1.17.2013

view 4, avec bands

 
as i strolled into the kitchen the other day, glass of wine in hand, i gazed at my man, working on hour eight of a delicious sauce. same man who makes coffee every morning and puts a little bit on my bedside table so i'll wake up nicely. who orders me to go and do something fun when i'm stressed out.
 
the other night, stressed out and with direct orders, i turned of course to my sewing desk. there were things a plenty i wanted to sew for myself, but tiny problems with each, a missing zipper, a pattern that needed to be graded, blah and blah. it hit me that i might sew for my man, not just for the dare, but because it would be nice. and as i ironed and cut the pattern, i felt better.
 
WHO IS THIS WOMAN.
 
so y'all, quick question, when making a men's shirt, do you interface the upper or lower collar piece? you know what i mean? the pattern always tells you (well, at least the three i've tried) to interface one collar piece, stitch it to the other, turn and press. but surely it must matter which piece ends up interfaced, non?

35 comments:

  1. as i understand it, interface the piece that will end up on the outside. so the upper collar, and the outside of the collar stand if you have one. that way the outside stays nice and crisp and the underside stays flexible enough to bend as it should. good luck!

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  2. well, that's a nice thing to do.. i haven't made anything for my man for a long time, i should change that as soon as possible.. and, i agree with lisa, you should interface the upper collar..

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  3. I have no knowledge of shirt making yet but I'm working on it! That's so sweet of you to make you dandy man something. :)

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  4. Ahhh! Good for you! I can't wait to see this! The jacket pattern that I'm working on right now directs you to interface the lower collar rather than the upper...

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  5. Look at the shirt sew-along that Peter over at Male Pattern Boldness does... All kinds of good tips. Ruggy's gonna look great!

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  6. Can't wait to see the final product! You are too sweet. The most I've done is hem some pants for my husband.

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  7. I've even taken apart a shirt, and I don't remember that stuff. STUPID ME!
    Good luck!

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  8. Always interface the piece you don't see is what I learned! So the under piece. And if it looks not right, you can always flip it over since both sides are the same.
    Although now I'm reading the other commments and they're saying the opposite. Hm.

    Okay I looked it up and in the New Complete Guide to Sewing it says:
    Interfacing is generally applied to the wrong side of the under collar. Some exceptions: 1. If constructing a flat collar from a very lightweight fabric, apply interfacing to wrong side of upper collar. This prevent seams from showing through to the finished side. 2. If constructing a standing collar in which upper and under are cut in one piece, interfacing can be applied to wrong side of entire piece if this will not be too bulky.

    My problem was always with fusibles making whatever they were fused too usually look icky, so they were used on the under collar. If you're doing a sew-in interfacing it won't make much difference either way.

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  9. YAY! You go, girl - and I've always thought you were super nice and fabulously generous :) I think Lisette wins for best directions ever, so I defer to her reply above!

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  10. I use it on the under collar in case the interfacing gets skanky in the wash.

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  11. Bottom piece in case the interfacing gets all bubbled up or messed up- its not visible

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  12. Bottom piece — that's the way I learned it in my pattern making classes at FIT.

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  13. On the classical tailored shirt class, Pam says to always interface the upper collar and not the under. Another quick advice she gives is that the under collar to be slightly smaller so you don't see when you turn. (Ps, watched this part of the class just for u x)

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  14. I think you interface the bottom piece. Love your vintage pattern!

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  15. After reading these comments, sounds like personal pref as there are good reasons for interfacing either side. I just sewed myself a western shirt and I swear Kwik Sew had me interface the upper visible side.

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  16. I'm making the Negroni for my man and I just interfaced the collar. But, I don't know which side I interfaced. Oops.

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  17. You could go rogue and use non-fusible interfacing, it will just sit in the middle. If you have nice crisp shirting, it will look nice that way, if the fabric is a little on the thin side, I would fuse the visible/top side.

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  18. I've just finished up three different men's shirt patterns and Kwik Sew had you interface the under collar, while Burda had you interface both. You might want to decide based on what your fabric needs.

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  19. According to Margaret Islander, you want the OUTSIDE (outer collar) to be interfaced, the crisp side.

    It's also true that if the interfacing bubbles, you'll be in trouble. So test your interfacing first.

    I generally use a weft weight woven interfacing and never have issues with bubbling. You want to make sure your interfacing has a similar hand to your fashion fabric.

    You can also interface with muslin or cotton (i.e., not a fusible) and if you want a crisper feel, simply starch the collar.

    Good luck with it!

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  20. Wow, I am making a vintage pattern shirt for my man too! I interfaced the underside with a lightweight,fusible, woven interfacing. The important bit is trimming off the seam allowance so it isn't too bulky.
    Hey if you are using a patterned fabric and want to match the pockets to the rest, I just did a post about an easy and effective way to do that over at mine : )http://sentfrommyiron.blogspot.co.nz/2013/01/tutorial-matching-pattern-for-pocket.html

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  21. No idea on the interfacing, but can I say how amazing it is that Ruggy and Mr. Cation both make eight hour sauces, coffee in the mornings while we laze in bed, and all sorts of fun drinks to boot? Only thing is, you're making Ruggy a shirt and I'm making Mr. Cation NOTHING.

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  22. I am knitting socks for my man, with the idea that it will get me out of having to sew anything for him, so I can keep sewing time for myself.

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  23. Wow, there really isn't a consensus here. Fantastic that you're working on this! I really need to get going on a shirt for Phin soon.

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  24. The Peter Pan collar pattern I'm working on now has me interface both sides... I think. I can't remember what I did for my two other collared shirts, but I remember only one side was interfaced. (Both were men's shirts, too.) good luck! Is that the fabric you're using? Awesome.

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  25. I always thought you interfaced the underside of the collar, and interfaced the collar stand piece that is against the neck. So they are opposite to each other! Why this way???? I have no idea what-so-ever!!! Off-The-Cuff Sewing Style ( http://off-the-cuff-style.blogspot.com.au) dissects and features tailored mens shirts with tutorials if that helps...it will be more than 'nice' to make this shirt up for your guy...J

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  26. There's some useful notes on collars (& where to interface):

    http://www.ca.uky.edu/hes/fcs/factshts/ct-lmh.185.pdf

    I was taught to interface on the under collar.



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  27. I have no help on the collar front, but it seems you have your answer wih the sewing gurus above:)
    Just wanted to say that your husband sounds a lot like my husband, gorgeous men they are. I lucked out! :)

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  28. Upper collar is the interfaced one. Same for cuffs.

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  29. Wow, I'm even more confused after reading the comments.... I bet this didn't help you at all. I've always interfaced the under collar. Just made more sense to me. No good reason why...

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  30. Just checked two of Simon's shirts, same brand, one has the underneath collar piece interfaced, the other has the top piece interfaced. The dressier of the two shirts is the one where the underneath collar piece is interfaced. Though who knows- maybe its arbitrary? The factory worker sews it whichever way it is handed to them? The thing to do would be go do a snoop-shop and see if all of the same style of shirt has the interfacing on whichever side.

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  31. I would interface the lower piece, if only to ensure that you don't end up with bubbling on the nice side of the collar! :)

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  32. I interface the under collar if I am using an iron on product. It can ripple in the wash. If using sew-in interfacing I apply it to the upper collar. If the fabric is thin or will change shades with an interfacing backing I apply to under collar.

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  33. You interface the upper collar. I love that olive coat at the bottom!

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  34. Most pattern instructions I have say interface the upper collar & outer cuffs. But, I have done that & it looks crappy with fusible interfacing - you can see tiny puckers where the glue sticks. I say, who cares what the pattern calls for. I plan to interface the under collar & inner cuffs on my next shirts and see how they stand up.

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i thankya truly for taking the time to comment, i love a good conversation-- and hope you know my thanks are always implied, if not always written!