Tutorial---A-Line Dress with Peter Pan Collar---How to Attach a Peter Pan Collar

Using the Peter Pan collar pattern (see this link) cut out four collar shapes (two collars and two facings).

Draw 1/4 inch seam line from the outer edge of each collar.

Join each color and its facing with right sides facing together.

Clip the curvy corners (as we did when we attached piping to the armhole), and then turn the collar inside out.

Pin the collars to the neckline from center front to back of the dress.

Sew the collars to the neckline once you have positioned them well.

The last step is to sew a bias tape to hide the raw inner edge of the collar. Cut 1.5-inch wide bias strip from the same fabric you used for the collars. The length of the bias strip can be a few inches more than the neck. Fold the bias strip in half, place it above the collar on the right side of the dress, and pin it around the neckline. See the images below.

Sew the bias strip leaving 0.5 inch of the strip (hem allowance) on both the corners of the neckline and cut the excess.

Turn the neckline to the wrong side. Clip from the top up to (but not into) the seam line to stretch the neckline to give your collar a nice shape.

Fold inside the 0.5 inch hem allowance you left on both the corners of the neckline and pin them.

Press the folds using your thumb. Remove the pins, fold down the bias strip, and pin it around the neckline.

To avoid the bias strip showing up on the right side, you need to pull it down and pin on the top as well as on the bottom of the strip. I didn't pin on the top before I hemmed it. Therefore you could see the strip peeping out a little (in the image second from last).

Hem the bias strip.

Your Peter Pan collar is ready now.

Tomorrow we will see how to attach a pocket to this dress.

Follow these links to read the other parts of this tutorial:

How to Draft the Pattern for an A-Line Dress?

How To Sew An A-Line Dress

How To Draft A Peter Pan Collar

How to Attach A Peter Pan Collar

How To Attach A Pocket

You can find lots of free PDF printable sewing patterns on this page on my blog.

You can also click the Free Sewing Patterns Page at the top of this blog page (under the blog title) to find more free sewing patterns.

Click the below links to browse through all the pattern drafting and sewing tutorials on my blog.

pattern drafting tutorials 

sewing tutorials 

How to Draft a Peter Pan Collar?

Step 6:

Today we will learn how to draft a Peter Pan collar. Peter pan collar is a nonconvertible collar, that is it stays in place when unbuttoned and it closely follows the shape of the neckline of the dress. There are many types of Peter Pan collar. The one I show here is a flat collar without a roll which is detached at the back also.

First, spread out the front and back patterns. Cut and divide the back pattern piece at the center. Make 1 1/2-inch button and buttonhole folds on the left and right back pieces, respectively.

Now, this is how the front and back patterns with seam allowances look.

Take the front piece and one of the back pieces (either right piece or left piece). With the right sides facing together, match their shoulder seams. Stick the shoulder seams using glue, so that the pattern pieces won't slip away when you draft the pattern. You can also pin them together.

Turn it right side. Now you got the neck shape.

You need to decide the width of your Peter Pan collar in this step. Add 1/2 inch (1/4 inch + 1/4 inch) to the width for seam allowances on both sides. For example, if you want to have a collar width of 2 inches, then the total width is 2 + 1/4 + 1/4 = 2 1/2 inches. Mark 2 1/2 inches on the center front from the neckline. Draw a line.

The back side has button and buttonhole folds that will overlap each other. Therefore, I left 1/2 inch from the center back and marked the back collar edge. See the image below.

Mark 2 1/2 inches from the neckline in at least 10 to 12 spots between the front and back collar corner points as in the image below.

Join the dots. You could now see the collar getting shape.

All you need to do now is to give a rounded shape to the front and back corners of the collar. To do this, you need to mark 3/4 inch from the front and back outer edge corner points of the collar. Join the points to make the curvy shape. You can also draw this shape freehand without marking the points, or you can use a French curve.

Place a tracing paper on the draft and trace the collar pattern. Trace the neckline including the 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Cut it out from the tracing paper. Voila! Your Peter Pan collar pattern is ready.

Follow these links to read the other parts of this tutorial:

How to Draft the Pattern for an A-Line Dress?

How to Sew an A-Line Dress

How To Attach A Peter Pan Collar

How To Attach A Pocket

You can find lots of free PDF printable sewing patterns on this page on my blog.

You can also click the Free Sewing Patterns Page at the top of this blog page (under the blog title) to find more free sewing patterns.

Click the below links to browse through all the pattern drafting and sewing tutorials on my blog.

pattern drafting tutorials 

sewing tutorials 

Tutorial---How to Sew an A-Line Dress with Peter Pan Collar

I made a dress for my daughter using the A-line dress pattern I have posted here on my blog, and I would like to share the step-by-step tutorial with you all. I tried the peter pan collar on the neckline of this frock. This is my first attempt on peter pan collar and I am quite happy with the result. Here is the finished dress:

Front:

Back:

A close-up photo of the fabric I used:

Tutorial starts....

Step 1:

Cut the front and back sides of the frock using the pattern given. The fabric I used is a cotton fabric which has bunny cartoons all over.

Fold the back piece into half vertically and cut open the center back. The back of the frock should be two pieces now.

On the bottom hemline, mark 2 1/2 inches from the center on both sides for buttonhole and button stands. You can see the green markings on the bottom hemline in the image above.

Step 2:

Make a small fold (about one-quarter of an inch) inside (to the wrong side) on both the back pieces as shown in the image below.

Fold again and hem. This fold should be longer than the first fold (that is, about 1 inch).

You could notice in the image above that the button and buttonhole folds are slightly lower than the neckline. To correct this, you need to reshape the neckline. First, draw the new back neckline such that the top edges of the folds fall on the neckline, and then cut along the drawn shape.

Note: I just noticed something. As you will be using your front and back paper patterns when you draft the collar, if you change the shape of the back neck as shown in Step 2, there are chances that the collar may not fit well on the neckline. I had no problem when I attached the collar. However, this may sometimes go wrong. Therefore, when you draft the back pattern of the dress, draft the folds such that they are higher than the neckline as in the image below. So that when you fold it, it will fall on the neckline, you can trim off excess, if any.

Step 3:

Join the shoulders.

Step 4:


Attach bias tape to the armholes.

First, fold the 1 1/2 inch width bias tape in half, and pin it on the right side of the armholes.

 
Sew in the bias tape, leaving a 1/4 inch seam.

Clip the seam every 1/2 or 1 inch. Be careful not to cut through the stitch. (You can also use pinking shears to clip the seam.) Clipping the seam will give the armhole a better shape.

Now fold the bias tape inside (that is, to the wrong side) and hem.

Repeat this for the other armhole.

Step 5:

Join the sides and hem bottom edge of the dress. Fold the the bottom hemline by 0.25 inch and then by 0.75 inch and sew along the folded edge 

To be continued tomorrow.

I have linked this up to the link party at canoeridgecreations.com.

Please leave your valuable comments in the comments section under this post. I would love to read your comments.

Follow these links to read the other parts of this tutorial:

How to Draft the Pattern for an A-Line Dress?

How To Draft A Peter Pan Collar

How to Attach A Peter Pan Collar

How To Attach A Pocket

You can find lots of free PDF printable sewing patterns on this page on my blog.

You can also click the Free Sewing Patterns Page at the top of this blog page (under the blog title) to find more free sewing patterns.

Click the below links to browse through all the pattern drafting and sewing tutorials on my blog.

pattern drafting tutorials 

sewing tutorials