How to Finish a Collar Stand on a Shirt

A collar stand is the section of a collar that falls between the collar crease line and the neckline. After creating the collar and tacking it to the neckline, it is time to sew the top stitch that will hide the rough edge of the collar stand and finish the garment. Below are the basic guidelines for completing this sewing technique using a sewing machine.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Shirt
• Collar
• Pins
• Scissors
• Sewing machine
• Iron

1. Press the shirt and collar thoroughly to ensure a smooth gathering of the fabric and to avoid finding wrinkles after sewing the stand edges together.

2. Turn inside seam of collar down, tucking in the rough edge and steam in place using a hot iron. This means the inch of fabric that hangs down from the neckline from previously tack sewing the main collar to neckline of shirt following your pattern.

3. Pin the collar stands to the neckline of the shirt by catching the pin a 1/4 inch into neckline and bringing it up and into the inside seam of the stand mentioned in Step 2. Manipulate the stands and neckline between your thumbs as you move the fabric along pinning the neckline and stand together every 1/2 inch or less.

4. Place the shirt under the needle of the machine with the body of the shirt hanging off to the side and the needle positioned about a 1/4 of an inch from the folded pinned edge of the collar stand.

5. Push down on sewing machine pedal and guide the collar along as the machine sews a tight top stitch. Be sure to keep control of the sew line by keeping the fabric equally distributed as it passes through the machine. Remember to backstitch or reverse the pressure foot and needle 1/2 inch or sew at both ends of the collar to avoid the stitches coming loose later on.

6. Remove the sewing pins from around the edge of the collar stand.

7. Trim any dangling threads and steam the shirt once more before wearing.