How to Make a Collar with a Collar Stand.

Kathie from Ramonster and our Sew,Mama,Sew! Editorial Board is back today to show you how to make a collar with a collar stand. A collar stand is used when
constructing a traditional dress or western style shirt; it helps the collar to “stand” up on your neck a bit before it folds down. This is a handy skill to add to your buttondown shirt repertoire, and Kathie certainly is a master at these!

1. Start with your four collar pieces, two collar stand pieces, and two collar pieces.

You can trace dimensions from a commercial pattern, use one of your favorite shirts as a guide or make a muslin to custom-design the right size for your shirt.

2. Place the two collar pieces right sides together, and stitch around the three outside edges, leaving the bottom edge open

3. Clip collar corners, being sure not to clip your threads.

4. Turn right side out, and press. Topstitch if you’d like.

5. Mark the middle of your collar and collar stand pieces by folding them in half, and snipping them less than a quarter of an inch. That will be your center mark.

6. Match the center of your sewn and turned collar to the center right side of one of your collar stand pieces. I always start at the center and sew, using a 1/4″ seam allowance, to one edge of the collar, then flip the whole collar/stand over and start at the center and sew to the other edge of your collar.

This is what you’ll have after sewing one of your collar stand pieces onto your collar.

7. Find the center back of the neckline of your shirt. Clip to mark less than a quarter of an inch in.

8. Matching the center of your collar stand (the one that is sewn to your collar) to the center back of your shirt neckline, pin at the center, and then pin on either edge, leaving a 5/8″ flap overhanging either edge of your shirt neckline. Then ease your shirt neckline to your collar stand piece by using plenty of pins. Stitch the collar stand on to the neckline, leaving overhanging flaps, and using a 5/8″ seam allowance.

9. Next, leaving the collar stand folded back against the right side of your shirt, (as you’ve just sewn it) you’ll match the right side of the loose collar stand piece to the overhanging flap of the stitched down collar stand piece.

Here you see the two collar stand pieces, right sides together, with the neckline of the shirt sandwiched in between. My finger is marking where you’ll start sewing.

Here you can see that I began sewing about where my left most finger is placed.
I began stitching toward the edge of the bottom of the collar stand.
Here you see that I’ve pivoted and am now keeping a 5/8″ seam allowance around the corner of the two collars.

Making my way down the top edge of the collar stand.

Now i’ve reached the other end of the collar and am rounding the corner,
leaving (ahem) more than 5/8″ (you should only have around 5/8″ flapping over!).

Here you can see that I’ve made the pivot
and am coming back toward the center bottom of the collar stand.
BUT FIRST you have to tuck all protruding shirt and collar pieces OUT OF YOUR WAY!
You should ONLY be sewing the two collar stand pieces,
and sandwiched in between should ONLY be the neckline of your shirt.

This is what one of your collar stand corners should look like once you’ve clipped your corner
and trimmed extra seam allowance.

And THIS is what it should look like when you’ve flipped it right side out.

Here I’ve folded down the raw bottom edge of the inner collar stand piece,
and I’m edgestitching it down.

Voila. Finished collar!