Fancy Collar Tutorial with free pattern

My daughter has about 1 million cardigans in her closet. Around here, it never gets terribly cold, so they are worn a lot (sometimes as outerwear). Unfortunately, they’re a bit boring day in and day out. So, I made some bling for them. For a girl who loves to accessorize, the first order of business was a sequin collar.

Sequin Collar diy

I love this project because you can use up your scraps. It’s also a great way to use those fat quarters that you aren’t sure what to do with. For this pink collar, I used an old bodice that didn’t fit right.

You will need

Collar pattern
Fabric scraps
Sequins
Buttons the same size as your cardigan buttons
Seed beads
Interfacing

Here is a link to the pattern for this collar. This is constructed like a man’s collar with a button and button hole in the front so you can easily attach it to your cardigans. Each piece is cut on the fold. but it’s no harder to make than the other collar that I’ll show you later.

After you’ve cut out your pieces and cut your notches, iron your interfacing onto the back of one of the bigger collar pieces. Then you can get to putting on your sequins. If you haven’t done it before, I’ll tell you that it’s super easy. You just put your needle through the center, put a small bead on top and then put your needle back through the center of the sequin(don’t pass through the bead more than once). The bead holds your sequin in place. Bring your needle up where you want the next sequin and repeat. It’s time consuming, but very simple.

I sewed a solid line at the edge and then peppered them through the rest of the collar. I left the center back bare because I knew it wouldn’t be seen. You can put your sequins on however you fancy, just make sure you keep them well away from your seam line.

Once the sequins are finished, match the notches in your two collar pieces and sew it along the straight line. Iron it flat(with a cool iron so you don’t melt your sequins) and repeat for the other two collar pieces. Now, you will have two matching collars, one with sequins and one without. Match them, right sides together, and sew all around. Leave an open spot for turning. Make it pretty big because the sequins aren’t very pliable. I left 2 inches. After you turn it all right side out, sew up the hole and topstitch if you like. Add a small button and button hole. I brought my collar over to my cardigan to make sure the buttonhole was on the side of the cardigan’s button so it would all fit together right. Iron it in half, lengthwise along the seam so that it looks like a collar.

Boring cardigan got you down?!

BAM! Boring no more!

Don’t know how to iron your shirt? NO problem! Just slap on this snappy collar and no one will notice!

Make one with chiffon flowers on it for a softer look. This was inspired by one I saw at Land’s End.

See how it’s buttoned into the cardigan?

It keeps the collar from flopping up too high. You can even wear it without the cardigan buttoned at all.

If a peter pan collar isn’t your style, try out a simple double collar!

Get the pattern here. You don’t need to make buttonholes for this one either. You just need fabric scraps and bias tape. You can use contrasting colors or the same fabric. I think it would be cute with some lace trim around the smaller layer too.

Cut out two of each size. Sew the long edge and the two short ends, turn and press. Place your small collar on top of the larger one and baste along the inside curve. Attach your bias tape to the inside curve, leaving enough on each edge to tie. When you get close to the end of your bias tape, turn it the opposite direction of your folds and sew the end closed. Trim your seam allowance, flip it around and keep folding it all together. I used about 24 inches of bias tape.