitching on the collar is actually quite pretty.
I can work with it.
Priority #1 was to address that too-big collar.
I grabbed my seam ripper and got to work unpicking it from the neckline.
Other items were removed as well.
I fiddled around with the original collar, figuring out how much I wanted to keep for my new dress.
Once I found a position I liked for my collar, I snipped off two matching pieces.
Then, I pinned them between the two layers of fabric from the neckline.
I’m basically just returning the collar to its original location, but in a different form.
If you’re playing along at home, make sure to keep in mind the collar is going to be folded over at the end, so the wrong side is going to be facing out.
I stitched the neckline back down and my new collar was complete!
However, my work was far from done!
The sleeves were removed, but I really wanted to make the shoulders narrower.
My new French Curve came to the rescue!
I’ve never played around with one of these before, but I’ve got to say I’m already a fan! As the name suggests, it’s used to connect points to create a true curve, which is incredibly helpful for pattern drafting (which I don’t do) or alterations (more my speed).
Be on lookout for a french curve how to post in the near future!
After my new armholes were chalked out, I cut them out.
I folded the raw edges under, then pinned them.
Then, I stitched them down.
I went a little wild with my french curve and made the armholes slightly too big. Luckily, this wasn’t an issue as I needed to take in the sides.
I put my dress on my dress form and pinned the sides, measuring to make sure they were even.
Then, I ran each side through my machine!
After I cut off the excess fabric and tried my new dress on, I still wasn’t quite happy with the fit. The armholes were sort of gapey, and the top sat a little too low.
So, I took the top of the dress in from the shoulders!
First, I pinned each shoulder where I’d be stitching.
Then, I carefully and slowwwwwly stitched them down. Since the fabric was super thick here, I didn’t want to break a needle!
I grabbed those side tie thingies from earlier and stitched them together to make (what else?) a sash!
And just like that, my new dress was reborn!
I styled my new dress with my favorite pink TOMS and a coordinating glass of Rosé!
So there you go! Hopefully, this post will encourage you to see those dowdy gigantic collars in a new way!
Cheers!
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