A new V-neck tutorial

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A little over 2 years ago now, I made and posted a tutorial for a V-neck shirt. It seems to have helped out a few people, so I thought I'd post another one. (Here is a link to the original, if you're interested)

• Cut your neckband piece to needed length and width (for this shirt I cut mine at 2" wide and 28" long). Place raw ends right side together, and measure 1/2" up from the center and mark it with a dot. Then mark from that dot to each corner like this..

• Sew basting stitches along the dotted lines, and trim off excess fabric.

• Turn neck band right side out, and iron with raw edges together (ironing it in place will help prevent shifting, and ensure that you don't end up missing a layer of fabric while sewing it together). Sorry, I didn't get a picture of that part, but I'm sure you know an iron looks like. ;)
• Place the neckband at the center front of the shirt. This is what makes a v-neck the trickiest, because you have to match up opposing angles. ****BEFORE DOING THIS, MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE THE SHOULDER SEAMS OF THE SHIRT SEWN UP***

• But, with pins, it's not too hard. So pin the center in place.

• Then manipulate it and place 2-3 more pins on each side of the center pin.

• Sewing carefully, so as not to hit a pin, baste this center area to the front of the shirt. You've now completed the most arduous part of the v-neck shirt.

• Finish sewing on the neck band (I like to serge mine, but you can use a sewing machine if that's what you have available).

• You're done!! Well, with the neck band at least. You might want to add sleeves and sew up the side seams. ;)

I hope this helps you, but if anything is unclear, please don't hesitate to leave a comment with questions.

Ottobre 3-08 Baby Romper Sew-Along

Hopefully this all makes sense, and helps you make this outfit.

Cut out all pieces, and mark snap placements according to pattern.

There are 2 different front pieces for this pattern. Both are pictured here, though a little backwards, because the one on the right side, with the crotch seam (which I'll call pattern piece "B"), will actually be on the left side and overlap the other piece, without the crotch seam(which I'll call pattern piece "A").

This piece is the one that was on the right in the upper picture (piece B), the one with the crotch seam. Make sure that you remember NOT to sew this shoulder seam until AFTER you're done binding. I learned the hard way the first time I made this, so I wrote it on the pattern, and I also mark this shoulder with a pin so I can't sew it. :)

Sew the back pieces together.

Sew the shoulder seam of pattern piece A (the one without the crotch seam) to the back.

Sew on the sleeve.
*I had already done the binding on both sleeves*

Line up crotch pieces of pattern piece B and back.

Sew together.

Now, sew the side seam closed on the side that you've attached the sleeve to.

Starting at the shoulder on pattern piece B that you haven't sewn together, apply binding to right side of fabric, and go all the way around until you get the shoulder on the back of the outfit.

Fold binding over and topstitch down.

Sew together that shoulder seam now, then sew on sleeve and bind the other leg. Then sew the side seam. (my picture doesn't show the side seam sewn, because I forgot to take a pic of that step)

Now I take 3/4" twill, tape fold it in half, then half again, so it's now 4 layers thick. I sew on a piece to the wrong side of the fabric at each spot where the snaps will go on pattern piece A. This way I won't tear the fabric when unsnapping.

I also use twill tape that I sew onto the seam allowance, as shown, so that I can apply snaps to the inside of outfit and don't have to use ties as the pattern originally calls for. Just make sure that the twill tape sticks out enough so that you can apply a snap to it.

Here's what it looks like on the inside with the snaps.

And here's the outside, all finished up.

Sew along for binding in the flat...

Here's a tutorial for how to do binding in the flat.

Here my tank top front and back pieces with one shoulder seam sewn together. (when you're sewing in the flat you only sew one seam together before attaching the binding)

Before sewing one the binding I adjust my stitch width on my serger to the widest setting.


Take your binding strip and lay it right sides together on top of the neckline for the shirt.
I leave my binding strip overlapping a little bit so that it's easier for my coverstitch machine to grab it later on.

Start serging it on, gently stretching the binding as you sew.

Here it is once it's all serged on.

Turn the binding strip over so that it's now covering the threads.

And turn it down once more so that it's now looped to the inside of the shirt.

Now coverstitch (or top stitch however you normally do) the binding in place.

Now take your other shoulder seam and serge it together.

Stitch that seam down, I always do it so that the seam in pointing towards the back of the shirt.

Here's what it looks like once it's stitched down.

And here's what it looks like when you're done.
(Obviously the whole shirt isn't done, but the neck binding is.)
If you're binding the arms (like I will be because this is a tank top) then apply the binding to the arm holes now, coverstitch it down, and serge up the side seams.

A tutorial for a V-neck shirt

***Update: I've posted a newer version of a v-neck shirt here***

Hopefully this is helpful to someone. My sister asked me to show her how to do a v-neck and I thought I'd go ahead and post it here. This may not be the best or easiest way for everyone, but it's the way I do it, and I love the results.

First thing I do is cut my neckband and iron it in half lengthwise.
Then overlap the ends to form your "v" shape.

I then sew the edges down, so I don't have to worry about them shifting while I'm actually sewing this piece onto the shirt.

Here is the stitching.

I then trim off the excess fabric from the corners.

Here is the front of the shirt with the band right under it. The angles are completely the opposite, so you'll have to pin this together to keep everything in place.

Here is mine pinned in place.

And here's what it looks like form the opposite side.

Then I serge the band in place.

Stopping when I get to the corner and turning it.

A picture of what it looks like on the inside once the band in serged on.

Then you flip it and topstitch it.

Here's the final product.