Attaching and sewing a flat collar is not a difficult thing to do. There are certain procedures to follow, and if you follow these steps with each collar you do, you’ll have perfect looking collars every time.
Before applying the collar, staystitch the neckline to prevent it from stretching, and sew all darts, seam lines, etc that intersect the neck seam (A). If the collar consists of two units, as shown above, align and join the two where their neck seam lines meet (sometimes the collars may overlap, depending on the style).
Match notches, pin and baste the collar to the garment (C) along the neck seam line. Make sure the point where the two collar units are joined is at the garment center. Place the neckline facing on top of the collar (D), with the right side of the facing toward the collar. Match the notches and pin or baste the facing to the collar and garment. The ends of the facing will extend past the garment as illustrated above. Machine stitch through all layers being careful to keep the collar/facing/garment in the proper position as has been pinned and basted.
Press the entire seam open, running the tip of the iron between the facing and collar seam allowances (E). Next press the facing to the inside of the garment (F). Tack the facing edge in place at the shoulder seam lines. Turn the facing ends under at the zipper (G), and slipstitch in place. The last item it to attach a hook and eye fastener at the top of the zipper to close the opening.
Next week we’ll cover the construction of a two piece rolled collar. These “how to” tutorials are an excerpt from our book “Basic Clothing Construction”. This book is a handy addition to have in your sewing room, so you can refer to the various sewing tips and tutorials at any time.