Method of sewing Sailor collar

Sailor collar attached to V neck

Sailor collar is a flat collar which is copied from the uniform of the navy. Traditional sailor collar has got deep" V" neck line to which collar is attached.Collar at the back is rectangular in shape and falls flat down the back.

Sailor collar can be attached to different types of neck to get different styles of sailor collar.

Prepare front and back of the bodice draft with V neck of required depth. Mark Extensions at centre front of the bodice for button and button hole.Mark seam line at the shoulder line and fold them back and press( Figure 1 ).

Draft of front & back bodice

Place shoulder lines A-B of front and back side by side as shown in figure 2 and secure them with cello tape.

Shoulder lines attached

Construct the collar as explained below.

Place a tracing paper on the draft as shown in figure 3.Out line neckline, D-B-C and center line of the back C-E as shown by the dotted line.

Collar draft

Decide the depth of the back collar C-E according to your taste 
and mark point E on the center line of the back.Make sure that the collar is long enough so that it falls between the bottom of shoulder blades and at the center of the back.Collar width is also according   to taste and style.In some styles collar width will be more than the shoulder and in some other styles collar width will be half of the shoulder line.From the point E draw a line perpendicular to the line C-E.On this line mark point F such that E-F is the collar width.From the point F draw a perpendicular line to the line E-F. This line meets the shoulder line at the point G.Join points G and D.By changing collar width,neck shape and the shape of the line G-D we get different styles of sailor collar.

Cut the collar shape C-E-F-G-D-B-C from the tracing paper.This is half of the pattern piece of sailor collar.

Place this draft on folded fabric such that C-E falls on the fold.Cut Two collar pieces leaving ½” seam along  side E-F and along the line F-G-D ( Figure 5).

   Facing

On the collar draft draw a curved line X-Y parallel to and  1½” away from the neck curve C-B-D.
Cut along the curved line X-Y.( Figure 4)This is half of the facing.Place this on folded fabric such that X-C falls on the fold and cut the facing .

Out of the two collar pieces decorate one piece by sewing one or two rows of ribbon or bias tape or zig-zag lace, 1" away and parallel to collar edge( Figure 6).This is upper collar.

Place two collar pieces one above the other,right sides together and stitch all around. reinforce the corners  by sewing one more line.Clip the corners.Turn the collar inside out.Push the corners out with knitting needle taking care not to make a hole!Press the collar well.

Pin collar to the neck line so that right side of the bodice and under collar are together and secure with running stitches.

Remove pins.Place facing above the collar,match the curves and secure with pins.Stitch all around.

 Clip all around the curve taking care not to cut the stitch line. On the facing run a line of stitches about 1/8" from the seam where the facing and garment neckline meet.  Turn the facing inside. Fold the free edge of the facing by ¼” and stitch the facing to the garment taking care not to catch the flap of the collar. Sew the front opening as usual.