For the most faithful Chelly Wood website readers out there, this is a re-posting of a blog post from about a year ago. The topic is still relevant of course, and I welcome everyone’s comments and suggestions in the discussion area at the bottom of the post!

Nobody wants their doll’s collar to stick up all willie-nillie, right?

Of course not! So here, all in one place, are all 5 of my tips for creating doll clothes collars that look believable on your dolls…

Collar Tip #1: Use Lace

If you look closely at Views 4 and 2 in my Simplicity 5731 Tressy Wardrobe pattern, you’ll see that these garments both apply lace to the collar. To read more about applying lace to a doll’s collar, click on this blog post.

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 any kind of fabric collar can be.

But if you’d like to read more about how to judge a fabric’s weight and how this affects the stiffness of a doll shirt’s collar, please click here.

Collar Tip #3: Tack the Collar onto the Shirt with a Quick Stitch

That’s what I do with nearly all of my shirt collars, when I want them to lay flat. So if I were making the 16 inch baby doll collars shown in views 3 and 4 of my vintage Simplicity baby doll clothes pattern #1844, I would definitely tack these collars down with a stitch or two.

To learn more about this method, please click here.

But in all honesty, an 18 inch doll’s collar may be okay, if you’re using really, really thin fabric. However, coats aren’t usually made out of thin fabric.

And the doll in the center of this Simplicity 4364 doll clothes pattern is definitely wearing a coat made of cotton or maybe denim.

So what do I recommend in cases like that?

Collar Tip #4: Use Felt

Making a coat or jacket out of felt does double duty to make things easier on you. First, you can avoid hemming everything, including the sleeves and the outer edges of the coat itself.

Second, you won’t have as much trouble getting that collar to lay like you want it to. To learn more about using felt with doll clothes collars, please click here.

And now for my final tip…

Collar Tip #5: Use Bias Tape

If you’re not sure how to apply bias tape to a doll’s garment, I recommend that you revisit one or both of the following videos:

• My “How to Sew Bias Tape” video
• My “Make a Dress for Lottie Dolls” video

And you can read even more tips for using bias tape for doll clothes collars when you click here.

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 one of my Creative Spark classes 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 your lessons.

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

If you enjoyed 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.