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
White Peter Pan collar with a machine shell-edge trim on a heirloom Sasha doll dress
RSS Feed