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.

Method of stitching border to neck line

Method of stitching Dothi salwar

Measurements
 Waist
 Seat
 Full length
 Leg round
 Fabric required 3 meters of 42” wide cloth.
Fold the material in to half so that raw edges meet (Figure 1).

Folding the fabric

Once again fold the material on bias so that selvedges meet.(Figure 2).

. A triangle having 4 layers is formed .Let me call the triangle as ∆ PQR. (Figure 3).

Preparation of the draft

 On the selvedge point Q such that Q-R= Full length- waist piece length + 1”.
 On the side Q-R mark point S such that S-R =½ leg round or 8” to 9”.
Mark T such that Q-T = ⅟₆ th seat + ½”.
 From The point T draw a perpendicular T-V to the line Q-T such that V-T =2”.
 Q-U = V-T.
Shape the curve U-V. This is crotch.
From the corner P chop off a triangular piece such that P-X =P-W=3”.
Cut the fabric along the lines T-U-W-X.
This contains 2 leg pieces. From the remaining piece of fabric cut and prepare waist band as explained in the post “salwar with waist band.” (Figure 4)

 Stitching
 Figure 5

 Clip ¾” at the point S. Fold in ¼’ first and then½’and stitch complete leg opening.
Stitch along the line S-T having a seam of ¾”.put one more line of stitches on the same line.
 Stitch W-X.
 In the same manner stitch other leg piece .
Insert one leg piece in to the other keeping right sides together and stitch along the crotch seam from front to back. (Figure 6).

. Prepare waist band as explained in the post “salwar with waist band”. Pin W and W’ to the sides of the waist band and crotch seams U and U’ to the front and back of the waist band. (Figure 7).

 Attach front of the right leg piece to the waist band. Start pleating 2” away from the point W and stop near the crotch line. Pleats should turn towards the sides. In the same way attach the back side of the right leg piece to the back side of the waist band. Size and the number of pleats taken at back and front should be same. By doing so pleats take “U “ shape and fall one below the other at the sides( Figure 8 ).

In same manner Left leg piece is attached to the waist band. Dothi salwar is ready.
 

My trial of samosa salwar

This is my trial of samosa salwar. To the best of my knowledge this online tutorial for Samosa salwar is the first of its kind. Samosa salwar has two flaps one covering the other. When I started to think about the method of sewing samosa salwar, the first thing that came in to my mind was “Tulip skirt”. Tulip skirt is a wraparound skirt where one flap covers the other. I applied the same method to each leg piece of salwar . The result was good!  Here is the method that I followed.

Preparation of draft (Figure 1)

Waist piece

Draw a rectangle PQRS having side P-S on fold

P-Q= ½ seat +3½ “

P-S =7” for adults and for children ⅟₆th seat +½”

Leg piece

Draw A-B = ½ of P-Q

From B draw a line B-C perpendicular to A-B such that B-C = full length – waist piece length + 1”

From the point C draw line C-D perpendicular to B-C such that D-C =½ ankle round

On the line B-C mark point F such that ⅟₆ th seat round + 1”

From the point F draw a perpendicular line to B-C.

From point A draw a perpendicular line to A-B.

The perpendicular lines drawn from the point A and B meet at point G.

Produce F-G to E such that E-G = 2”

Join E-D.

Join the points E and A by a curved line as shown in figure.

Cut along the lines A-B-F-C-D-E-A and remove the draft.

Using this draft as basis flaps of samosa salwar can be prepared.

Preparation of inner flap  (Figure 2)

Step 1

Place the draft on a folded sheet of paper such that B-C falls on the fold line.

Mark the outline and cut along the outline

Duplicate draft is got

Step 2

Join H-C by a curved line as shown.

Step 3

Cut only the top layer along the line H-C

Step 4

Open the top layer.

B-H-C is the inner layer which is covered by the upper layer.

A-B-C-D-E-A  is back of the salwar leg piece. You can have pleats at the back or you can leave it plain. I am showing here how to stitch with pleats at the back also.If you do not want to pleat the back you can skip steps 5 & 6.

Preparation of inner flap  continued in (Figure 3)

Step 5

Draw lines on the back of the leg piece draft .Cut along the lines.

Step 6

Draft can be spread like this.

Step 7

Spread the daft on a sheet of brown paper and mark out line. Cut along the line

Make a notch at the point B..

Preparation of upper flap (Figure 5)

Step 1

Once again place the original draft on a sheet of news paper mark the outline.

Step 2

Cut along the line and get a duplicate draft.

Step 3

Join B-D by a curved line as shown and cut along the line.

Step 4

We use this draft to get front upper flap.

Preparation of upper flap is continued in  figure 6

Step 5

Draw lines from top to bottom as shown in the figure.

Step 6

Cut along the lines keeping bottom portion intact

 

Step 7

Spread this draft on a sheet of brown paper and secure with pins. Mark the outline and cut and remove the draft..

Step 8

This is the draft of front upper flap.

Fabric cutting

Figure 8

Place the draft on the fabric of your choice and cut the pattern piece. Make a notch at the point B.

Stitching

Figure 9

Finish the curves B-D of the upper flap and H-D of inner flap with piping with contrast fabric or with lace.

Figure 10.

Place the pattern piece of inner flap wrong side up and fold and press along the line B-D as shown.

Figure 11

Pin point B of the upper flap to point B of the inner flap and point H of the upper flap on point H of the inner flap. Pleat upper flap.

Figure 12

 

 Curve X-B of the upper flap is pleated and stitched to H-B of the inner flap.

Figure 13.

Keeping right sides together stitch side E-D of the upper flap to side E-D of the inner flap.

Stitch the other leg piece also in the same manner.

Join both the leg pieces stitching along the crotch line.

 Figure 14

Prepare the waist piece as in the case of “Salwar with waist band".

Stitch the waist band to the leg piece such that flaps come to the front.

Pass draw string through the casing of the waist band.

Now samosa salwar is ready to wear.