Welcome back to the Berwick St. Tunic Sew Along! Today we are going to construct the Band Collar. We have a bonus for you today, the collar instructions are from the 2019 Sew Confident! 1st quarter edition which features the Berwick St. Tunic. You get a free preview of the kind of tips and techniques that are featured in Sew Confident! Let's get sewing...
Though it is optional, we recommend you interface both sides of the band collar with our Ultrasheer Japanese fusible interfacing. When the pieces are interfaced, press ⅝″ to the wrong side along one long edge of a collar pieces. This will be your undercollar. Trim the seam allowance to ⅜″.
Sewing the front curve of a band collar can be tricky. To help you sew the perfect curve, we suggest you make a template. Start by marking the seam allowances on the Collar pattern piece. Then, use a piece of tracing paper and a tracing wheel to trace the seam allowance lines onto a piece of tagboard. Cut out the shape. Then place the template on each end of the Collar and trace around the edges to record a stitching line.
Using the traced outline of the template as a guide, sew the two Collars together. Trim the seam to ⅜″ along the length of the seam. Trip the seam allowance along the curves to ⅛″. Using the narrow curved rail on a tailoring board, press the seam open in preparation for turning the collar to the outside.
With right sides together, sew the untrimmed edge of the Collar to the neck edge of the tunic. Clip the neck seam as needed in order for the Collar to fit. Trim the seam and press it towards the Collar. Press the seam over a tailor's ham in order to get into the small areas without pressing another part of the garment.
Working over a tailor's ham, fold the ⅝″ turndown of the undercollar to the wrong side, just covering the previous stitching. Pin frequently. Once you have it pinned, remove the Collar from the ham. Use silk thread and a fine sewing needle to slipstitch the folded edge of the collar.
Join us for the next setp in the Berwick St. Tunic Sew Along when we construct the Lower Front!