How to Sew a Lapel Collar: Classic Shirtwaist McCall's 4769

Shirtwaists have different style collars, but let me walk you through the collar of McCall's 3769, a classic lapel. Many seamstresses, including me, have found this difficult to understand. But I am here to say that it is possible to get this construct through your head! So let's proceed.

1. Have the bodice, collar, and front facings prepared. Actually, with this pattern you'll have the bodice sewn to the skirt as well, because there is a front button-band that runs the length of the dress.



2. Where the dot falls in the corner of the bodice, reinforce and then clip. This is all in the instructions, by the way. It hasn't gotten tricky yet. When you do your reinforcing stitching, you'll notice that it is at the exact 5/8 inch seam allowance line.


3. Do the same thing with the facing. Stitch through the corner dot to reinforce, then carefully clip. Of course you realize that the facing is an exact replica of the bodice front (some of us sew for years before we catch on to these things).

I'm just showing you here how the bodice and facing look alike. Don't do anything to them yet.



4. Pick up the collar. Make sure you have basted these raw edges together to keep them even: the short sides, and the long side that will join the back, but only on the outsides of the dots. The center part of the collar should not be basted.

Remove the facing from your field of vision. Place the collar over the bodice front so that the dot in the corner of the collar matches up with the dot on the bodice you just reinforced and then clipped. You see I am holding the collar here and laying it over the bodice.



5.Keeping the dots lined up on top of each other, swivel the bodice around the corner so that it follows the raw edge of the collar. I've turned up the fabric to show the underside here. I pulled the corner of the bodice down clockwise to get it to conform the to the collar's edge--the slash allows me to do it. A diamond-shape of collar is going to be visible in the pulled-apart edges of the cut. Good!


6. Take a deep breath, thread a needle, and take a minute to hand-baste this arrangement in place with a few stitches. Now no worries that your arrangement will fall apart.



7. Remember how the facing is an exact copy of the bodice? That's right, time to do the exact same thing to the facing. Treating the bodice and collar as a unit now, lay the facing on top as the last layer of a sandwich, lining up exactly to the bodice. Dot lies over the dots of the collar and bodice. Just as you did the bodice, you're going to give the facing a turn around the corner so that it can match up with the raw edge of the collar.



8. And baste that layer in place. Do not fear the hand-basting. A quick few stitches, unlimited peace of mind!



9. All three layers are accounted for--turn it right side out and see if you're on the right track. If you're satisfied, machine-baste it. I just like to check once more before I do the real sewing. After you've stitched it in big stitches on the machine, make sure you haven't made any weird bubbles or puckers that won't press out. Also make sure that you have stitched inside the seam allowance far enough to have fully enclosed your clipping. When you're satisfied, then do the real thing.

When you are machine-stitching, be very careful going past the dot. Leave the needle down in the fabric as you pass by the dot just barely to the left of it. Raise the presser foot and gather the fabric out of the way and around the corner before starting around the next side. That way you won't stitch any pleats into the seam.



There's that diamond-shape of collar again. That's what you want.

10. And really, that's all. A good pressing should make it look crisp. Here's what it will look like on the outside:


And here's what it will look like on the inside. Remember that it's this side that counts, since the dress lies with the lapel folded out--the facing is what will be on view, so if you have to fudge, put the wrinkle on the "outside" where it won't be seen.



11. Finish the collar as the instructions direct--assuming that, unlike me, you still have that page of instructions.

12. Something to check on--when you go to do the other side, it's very important to make sure that on both sides of the dress, the collar merges into the bodice in the same place. There's a mark for this, but if you're not paying attention you may construct a collar that sits back farther on one side than the other. Watch out!