My husband has a uniform that he wears to work five days a week. A while ago I noticed that he was looking a bit shabby and on closer inspection his shirts were looking a bit worn too. He's been with company a fair while and there is talk of changing the uniform so his request for new ones is still sitting in a holding pattern while the higher echelons merge, buy, sell and generally get rich. So in the end, he got a haircut and I had a go at turning collars - something I had read about in ye olde period novels but had never seen in real life!
I googled it - decided it wasn't going to be too hard - and gave it a go! (tutorial here and another here!)
Here's what I did...
As easy as it looked on the tutorial I looked at, it was a bit trickier than I thought it would be. Probably over confidence in my case - oh and my lack of patience!
It did make a huge difference to the overall appearance of the shirt Oh and the Husband!) and I would defiantly do it again if he wears out other shirts or I see one at an opshop that I like and it has a worn collar.
It is an easy way to add life to a worn looking shirt of any kind!
Score card:
Green-ness: 5/5 for not using any new materials and getting a longer life out of the shirt.
Frugal-ness: 5/5 for not spending a cent!
Time cost: It took me a few minutes to remove each collar (there are five of them!) It takes a few more minutes to pin it on - especially the first time. Only a few seconds to sew, but if you don't catch the collar on both sides of the sticky uppy bit - you have to unpick it and start again. Took me about an hour to do all five in the end.
Skill level: Basic sewing - just fiddly to get right the first time.
Fun -ness: Great fun the present the Husband with shirts that look a lot better!
I googled it - decided it wasn't going to be too hard - and gave it a go! (tutorial here and another here!)
Here's what I did...
See, they really are looking a bit ordinary...
First I used a seam ripper (very carefully and very slowly) to cut the collar off the shirt. Don't rip into the material - just the stitches. Its not as easy as it looks, especially to get t started.
Like this.
You want to only take the collar piece out - not the standy uppy bit.
If you have done it right - you should have a pocket shape to put it back into.
Pin it back on - Oh and here's a tip for first timers - make sure you turn it over or you will waste a good ten minutes taking the whole thing back out again. If it fits a bit to well - then you may not have turned it over... A quick check before you star to sew will save a lot of frustration later... Trust me - I know!
Sew the collar back on carefully making sure it doesn't slip out. See that the worn side is on the outside of the shirt. Once you turn it down, the unworn part will be the bit showing.
Outside...
Inside...
It did make a huge difference to the overall appearance of the shirt Oh and the Husband!) and I would defiantly do it again if he wears out other shirts or I see one at an opshop that I like and it has a worn collar.
It is an easy way to add life to a worn looking shirt of any kind!
Score card:
Green-ness: 5/5 for not using any new materials and getting a longer life out of the shirt.
Frugal-ness: 5/5 for not spending a cent!
Time cost: It took me a few minutes to remove each collar (there are five of them!) It takes a few more minutes to pin it on - especially the first time. Only a few seconds to sew, but if you don't catch the collar on both sides of the sticky uppy bit - you have to unpick it and start again. Took me about an hour to do all five in the end.
Skill level: Basic sewing - just fiddly to get right the first time.
Fun -ness: Great fun the present the Husband with shirts that look a lot better!
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