Part 1 collar guide — updated!

I've just updated the Sewing a Perfect Peter Pan Collar — Part 1 guide with quite a few new bits and pieces.

There's a new section on why a collar "flies" and a simple way to test your pattern for it, more on choosing your fabric and where to start stitching, a note on the difference the scale of the doll (and your machine) makes, a little of my own sewing story, and a few extra tips besides.

It's the same guide on the same post — just go back to the Part 1 post and download again to get the new PDF. It will save as a new file (with a different name), so do delete your old copy to avoid any confusion and keep this latest version.

As always, this guide grows as I think of things, so it's worth checking back now and then for the latest version — and if there's ever something you're stuck on, do leave a comment or send me a message. I'm always happy to help.

How to Sew a Perfect Peter Pan Collar for a Doll Dress — Part 2

New to the collar? Start with Part 1 — making the collar (or watch the Part 1 video).

This is Part 2, the companion to my video showing how I attach a finished Peter Pan collar to the dress. Part 1 covers making the collar itself; here we take that finished collar and sew it on.

There’s no voice-over in the video — it simply shows each step as I work — so this written guide goes into a little more detail than the captions on screen, explaining the why as well as the how.

As always, this is simply my way of doing it. If you already have a method you’re happy with and your collars come out well, there’s no need to change anything — please carry on as you do.

A note if you’re following a pattern: the pattern maker will usually give clear instructions for working with their own design, and if you’re new to sewing it’s best to follow those. Think of this guide simply as another way to master the collar — use it if you find my method easier, but there’s no need to set aside instructions you’re already happy with.

Before anything goes near the machine, I baste the collar in place by hand, with a contrasting thread. It’s an extra step that some people skip, but at this small scale it earns its keep: pins alone let the collar shift as you sew, while a line of basting holds everything exactly where you placed it, and a contrasting thread is easy to see and to remove afterwards.

1. Mark and pin. Mark the centre front of the neckline with a water-soluble marker. Pin both collar pieces in place along the neckline, meeting at the centre front. Then fold the bodice in half, matching the back edges, and check that both collar pieces sit an equal distance from the back opening — it’s far easier to even them up now than after they’re stitched.

2. Begin basting. With a contrasting thread, begin at the back. Make your first stitch secure the end of the collar firmly, then work along with small, even basting stitches. Take out each pin once the basting thread has passed the point where it sat, so the fabric is always held — first by the pin, then by the basting — and nothing shifts.

3. Anchor at the centre. When you reach the centre, where the first collar piece ends, make an extra securing stitch. This little anchor stops the collar creeping once you start the second side.

4. The second piece. Baste the second collar piece in just the same way, again finishing its end with an extra securing stitch.

5. Finish off. Secure the very end of the collar with a finishing stitch so the whole line of basting stays put.

6. Check the back. With the collar fully basted, fold the bodice in half once more and check both sides are the same length at the back. This is your last easy chance to correct any unevenness before the machine stitching makes it permanent.

7. Add the lining. With the bodice right side up, lay the lining on top, right sides together, so the collar is sandwiched between the bodice and the lining. This is what encloses the raw neckline edge later and gives the clean finish inside and out.

8. Pin the layers. Pin the bodice and lining together around the neckline.

9. Ease the lining. Because the collar is now basted into the seam, the bodice neckline curve has become a little shorter than the lining’s edge. Gently ease the lining to fit, working in that small amount of extra length around the curve rather than stretching the bodice to meet it. Take your time — a smoothly eased curve here is what stops the finished neckline puckering.

10. Stitch the neckline. Machine-stitch along the neckline, sewing from the middle of the back on one side, round the curve, to the middle of the back on the other. Go slowly around the curve.

11. Remove the pins. Take out all the pins.

12. Remove the basting. Now the machine stitching holds everything, take out the basting thread — the contrasting colour makes it easy to see exactly what to pull.

13. Press to set the seam. With the neckline stitched, press along the seam just as it was sewn — flat and closed. Setting the seam this way melds the stitches into the fabric and gives a crisper, flatter result once you clip, trim and turn it.

14. Clip the curve. Clip into the seam allowance around the neckline curve, taking care not to cut through the stitching. These little snips let the curved seam open out and lie flat once turned, instead of pulling tight.

15. Trim close. Trim the seam allowance back to about 2 mm from the stitching line. On a small curve a full allowance would bunch inside and show as bulk through the front; trimming close keeps the finished neckline thin and smooth.

16. Turn it out. Turn the bodice right side out, so the right sides face outward and the collar sits up where it belongs.

17. Shape the corner. With a point turner, gently push out the corner at the top of the back bodice so it’s crisp and square rather than rounded.

18. And the other side. Do the same on the other side.

19. Finger-press. Run your fingers along the seam, smoothing the front and lining flat over the collar. This settles everything into place and makes the iron’s job easier.

20. Press. Press the neckline seam, then turn the collar towards the lining and press again over the wrong side of the collar. Pressing from the wrong side keeps the right side clean and helps the seam roll slightly to the underside, so it doesn’t show from the front.

21. Remove every mark. If you’ve traced your guidelines with a water-soluble marker, as I do in the video, now is the moment to make sure every last mark is gone — marker can sometimes reappear after a while, and it’s far easier to deal with now than once the dress is assembled. Remove the marks with a little water, as before.

22. Dry before you press. Dry the fabric so it’s only slightly damp. This matters: pressing a hot iron over wet white fabric again and again can leave it looking yellowish, so take off as much water as you can first. I blot with kitchen paper, and when I need to wet and lift marker more than once I dry it with a hair dryer on a cold setting rather than risk the iron.

23. Check, then final press. As you press, the heat also brings up any faint traces you may have missed — so it’s worth being thorough now, before the sleeves and skirt go on and the bodice becomes harder to reach. Then give the collar its final press, lying flat on the bodice, so it sits beautifully.

A couple of habits that help throughout: I like to finish each part of a garment completely before moving on to the next, so nothing is left to catch up on once more pieces are added. And while I work, I hold the fabric gently, taking care not to crease what I’ve already pressed.

One important habit, above all with white, pale and vintage fabrics: no hand cream or lotion while you sew. Even a trace of the fats in them can leave a stain that won’t come out without washing the whole garment. I know some will say they’ve moisturised their hands for years while sewing all sorts of fabric and never had trouble — they’ve been lucky, as I was, right up until the day I stained a dress. Probably no one else would ever have noticed that mark, but I knew it was there. So my hand cream is for overnight only now, never during a sewing day. There’s a second reason too: cream on your skin makes your fingers pick up marker and colour from other fabrics far more easily.

And that’s your collar finished — sitting neatly on the bodice and ready for you to move on to the next step in your pattern :-)

This guide is free to use, and I do hope it helps you.

For finished dresses and more of my heirloom work, visit sasha-doll.com

Sewing a Perfect Peter Pan Collar — Part 1: Making the Collar

A good Peter Pan collar is a mix of things: the right pattern, careful sewing, a little patience, and some practice. The single most important part is the pattern — it has to be drafted so the collar lies flat against the dress and doesn't lift or "fly" away from the neckline.

In this post I'm not going to focus on drafting the collar (I can write a separate post on that if there's interest) — instead I'll show you how to sew the collar so it comes out perfectly round and crisp. The video has no voice-over; it simply shows each step as I work, and this post fills in the detail.

What you'll need

• A lightweight fabric for the collar — ideally the same weight as the dress fabric, so the finished collar stays soft and lies flat.
• A sewing machine, fitted with a needle and threaded, ready to sew.
• A water-soluble (water-removable) marker.
• Small sharp scissors, and a rotary cutter (cutting wheel) if you have one.
• Pinking shears (optional, for trimming the curve).
• A point turner.
• An iron.
• A small spray bottle of water — the refillable kind sold in travel toiletry packs is ideal.
• Kitchen paper and a cotton bud, for removing the marker.
• A stabiliser (optional).

Preparing the pattern and cutting

If your pattern includes a seam allowance, you need to remove the outer seam allowance — the curved outer edge of the collar — but keep the seam allowance on the inner edge, the one that will be sewn to the neckline.

Once the outer seam allowance is removed, trace a new line where the outer edge now sits. This new line is your sewing line. Cut along it as accurately as you can — the precision here is what gives you a smooth curve later.

I find a large pair of scissors works best, and the trick is not to stop: cut the whole collar in one continuous motion from start to finish, rather than in little snips. Stopping and starting leaves tiny steps in the curve.

Setting up to sew

Before you cut the rectangle, lay your collar piece on the fabric to check you'll have enough room to sew — you want at least 1 inch of spare fabric all around the collar. (Very experienced sewers can get away with less.) Cut the rectangle on the straight grain, then fold it to make a triangle, with the right side of the fabric inside — a double layer — and place the collar on top, as shown in the video.

Trace carefully all the way around the collar with a water-soluble (water-removable) marker. The outer line you draw is the one you'll stitch along; the inner line marks the seam allowance that will later attach the collar to the bodice. While you're at it, put a small mark on the front of each collar piece. As I work I always keep the front facing me, so between that habit and the little mark I never lose track of which side is the front — right up until the marker is washed out later.

Stitching the curve

Set a very small stitch length — somewhere between 1 and 1.5 mm. Small stitches follow a curve far better than long ones and give a smoother edge.

Always start stitching from the front of the collar — and start both collars from the same point. I found that if you begin one collar from the front and the other from the back, the two can end up slightly mismatched; starting both from the front keeps the pair identical.

You stitch only the outer curved edge of the collar; the inner neck edge stays open — that's what you'll turn the collar through, and later attach to the bodice.

Begin with a few reverse stitches to secure the start of the seam, then sew slowly, stitching right on the outer line you drew. Every time you reach a turn in the curve and need to pivot, stop with the machine needle down, inside the fabric — then lift the foot, turn slightly, lower the foot and carry on. Keeping the needle down at every pivot is what keeps the curve continuous and even.

This part takes practice. You won't get it perfect after two or three collars — it comes with repetition, so don't be discouraged.

If you have one of the modern sewing machines that lets you pivot without lifting the presser foot each time (a pivot function or a knee lift), this step is much easier.

A note on stabiliser

You can place a stabiliser under the collar to help the fabric feed smoothly and hold its shape while you stitch. If you do, be careful when removing it afterwards not to pull or distort the stitches.

Make the second collar

Sew the second collar in exactly the same way. A Peter Pan collar is made in two halves, so you'll end up with a matching pair.

Cutting and trimming the collars

First, cut the inner edge — the line that will attach to the bodice — along the traced line, using a rotary cutter (cutting wheel) or regular scissors. This edge is left open: it's how you'll turn the collar out, and later it sits enclosed in the bodice seam.

Then trim the outer, stitched curve:

If you have pinking shears, trim close to the stitching, leaving about 1.5 mm — but take care not to cut into the stitching line. The pinked zig-zag edge takes care of the curve for you, so no separate clipping is needed.

If you don't have pinking shears, first trim the seam allowance to about 1/4 inch (6 mm) from the stitching. Then clip into the seam allowance around the curve — small snips towards the stitching, but never into it — and finally trim the allowance down to about 2 mm.

A tip on the order: make your clips while you still have that 1/4 inch of allowance. It's much easier and safer to clip with room to work. If you trim down to 2 mm first and then try to clip, it's very easy to cut through the seam by mistake.

Do both collars this way, then use a point turner to turn them right side out and ease the curved edge fully out and smooth.

Pressing the collars

Once the collar is turned out, press it with the iron — but press, don't iron. Lift the iron and press straight down; don't slide it back and forth. Sliding the iron drags and distorts the collar, and it can stretch the neck edge so that the neckline ends up bigger than it should be.

If the shape needs correcting, run the point turner gently around the inside of the curve to ease the edge out fully, then press again.

Finally, if you haven't already removed the water-soluble marker, spray the collar with water to take it out. After spraying, lay the collar pieces between sheets of kitchen paper and press lightly to draw the water out — or, for a more targeted job, lift the marker with a cotton bud dipped in water. Either way, absorb most of the liquid before you iron, then press the collar once more.

That's the collar made

Both collars are now stitched, trimmed, turned and pressed — a neat, crisp pair, ready to go on a dress. In Part 2 I'll show how to attach them to the bodice for a clean, professional finish.

Key points to remember

• Use a lightweight fabric, the same weight as the dress.
• Mark the front, and start both collars from the front, so the pair matches.
• Keep the needle down at every pivot to follow the curve smoothly.
• Clip the curve while you still have room, before the final trim.
• Press, don't iron — straight down, never sliding, or you'll stretch the neckline.
• Remove the marker and blot the water out before the last press.

Watch the full step-by-step in the video below. For finished dresses and more of my heirloom work, visit sasha-doll.com.