Collar Drafting Tutorials

A few weeks ago, I taught a class on drafting collars. I had such a wonderful time. It's always nice to see faces light up and realize that a basic pattern can be changed so easily. But, I realized that I have not made it easy to find the tutorials. At the moment, I am having a difficult time trying to find how to add a new tab to the navigation bar, but it is coming, hopefully, later today. In the meantime, here are the collars with links to the tutorials. Tomorrow I will be adding a tutorial on how to draft a hood. Then on Thursday, I will do the full drafting tutorial of the jacket I made HERE. 

The Mandarin Collar is a wonderful collar that can easily be drafted. It's a great collar that adds a little interest to the neck. You can find the tutorial HERE. 

The collar below is the Revere Collar. A very easy collar to draft. It looks a little more complicated as I added the bias trim around the collar and down the front of the blouse. You can find the tutorial for this collar HERE. 

The Peter Pan Collar. In the post that I did yesterday, the free Mary Quant dress pattern had 2 variations of the Peter Pan collar, one with a rounded edge, the other with a point. Both drafted the exact same way. You can find the tutorial on drafting the Peter Pan Collar HERE. 

The Sailor Collar is such a great collar for summer. It looks great on a dress, a tunic top, as well as a hoodie. You can find the tutorial HERE. 

I did 2 versions of the Shawl Collar. The collar below is the narrow version. The narrowness of the collar has nothing to do with how big the collar is in front, but how it lays on the back neck. Below is the Narrow Shawl Collar. You can find the tutorial HERE.  

Below is the wide version of the Shawl Collar. You can find this tutorial HERE.

Here's a picture of me in the dress. I absolutely love wearing this dress in the summer. Just throw it on and go!

The Raised Neckline. While this is not a traditional collar, it gives the appearance of a collar. Very dramatic, and quite lovely. You can find the tutorial HERE. This is by far one of my favorite necklines.

As soon as I can figure out how to add the new tab to the header bar at the top of the blog page, the tutorials will be all the easier to find. Technology :/

By the way, if by chance you do download the Mary Quant dress, any of these collars can be applied to that pattern. So play around and have some fun!

I am off to take Mr. Berkley for his initiation visit for daycare. He really doesn't need actual daycare, but I am doing it because he is such a social boy and I think he will have a blast playing with the other dogs. Gracie is at a point in her life that she would rather be left alone :( I'll try to take a few pictures and share with you. 

Cute story;
My husband thought that Berkley was going to daycare yesterday. He came home, found Berkley here, and I was gone. He told me that he asked Berkley, "why are you here? Did you get kicked out of daycare?" :) Hopefully all will go well.

Thanks for stopping by!

Rhonda

Drafting The Mandarin Collar

Today's post was a request from a lovely lady who lives in Sri Lanka. She has really embraced pattern drafting and is so excited about the process. She sent a picture to me of the drop shoulder sleeve that she drafted from my instructions and she did such a wonderful job. I'm really quite excited for her as learning to draft is a very uplifting experience. At least I think it is :)
There are a few methods for drafting a mandarin collar. I am going to share my preferred method.
I began with my trusty Butterick 5678 shirt pattern that I've used to draft a number of collars and sleeves.
Since I am starting with a pattern that has been developed for the attachment of a collar, I will not need to adjust the neckline. If you are starting with a bodice that fits close to the neck, you will need to adjust the neckline. Lower the center back 1/8" to 1/4" and the shoulder at neck edge, the same amount as you lowered center back. The center front should be lowered 1/4" to 1/2". Lower the shoulder at neck edge the same amount as you did the back bodice at the shoulder. The amount that you lower the neckline depends upon how much comfort you would like around the neckline as well as the design of your garment.
I personally like a shaped mandarin collar and I like to cut it on the bias if at all possible. The only time a shaped mandarin collar will not work is if you are using a stripe fabric.
To begin, I marked the 5/8" seam allowance around the neckline of my pattern.

I then measured from center back to the shoulder line along the seamline.

Then measure from the shoulder line to center front. With these 2 measurements we are now ready to draft the collar.

A mandarin collar can be as narrow as 1" or as wide as 1 1/2". The collar may be wider if you wish, but it will have a tendency to hit the chin.
Begin by drawing a vertical line for center back. From the center back line, draw a horizontal line the measurement of the back neck from center back to the shoulder line. Place a notch at this point. Determine the width of your collar and draw another horizontal line from center back.

From the shoulder notch, continue the line to center front. This measurement should be the amount measured from the shoulder line to center front on the neckline of your bodice. To develop the shaped collar, the center front line should be 2". Measure up 1/2" from the lower line and place a notch. At the top edge of the 2" line, measure over 1/2" and place a dot.

 Connect the notch at center front and the dot with a straight line.

 Connect the notch at center front to the shoulder notch with a straight line.

 Find the center between center front and the shoulder notch and place a mark at this point.

 From that mark, measure down 1/8" and place a mark.

 Connect the mark to center front and the shoulder notch with a slightly curved line.

 Using your ruler, measure up from the curved line the width of your collar.

 Now you can see the collar taking shape.

 Draw in the line.

The final pattern. 1/4" seam allowances were added around the entire collar pattern. Since I will be cutting my collar on the bias grainline, the collar is no longer on the fold, but one piece. There are notches for the shoulders and for center back. Cut 1 collar for the top and 1 for the under collar.

Once I have sewn my collar together, I like to edge stitch the under collar between the 2 shoulder notches.

Since I only added 1/4" seam allowances to my collar, I need to adjust the seam allowance on my bodice. I began by marking the 5/8" seam allowance and then measured up 1/4".

 3/8"was cut away from the neckline leaving a 1/4" seam allowance.

The final collar. Because the collar was cut on the bias, it sits very nicely around the neck. 

 The collar has a close fit to the neck, but there is still room for movement. 

Now you see just how easy it is to draft a shaped mandarin collar.
Good luck and happy drafting!
Rhonda