Buy a roll of lace at the store and copy this simple DIY

Lace collars are not just for librarians or your favorite Supreme Court Justice anymore. This handcrafted removable lace collar adds a touch of class to any outfit you don. Once the collar is done, place it around your neck and button it in the front. Buttoning it will create an inverted “V,” front and center, on the collar.
The key to this DIY project is getting the measurements right. The collar is customized to your neck. With just a bit of simple stitching, a coating of lovely lace and a simple button and buttonhole to make the accessory portable, you can add delicate style to almost any shirt, sweater or dress. As long as you’re wearing something with a simple neckline, you can add the lace collar, bringing a dressier, more refined distinction to your look. Making a few extras as gifts will endear you to fashion-forward friends.
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Materials
- Neutral fabric such as cotton or muslin
- Roll of lace
- Collar pattern
- Tape measure
- Marker
- Several sheets of white paper
- Heavyweight iron-on fusible interfacing
- Scissors
- Pins
- Tabletop ironing board
- Iron
- Sewing machine
- Small white button
- Seam ripper
- Sewing needle
- Spool of white thread
- Small cutting tool
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Instructions
1. Spread a piece of plain fabric on your work surface. This is what you'll make the template of the lace collar with.
2. Fold it twice, so you save on cutting time for the collar and band's fabric template pieces.
3. Measure your neck with the tape measure, and write that number down; each band piece will be half of that number. The width will be 1 ¼ inches to allow for a 5/8-inch overlap. The pieces will also have a ¼-inch case and a ¼-inch seam allowance.
4. Cut four pieces from the paper to these specifications to serve as the pattern for the collar (two pieces for the collar and two for the band).
5. The two collar pieces will be the same length as the band and have a 5/8-inch overlap. Make one of the collar’s ends 3½ inches and the other 2¼ inches.
6. Place the paper patterns on the fabric and, using them as guides, cut two collar and two band pieces from the fabric.
7. Cut the interfacing to match the collar and band, but cut only one of each.
8. Set up the tabletop ironing board, and heat up the iron.
9. Place the interfacing pieces on top of one set of the fabric band and collar counterparts, and iron so the interfacing fuses with the fabric.
10. Pin the collar parts together, just at the sides and the straight long edge (one will have the backing on it).
11. Sew the pinned parts together with the machine, removing the pins as you go, using a 1/4-inch seam.
12. Trim the two wider ends’ corners slightly with the scissors.
13. Take the piece and turn it inside out, so the fused interfacing is on the inside of the collar.
14. Thoroughly iron the collar on both sides, so it’s nice and flat.
15. Lay the collar out flat on the work surface, and unroll enough lace from the roll to cover it. The lace will be wider than the collar template.
16. Pin the lace onto the straight edge of the collar template.
17. Cut excess lace from the ends and the straight long edge of the collar. There will be just a bit extending from beyond the curved long edge of the template.
18. Use this leftover lace to cut two small border pieces in the same width as the overlap going beyond the template’s curved long edge.
19. Pin each of the lace pieces to the sides of the collar.
20. Sew the pinned lace onto the sides, removing the pins as you go, and baste the top, curved long edge of the collar.
21. Leave the pinned bottom edges unattached.
22. Take the two band pieces, and put one underneath the bottom side of the collar and one on top of it.
23. Pin the top edges of each band to the top edge of the collar.
24. Sew the bands to the collar, removing the pins as you go.
25. Trim just a bit from the top corners of the bands with the scissors.
26. Fold the bands away from the collar, and press the collar and the bands so that the bands are layered on top of each other. Their top edges should meet.
27. Fold the very top narrow 1/4-inch edge of each band inward, and press with the iron to train and flatten the fabric.
28. Pin the long edges of the bands to each other, pressing as you go.
29. Sew the band edges together, removing the pins as you go.
30. Iron each band, so it lies flat against its respective side of the collar.
31. Place the collar on the work surface, and using the ruler and the fabric marker, make a small line on one end of the band for where the buttonhole will be placed.
32. Use the sewing machine’s buttonhole feature to create one, remembering to align the fabric correctly.
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33. Open the buttonhole with the seam ripper.
34. Sew the button onto the other end of the band by hand, knot the thread, and release the needle and excess thread from the collar with the small cutting tool.
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