Today’s blog post is “Part 2” of my series on how to create collars for your doll clothes that actually WORK.

So you’re sewing a collar for your doll, and what you want to avoid is that awful won’t-lay-flat thing we’ve all had to deal with:

Last week we learned that adding lace is one way to avoid the Halloween-witch collar, and as you can see in my vintage Crissy Simplicity pattern #9138 lots of doll clothes patterns employ this tactic:

But what if you really want a square-looking collar? What if you’re sewing a modern-day man’s shirt? He’s not gonna get away with that lacy thing.

So here’s what I suggest, if you want to actually follow the squared-off collar that some doll clothes patterns come with:

Collar Tip #2: Use Very Thin Fabric

The bigger the doll, the easier it is to make a collar work with thin fabric. The smaller the doll, the more difficult this can be.

But on my GI Joe shirt, you’ll notice in this next image, that his shirt’s lining is made of 100% cotton, while his collar is made entirely of the gingham fabric from the outer layer of the shirt. That’s because it’s a lighter weight fabric, so I decided it would be best to make the collar from that gingham.

The pockets and sleeves were made of an even lighter weight gingham, and after the whole project was done, I was wishing I’d made the collar out of the same fabric as the sleeves. But oh well, this looked pretty good anyway.

If you’re not sure how to find the weight or heaviness of a fabric, ask your fabric store employees for help; this information can sometimes be found on the cardboard end of a fabric bolt.

As you can see in later renditions of the GI Joe shirt, the collar looked a little more bulky because I got cocky and tried making the collar out of 100% organic cotton with a thicker weave. It didn’t look quite as good as the original gingham shirt which used a lighter weight of fabric:

This version of the collar stuck out terribly before I fixed it, but I’m going to save that “fix-it” tip for next week!

The image shown in the featured image for today’s blog post was from the cover of Simplicity doll clothes sewing pattern #7928, which includes Hawaiian style shirts for Ken and Barbie dolls (as shown above).

Most of the commercial patterns I display and talk about here on ChellyWood.com are also available for sale on eBay. However, if you’ve never purchased a pattern on eBay before, it’s a good idea to read the article I wrote called, “Tips for Buying Used Doll Clothes Patterns on eBay.” It will save you time, money, and will likely prevent buyer’s remorse.

And by the way, if you use the links I’ve provided to make your eBay purchase, this website will receive a small commission, which helps fund the ChellyWood.com website, so I can continue to provide you with all the free patterns and tutorial videos offered here.

Another great way to help fund this website is to take my Creative Spark class, “How to Alter Doll Clothes Patterns” which is now live on the Creative Spark platform. You can sign up any time you want–there’s no rush!

And don’t panic if it seems like too much to take on right now — sometimes our lives get really busy. I get that. But for any class on Creative Spark, once you’re signed up, you can take as long as you want to finish the class. You’re not under pressure or a time constraint to finish the class.

You can just take your time and learn at the pace that suits you.

If you liked today’s sewing tip for making doll clothes collars, and you’d like to see what other helpful doll clothes sewing tips I have offered on this website, please visit the “Helpful Tips” page.

Disclaimer/Credit/Affiliate Marketing Link:

*ChellyWood.com earns money by linking to JoAnn Fabrics, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and other online affiliate programs. Links provided above may be affiliate links. For a full list of my affiliate programs, and to understand how cookies are used to help this website earn money, please see my “Privacy Policy” page.

Chelly Wood and the ChellyWood.com website are not affiliated with the pattern company or companies mentioned in this blog post, but Chelly finds inspiration in the doll clothes designed by these pattern companies. To purchase patterns from Simplicity, McCall’s, Butterick, Vogue, or other pattern companies shown and discussed in this blog post, please click on the links provided here. These links below the “Disclaimer” section do not help raise money for this free pattern website; they are only offered to give credit to the company that made these patterns.