Collars are the most visible part of a shirt. When I sew shirts for clients, I know that the shirt collar is the first thing they will notice. There’s little room for error, particularly for shirts that will be buttoned at the neck.

The shirt collar construction method I use and describe is based on classes I took at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, tricks I’ve picked up from books and videos, and trial and error.

Before discussing this method, let’s examine some ready-to-wear collars to ensure we know what a professional collar looks like. Recall that what we generally refer to as the collar consists of a collar stand and collar combination. The collar and stand are each sewn from two separate pieces: an inside piece and outside piece. These are often referred to as the upper collar and undercollar, and the stand and stand…