- Features like collars and sleeves give you the freedom of choice in your design.

Understanding the collar, allows you to use one jacket pattern and add the collar of your choice.

We'll learn to create the simplest of sleeves; the kimono sleeve.

We will create them for t-shirts, blouses, jackets.

We'll also learn when they are the best option.

Collars, kimonos, and more all today on "Fit 2 Stitch."

(Elated introductory music) - "Fit 2 Stitch" is made possible by Pendelton, (bouncy piano music) Vogue Fabrics, (bouncy piano music) Bennos Buttons, (bouncy piano music) Kai Scissors, (bouncy piano music) OC Sewing, (bouncy piano music) Mike Gunther Industries, (bouncy piano music) and Sew Steady.

(bouncy piano music) - Jackets are probably my favorite garment.

I know they have more pieces but they're kind of just like jigsaw puzzles.

If you know that the ones that have more pieces are gonna take a little more time to put together then it kind of relaxes your whole timeframe and you just enjoy the process.

The other reason I love jackets is a famous designer once said, that you could wear your pajamas in public and as long as you put on a great jacket over it, you are dressed to go.

So I kind of like that there's many days where I'm feeling a little behind and I just grab a great jacket and it just works.

But while we have fitted that jacket and when we did our base jacket I purposely chose a shawl collar and the reason I did that is because it eliminates just a few more pieces in that jacket so when we're getting you and convincing you that you can do this jacket, there are fewer pieces in a shawl collar than there are in the notch lapel.

But now you've done the shawl collar, you're ready for that notch lapel and I wanna show you how to make that conversion.

But also before we do that, I wanna take a look at the mannequins.

Because I want you to understand some things about shawl collars and notch lapels that sometimes we just don't know if we've never really kind of heard the rules.

The notch collar was first.

It came from the riding jacket, men first wore the jacket, it was then brought into women's apparel but that notch lapel was the standard.

Early in the 1900s the shawl collar was created supposedly as a less formal jacket.

It was meant to be more relaxed, more casual, but also as the development of fabrics came and the fabrics became more extraordinary, our patterns and our fabrics wanted to marry one another a little more cohesively.

So in this case what I look at when I see a notch lapel, I'm always gonna see a linear fabric, a plaid, a check.

I'm not gonna use a floral and a notch lapel because the lines of the pattern are sharp and the print of the fabric is not.

So that's where the shawl collar comes into play, I can use solids in either one.

But if I have a fabric that is floral, or paisley, or things of that nature, those are times I wanna reach for my shawl collar and when I have a fabric that is traditionally plaid, the herringbones, all of those are when I wanna go to my notch lapel.

But you see that the body of the jacket and in these two cases, the body of the jacket is exactly the same.

It's a princess seam, the side panel, the two-piece sleeve, the backs those are all identical.

All I need to do is take that middle piece, and I've already fitted it, this is my center front piece, and convert that shawl collar to a notch lapel.

So to go out and buy a new pattern is just a lot more work than it is to just kind of understand these basics.

So let's do that.

I'm gonna put my back away, the side pieces away, the sleeves because again I don't have to change any of those.

What I do have to do, and I'm using my shawl collar piece here is get that piece and again I'm gonna show you kind of the basics.

Now remember that earlier we had taken our blouse and we had taken a regular collar and made it into a shawl.

So I'm gonna reverse that process but there are some things that you need to know when we do that.

There are no differences on a shawl collar between a knit top, a woven blouse, or a jacket.

All shawl collars are the same, we even sewed this shawl collar so you know how to do that.

Today we're gonna sew the notch lapel so you know how to do that and I think that's why a lot of women choose the shawl collar, because it has less pieces and because it's an easier sew.

But I'm gonna sew the notch lapel for you to where it's walk in the park.

Okay so, I gotta use my French curve a little bit and I've gotta understand just a touch about a neckline.

And when I look at this blouse what I know is this is what we call a jewel neck and a t-shirt it's called a crew neck but it's basically, it's a neckline that just follows the base of your neck and if you put your French curve down against it, it's the bottom portion of your French curve that will follow this neckline.

When we convert that to a pattern, I'll put that down on the table there and we'll be able to see that that's the line that follows that neckline and where it goes from and I'm gonna go back to that in a notch lapel, because I need that to be the case.

It follows and connects two points and one is the shoulder seam, and one is the center front if you notice and again this is a t-shirt pattern but it doesn't matter it's the same thing.

What I know now about a shawl collar, is that this was the base of the neck so now I know once I've gotten the position of that curve, I can take and place it right there at the base of the neck I can see the center front is right coming up here so all I have to do is bring that up until it meets the curve and I can connect that line.

And then I have restored my line.

All I know now is I have to measure that line and when I measure that line and let's do it so that we can actually count the numbers that line is gonna be I'm gonna take away my seam allowance, it's gonna be one, two, three, four and a half I'm gonna measure the back neck edge because remember that that collar goes from front to back, so I've got the four and a half, five and a half , six and a half, seven and a half, eight and a half, nine.

So then when I go to draw my collar I'm gonna draw one straight line that's nine inches long.

And remember that's all I need to do to connect those neck edges, is the notch lapel comes directly to center front.

If we look at this notch lapel that I've got on the table again we just wanna observe some things about it, that so that we'll understand it and clearly be able to do it.

When I lay it down what you'll notice is the collar actually comes right to center front.

It's the lapel now that goes past and we've learned asymmetric so we know that all something does that comes past, is that it's asymmetric and then it comes right back into center front.

So it's this portion right here of this collar, that what we're gonna do is we're gonna bring it past center front and then back in to the center front.

That's what will create the lapel but the collar length only goes from front to back to front and it is only from center front to center front.

So now that I've got the base of my collar, the rest of it we're just gonna play dot-to-dot.

Watch this remember that there's times we can lay things down and we can trace them and I'm gonna take half of my collar, I'll fold it in half because what I'm doing now is this is all styling the fit of it is there, I know that from center front to center back and you can even mark it center front center back just to where you make sure you know what you're doing, and I'm gonna lay that down here.

What this will do is give me the direction and the shape of this collar.

It'll give me the width, give me through here and you can measure it to make it exact but the first thing I did when I first started making patterns, is it's really observation as to what does that collar look like?

And actually what does it look like flat versus what it looks like once it's open, and once it's on a collar because I think that's probably the most confusing part, is that sometimes this and this I don't understand that relationship that goes between the two and you clearly once you just lay some of these flat and recognize that you can trace them, it's extremely easy to do.

So I'm gonna look at this collar now because I've actually we're gonna sew it so I've cut it.

And I'm gonna look at a few differences and as to why I did the differences et cetera, et cetera.

All right so there's center back, so what I did here is I added seam allowance so I've got a little seam allowance down here, and I've got a little seam allowance up here.

All right that's what I started with.

Now what I want you to notice is that this is the neck edge and it's slightly curved and the reason it's slightly curved is because as the collar goes around the body, it will be a little more snug to the neck if this is curved as opposed to straight.

So what happens is right here there's a little cut made, and I'm gonna cut this and what that cut does is it's to the neck edge it's not past the neck edge because we don't wanna change that neck edge we just wanna curve it just slightly so that you get that curve, it doesn't change the total length and it goes up just slightly.

And again all that does is it causes the collar to just snug around that neck just a little bit more so I measure that neck edge, I can draw my outside edge all of that is just tracing the base collar and then I can cut my collar.

When we go to actually cut the collar on a jacket and this is only on a jacket I've got an upper collar, and I've got an under collar.

This under collar is typically done on a bias and the purpose of that bias is so that it pulls the collar up and around so that it lays nicely in the back.

So generally because it's on the bias and I cut that out of a solid that I was hopeful you could kind of see on the bias.

There's usually a seam put there and the only reason that seam is there, so that it doesn't take up as much fabric.

It's not necessary if you're at home and you've got plenty of yardage and you just wanna make it one piece you just wanna make sure that you turn that on a bias.

So my bias is always my under collar that helps it pull under nicely and then my notch lapel is on top.

So let's go do the notch lapel I have actually sewn the collar on here, I'll just show you what I've done here before we go over there and then we can just sew.

So I've taken the collar and you can see that these points are nice and sharp I'll show you how to do that.

And then I've just basted it and what's important when you do that, is that you wanna make sure that that notch ends equally from the raw edge of the jacket.

There's so many times where you know it just doesn't look good if it doesn't end right so we're gonna make it simple and we're gonna make it fun let's go sew.

All right so the parts that I've got, I've got my collar, I'm gonna sew the center back first.

That center back seam of that bias under collar is what I'm gonna sew first.

Then I'm going to put the collar together and I put right sides together of the bias and when that pattern is made, the under collar is just a smidge shorter and narrower and that is so when I sew the edges, it will naturally pull the ends under just a smidgen.

When you sew this and I'm purposely doing this in contrasting thread so you can see it, you wanna make sure that you just sew off don't leave your needle down, and don't change directions, we're just gonna simply go off the cloth.

I've got the under collar on top doesn't really make a difference, you're gonna keep this seam open as you go through, and go all the way.

Again when you get to the edge, sew off the edge, come back, turn, and go the other direction.

All right so now that's my collar I'd already done that I've attached it to the jacket but I do wanna show you this folding technique, because so many of us trim these edges and the worst thing you can do is trim the edges because you get those little divots.

You're gonna trim, you're gonna trim, fold, no trimming, fold, fold, and turn to the outside.

And you can see that's where those nice sharp corners come from.

Also if your top stitching you're able to top stitch through that, because it's solid there's no differentiation of layers inside of that collar and makes it very easy to sew.

So that's the part that I've done that's brought me to this part, where I have sewn it on to the neck edge.

A lot of times in the factory they don't even stitch it on.

I think as far as you know less-experienced sewers I think it gives us a little more confidence to attach it, make sure we have it in the right position, if center back is not at center back that really isn't the issue but then I'm gonna come along with the facing and I'm gonna put the facing on top, and that's the portion that I'm gonna do where you're gonna see that notch lapel just get created.

It'll actually happen and you won't even know you're doing it.

So the facing goes on top we're kinda making a little sandwich there, and you can see that I'm gonna again do what's called an over stitch.

I'm gonna start from the raw edges and when I just have the two layers and when I do this I've actually got my collar that I stitched that would be the jacket portion, is where I can see.

So I'm actually stitching on that same line that I've stitched on before.

And I'm just gonna do a small section so you can see it and then I'm gonna go down the front and that would be where I have just the jacket and the facing together, and that's gonna work well.

All right so there again I can see my stitch lines those are gonna become my fold lines, and I'm going to fold, I'm going to fold I'm gonna reach in, I'm gonna hold those that folded section down with my thumb and forefinger and then just flip it over and then you can see what you get is that beautiful notch lapel.

And there's just no, you just can't mess that up it's just straight lines they intersect one another and it's really easy to do.

All right so that's all I need, I am ready to do my notch lapel it's in great shape and it looks really beautiful.

So the other thing I wanna teach you about that base jacket is to create the kimono sleeve and the kimono sleeve is really and let's just take a brief look at what it looks like.

It's used in times because there's in this case for instance that fabric is I just didn't really wanna interrupt the fabric.

I wanted to keep it smooth, I wanted to keep it as one, I wanted to use the edging on it.

It's really a different style look but there's also times where it's a more simplified look and that's again where I wanted to do.

Just like the notch lapel, and the shawl collar, it is a less formal look so you probably won't see a very formal occasion having a kimono sleeve a kimono sleeve is thought of to be a more relaxed sleeve.

So let's take a look at that and just understand how to do it and how simple and fun it is.

It is not any different again on a jacket, on a t-shirt, or on a blouse.

Kimono is kimono although because our base is a little bit different we'll find that we have to do a few little differences when we go to do that.

Okay so I'm gonna put that all to the side, I wanna make sure that you don't confuse a kimono sleeve with a cap.

So a cap sleeve just by definition and this is a cap sleeve so I'm wanting you to see it there, a cap sleeve is when you are just using the cap of the sleeve I know that's where it gets its name it's not real hard so just by definition of the sleeve, we've got the cap line and the cap line is the circumference of the sleeve.

And then you have the cap height and that measures from the cap line to the top of the sleeve, that's called the cap height.

So when you are only using the upper portion of that sleeve the cap, and you're sewing it into a garment that is called a cap sleeve.

That is not a kimono a kimono is when it's all done in one.

So we're actually gonna eliminate that seam.

The negative of eliminating that seam, is you're eliminating a seam and every seam that's on a garment has purpose to it and when I start taking away those seams, I start getting what I think are called side effects and that is I'll get vertical wrinkles where that sleeve seam is you see that sleeve seam does a beautiful job of changing direction of the fabrics and going from the bodice into the sleeve.

When I take away that I don't have as much control as changing the direction of that sleeve.

And we'll see that I'll show you that in some of the garments that we look at.

But either way it's a very simple thing to do.

And again I think some of you will love it because what we're doing is we're taking away pieces and perfect for someone who says you know I just only want two pieces today and that can literally be my back, and my front, once I have that kimono sleeve it's kind of fun.

All right so we're gonna start with just the sleeve and the top in this case what I'm doing is I'm doing it in a knit so just FYI, you need your sleeve, and your back, and you'll need the sleeve in the front, and the sleeve in the back you'll do the exact same process, exactly the same every single time.

You're gonna fold this sleeve in half and when I fold that sleeve in half, you'll notice it duplicates itself in the shape of that cap, and always keep in mind and remember that this has seam allowance on it.

So I'm gonna take the cap up and overlap where it is at the top of the shoulder and again take that seam allowance away, and this is gonna kind of act like a hinge or a pivot because that's it all I need to do is make sure that I leave a little bit of gap there, if I overlap it I'll lose my sleeve circumference and I'll lose my bust circumference so I wanna make sure that I don't lose either of those.

So when you look at this what you see is all that extra does become fabric and that's exactly what I'm talking about that becomes those extra gaps.

So women sometimes love them sometimes hate them just recognize that it's for my fabric uses it's for a more casual simplified look.

But there are there is a lot of fun I can really do with this.

And I wanna put that aside that basic.

The interesting thing is to me as you start to notice kimono sleeves because I'm gonna say sweatshirts a lot of times are done with kimono sleeves, you'll notice that this goes straight away and the more the straighter this is, the more extra fabric you'll have because your arms don't stick out straight like that so if there's nothing to hold that up, then which there's not all of that will fall down and you can see it adds all that additional extra.

I think probably one of my favorite designers Armani does a kimono sleeve that is absolutely stunning.

And the reason being is because the pitch of that sleeve is so it's as curved as it can be or as angled as it can be so once it's connected here, he really has a beautiful pitch to it and it's just like I say it's as little gap there as possible.

So I want to put this aside for just a little bit, and I wanna look at some kimonos that we can see, and you can see all the options that were offered in doing a kimono.

Because once we've gone through and we have accomplished the rules of the patterns and how to overlap, and how to gap, and all that, we've got some options as to how to connect them.

So the place where we see kimono sleeves a lot it's gonna be in our knitwear.

Our knitwear is and certainly it's done in wovens but we do see a lot of it in our knitwear.

So there's an example of a kimono you can see that there's no sleeves seam there's no set in and it is literally connected from point A to point B.

And so how much fabric you add down there gets to be your choice and there's just a lot of fun.

This is another little knit that I have, I'm gonna lay that down in contrast and try to put the shoulders at the same point.

And so you can see the differences where the cream color that's below, is much or extreme and oversized than what the navy is on top.

Then if I go to a blouse and lay this down, and again put the shoulder points together you'll see that this actually is more tailored, more fitted, the kimono still starts from the waist and goes right into the sleeve.

So it is meant to be an oversized look and it's not gonna be a trim look and I think it's really important to understand that because I hear a lot of women they say "oh I just love kimono sleeves" but then they actually get into it they say but "I don't like all this" well that is kimono they kind of go together so you can't have one without the other.

So let's look at that tissue work now that we see a lot and I'm gonna use this last blouse for an example.

Because remember that as I have those tools in my tool chest I can use a princess seam with a shawl, I can use a princess seam with a kimono I can mix and match those tools however I feel like I want to.

So I'm gonna put this here just cause it represents the side panel of a princess seam and it goes from the shoulder to the side seam.

And then I'm gonna take my blouse sleeve because this is a blouse and I'm going to fold it in half just like we just learned, and I'm gonna place it seam allowance over there and too a little gap there.

So kimonos again are perfect because they're something I can trace.

So if I see something I like I can lay down my pattern and I can simply trace this amount that's been added, and it makes them as simple as they can possibly be.

So I think this observation and understanding what we're doing, and what's going on, is just really important in the whole scheme of things to make our final product really doable.

All right so with that, the only thing I wanna point out is when we're doing a sleeve, a jacket, we have two pieces and so I know that sounds kind of silly but basically all I wanna do is work those two pieces to where they're one, and then fold them in half, so it's the same don't let that little you know two pieces throw you, just what I do is I'll tape the tissue together as if it one piece and then you still put it on the jacket the exact same way and so it really comes together easily, and quickly and it's fun it's fun to have that much control.

Handwork comes from passion and makes a garment priceless.

Join me next time as we learn unique hand embroidery techniques that you will love from our handwork expert Vaune Pierce.

Next time on "Fit 2 Stitch."

(bouncy piano music) - "Fit 2 Stitch" is made possible by Pendelton, (bouncy piano music) Vogue Fabrics, (bouncy piano music) Bennos Buttons, (bouncy piano music) Kai Scissors, (bouncy piano music) OC Sewing, (bouncy piano music) Mike Gunther Industries, (bouncy piano music) and Sew Steady.

(bouncy piano music) To order a four DVD set to "Fit 2 Stitch" series eight please visit our website at "www.fit2stitch.com."