How to Fill in a Low-Cut Neckline
Let me take you step by step through designing and sewing a tidy little infill for a too-low V-shaped neckline. You do a little fiddling with the paper up front, but the end piece will fit very nicely.
1. Put the dress on, and slip a piece of paper into the neckline V so that it sits in the way that pleases you. Trace the V with a pencil. Don't worry about getting it exactly right.
2. Cut out the triangle that you just drew. Now fold it vertically so you can check it for symmetry. It's probably not symmetrical, so now place it with the larger side on top in the square corner of a fresh piece of paper. You want the top line to be nice and horizontal so that your infill doesn't have a strange dip or hump across the top. Trace the diagonal line onto your new piece of paper.
3. Add an allowance to your triangle by drawing another line two inches away (mine's dotted). It's not necessary to extend the bottom point so far though, so crop it off leaving about a two inch allowance below the bottom point. This wide margin will make it easy to attach the infill to your dress.
4. Cut around your new, larger pattern piece. Now lay it out on a folded piece of paper, with the long vertical side on the fold, and cut it out so that you have a full-size trapezoid piece. Label it as you see below, with the grain line on the paper fold, and a "place on fold" mark on the longer horizontal side of the trapezoid. It will be the top edge of your infill.
5. Cut it out in your fabric, following the directions on the pattern piece. You'll need to fold your fabric on the crosswise grain to do this.
6. Now fold your odd shape of fabric, wrong sides together, through the middle, so that you have the trapezoid you desired, with a beautiful folded edge at the top. Press it neatly and pin the raw edges together. Sew the three sides with their raw edges, then finish them with a zigzag or overcast stitch. Advanced seamstresses might want to sew with right sides together, leaving an opening for turning the shape, then turing it right side out and slipstitching closed. But it's not necessary.
7. Your infill piece is finished now. Put the dress on, and pin the piece in place. Remove the dress, and either slipstich the piece to your garment (this is so much easier to do if your dress is lined!) or you can even carefully safety-pin it in place with tiny pins (for this you MUST have a lined dress). The idea is to catch inner layers of the dress with your stitches or pins, so that nothing shows on the outside.
8. All done!
18 comments:
Great idea! Can I share your post on my blog Bramblewood Fashion?
Great tutorial, thank you for posting this! I have several dresses that need to be layered with a camisole for modesty, but this approach is much prettier, and much cooler for hot weather!
THANK you, Anna, for taking the time to share this!! This tutorial is truly a marvelous one ~ one I believe will inspire many women to perform a little modesty work...and well you can already imagine the wonderful effects that will have in other ways! =) I would love to link to this on my blog in the coming weeks when I revisit some modesty topics, if that is alright by you! Blessings!!
I need to do this often for my youngest daughter (who will be 16 next week). If she wants/needs to wear a low cut top before I can get it filled in, she has a couple thin tank tops that we have purchased just for modesty needs....she likes to layer her clothes because it makes her feel more modest. And I am so thankful she cares. :)
Bless you for sharing this. I find all too often that I refuse a top of any kind to my daughter because of it being too low (camisoles aren't much help either as they get older).
Thank you.
Very straightforward - thank you!
Lisateresa
Thank you so much! This is so helpful. It is so difficult to find dresses with modest necklines these days, and camisoles don't always do the trick.
Thank you for the fabulous tutorial. I love the clarity of the instructions! My daughter is getting ready to go to college, and has asked how to modify off-the-rack fashion to be more modest. This is the perfect tutorial for her to bookmark.
Excellent! Thanks!
I love your blog! Thanks for all your hard work and for sharing this with us. Modesty is so important. I hope to pass this on to my Julia as she gets older.
Thank you so much, Anna. I love all your sewing posts - whether sharing finished projects or explaining techniques with photos and clear instructions - they are all so helpful and fun. I end up passing on almost every piece of apparel with a V-neckline I see because 90% of the time the neckline will be too low for me. And, as most of the commenters have pointed out, very often camisoles are inadequate because they are too low also! So your idea will come in very handy.
Thank you!
Just a little tip for people who are using camisoles. Try to get them with adjustable straps as you can usually hitch them up fairly high!
Thank you, Anna!
I just used this pattern creation for a blouse! I feel so cool to make my own pattern. X) And yet...why didn't I think of that!
Thank you! :D
I just re-read this post that was highlighted on today's post (June 21, 2013)"on other links you might like".
I also made a "modesty" panel, but I just safety pin it to my bra instead of sewing it on a dress, that way I can use it many, many times for different outfits.
Thank you so much. Have a couple of dresses I just don't wear, cos they're too low cut.
I knew I should hold on to them - and now I have 2 new dresses for summer downunder =)
Thank you so much! This was such an important part I needed for my granddaughter's wedding. I was so relieved to find this. So easy! Thank you!
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