DIY - Shirt collar necklace

 

When I was really into the collar necklace trend, I also discovered the shirt collar necklace, which I thought was an amazing idea!! Still, I did not want to ruin one of my shirts or buy a shirt just to cut the collar off. The idea I had instead was to make the collar from scratch using an old pair of jeans I was not using anymore. Because I thought the project involved much more sewing than I was up for, I waited until I got the sewing machine to do it :)

The first thing I did was to find a video showing how to make the collar from scratch. I will detail the steps below, but the video that helped me a lot (and describes the steps faster and easier) is this:

Materials:

- fabric
- a shirt to measure the collar
- sewing machine or neddle and thread; I also had invisible thread for some parts
- scissors
- chalk
- lace for embellishment
- snap fastener
- pins

Steps:

1. Using your favourite shirt, mark the contour of the collar on the fabric. Don't forget to leave about 2cm allowance.There's the pointed part and the base part. Mark these separately, on the back (inside) part of the fabric. I did this on the leg of the jeans, so I cut 2 pieces each from the beginning.

Step 1.

Step 2. 

Step 2.

2. Pin the 2 pieces (top and bottom) together as the pic shows, and cut along-side the pattern you marked.
3. Once you've cut it, you have to sew the 2 pieces together as:
- for the pointed pieces, sew along-side the outer part (the one that will be folded outwards) and on the side parts.
- for the base part, sew on the sides and the bottom part of it as it will sit on your neck.
The pictures say more than 1000 words :)

Step 3.

Step 4.

4. Turn both of the parts your are left with inside out.
5. Place the pointed side inside the base part, and sew along-side the part that overlaps. I used invisible thread for this :)

Step 5.

Step 6.

Step 6.

Step 6.

6. Using pins arrange the decorative lace as you think you want it. Before sewing mock try the collar on, to see how everything looks when you fold it on the neck ;) when you are happy with the design, sew on the lace. If you feel inspired add other embellishments.  I added a bit of pink lace as well, for contrast. You can add rhinestones,  buttons, pearls or whatever else floats your boat :)

Step 6.

Step 7.

Step 7.

7. Try it on again to see where you need to place the snap fasteners, and sew them in. Take extra care at this last step ;) You don't want to place them misaligned and ruin everything at the end!!

Step 7.

And voila! You have a beautiful shirt collar!! Tip: this goes amazing with an androgynous outfit, but with very girly hairstyle, make-up, jewellery and shoes! Have fun with it, I know it did! :)

If you like this, would like to hear it :)

DIY - From turtleneck to lace panels top

 So, a while ago I came across an old turtleneck (top left pic is an internet image of a very similar turtleneck to the one I had), which I have forgotten at the back of my closet. Doesn't this happen to all of us?! :) I like and wear  turtlenecks a lot, but this particular one felt very warm and never wore it too much. So,  given I was really in the mood for a diy I thought I would take my chances at reconstructing this. I had a lot of spare lace and didn't really mind ruining this as I wasn't wearing it much.
The idea was to have panels going on the sides and up the sleeves (top right pic - and now I've learnt not to take white on white pictures, sorry....). Midway through the project I thought to add the lace collar too for more of a ladylike touch.
This project was done a couple of months ago, so unfortunately there are no step by step pictures, but I will do my best to explain what I did. Also, I made some images myself to try and help with the intermediary steps and of course will answer any questions about it. Another thing I should mention is that this took a really long time to complete and needed a lot of patience from me because I don't have a sewing machine, so had to sew everything by hand!

Materials:
- needle and lots of thread, the same colour as your turtleneck.
- lace - this should not only fill in what you originally cut form the turtleneck, but allow a bit of fabric on the sides, to adjust on the way.
- scissors.
- pins.
- tape measure.
- I added some pearl like beads on the collar.

Steps:

1. Think where you would like your lace inserts to go, and put pins in to mark it. If you think it would help, use a pencil to draw on the inside part of it.
2. Take a deep breath, get your courage together and cut alongside the pins you had put in at step 1, as in:

I also cut off the neck at this stage, thinking I will make it like a sweater type top :) Plus, it's easier to handle if you cut the neck off from the beginning - given we'd put in pins and have to turn it inside out and what-not. Save the turtleneck in order to construct the collar out of it.
3. Measure the length between the underarm and the bottom end of the jumper. Cut a piece of lace of that length + a few inches allowance. Also the width of the piece of lace depends on the fabric of the jumper and the style you want to create (loose, fitted etc).
4. Measure the length between the underarm and the end of the sleeve. Again, cut off this length + allowance from the lace fabric. For the sleeves, make sure you cut the lace in a triangular shape, so it narrows as you go towards the wrist. This way the sleeves will follow the arm shape and not be bell-shaped (unless you are going for that style ;) ).
5. Pin the lace on the jumper, making sure that the ends of both materials join on the inside of the jumper. This can be a bit of a tricky and time consuming procedure, as you'd have to make sure that everything aligns well and is of the same dimensions. This is where the allowance comes in ;)
6. Sew, sew, sew - carefully sew everything on, of course on the inside of the jumper. When you reach the ends of the sleeves and the bottom of the jumper, turn the lace inwards to make a seam.
7. Sew the underarms. Here, what I did (after thinking a lot how to join the 2 parts together) was just to sew it across (from the back of the jumper to the front), see pic:

8. Cut all the excess fabric you are left with on the inside.
9. Now, for the collar, I made a little image demonstrating this step:

a. Cut open the turtleneck
b. Draw the collar shape you want on it and of course allow for extra fabric. Measure the neckline on the jumper in order to have the same dimensions. Cut out your collar
c. Cut the same pattern on the lace material
d. Sew the lace on the collar
9. Attach the collar to the top by sewing it along the neckline. Also, I sewed it all along the rounded part too, so it stays fixed on the jumper.
10. Attach embellishment - I added pearl beads, but something of a different colour, for contrast, could work just as well.
The finished results:

 This was for me a very big project to undertake and I am very pleased with how it turned out. Any comments and opinions are more than welcomed! Thank you.