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adding a stand-up collar to a cape

rouquinne | Posted in General Sewing Info on

i am making a vampire cape for a friend’s daughter for Halloween, but i have no idea how to make a stand-up collar to attach to a circular cape.  would anyone be able to walk me through it?

thanks in advance!

Replies

  1. rodezzy | | #1

    Buy some stiff interfacing that is used to make hats.  Make your collar as specified adding the stiff interfacing.  I made a collar like that years ago for myself for a Halloween competition when I was twenty something.  I won 1st place. 

  2. user-51823 | | #2

    if you have to draft your own pattern, remember:
    a collar with a straight sewing line at the neck will attach to the neckline of the cape looking like a straight stand-up column. a collar drafted with the same curve as the cape's neck opening will lay down flat. so what you want is something in between, with a minimal curve to maximize it's ability to stand, and flared out corners.ps- to assist collar standing up in back where it's mostly wanted, sew or fuse in a tall narrow oval of florist wire, or cut posterboard as a stiffener. place the center of the oval, or the top 3rd at the neck seam, so the oval comes up to within about an inch of the collar edge (inside between the 2 layers of collar), and bottom half of oval going down between shoulder blades.Edited 10/2/2007 2:30 pm ET by msm-s

    Edited 10/2/2007 2:30 pm ET by msm-s

    1. BernaWeaves | | #3

      Darling husband made a black satin vampire cape back when he was in high school.  His sister helped.  They basically just cut out a piece of cardboard in a large collar shape and sewed a cover for it, that just fit it.  Then they sewed the bottom of the collar to the center top of the rest of the fabric and hemmed it all around.  It's not fitted or fancy, but in the dark, it works.  It's been 40 years and the cape is still going strong.

      Berna

  3. Teaf5 | | #4

      For a vampire-ish collar, use a semi-circular, fan-shape, cutting the interior curve the same length as the neckline. (Construction paper makes good samples for this.) Use a stiff interfacing, and attach the collar using a full facing; understitch the seam allowances to an ample facing and secure the facings to force the collar upward.

    For a man, this collar will be fairly large. On a child's pattern I have, the finished collar is about 8"high, and the pattern piece for it requires a 16" by 14" piece of fabric. 

    To draft the pattern, trace halfway around an 8"diameter lid or plate for the neckline curve--the interior of the semi-circle.  Measure around the cape's neckline, and extend the lines of the inner semi-circle down until it matches the the neckline length. 

    Measure up from the center of the inner circle to find the center of the outer edge (8" to 10") the depth of the collar plus seam allowances.)  Draw a curved line from that point  around, tapering inward toward the end of the inner circle.

    Yikes, this is hard to explain but easy to do!  Another method is to cut a large half circle of paper, trim the inside curve till it fits your neck, and keep cutting and fitting till you like the effect!

     

    1. rouquinne | | #5

      thank you so much to all of you - my friend's daughter is so excited about getting this cape and your advice is certainly going to help me get the right effect for her.:-)

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