Attaching a Cowl Collar

 

The 2 Hour Tunic pattern has a pattern piece for a detachable cowl collar, and Mary asked me if I’d made it.  My response was “no, I’m of that age where I get really warm.  Sometimes. ” 

I suggested she go ahead, and she did.  But would have preferred an attached cowl so it would stay in place.

Sew I couldn’t stop thinking about it.  Couldn’t be that hard, right?  I had a MacPhee Model Tee already cut out, and a chunk of fabric large enough for a cowl, so the adventure began.  The process would be the same to add the cowl to the 2 Hour Tunic.

323 model TeeHere’s a pic of the pattern, my cut out tee has 3/4 sleeves, and a re-drawn neckline halfway between the one at the top left and the one at the bottom right.

The pic below is of my modified pattern with the cut out front.  Notice it’s about halfway between the two.   I measured the neckline and it’s 60 cm.

my necklineLinda gives us a “Liberation License” on every pattern.  Linda Liberation LicenseThe pattern piece for the cowl is with the 2-Hour Tunic. 

pattern I traced it onto pattern paper, opened it out and measured it along the curved edge where it would be sewn to the neck. 

whole pattern

 

Too big.  That’s ok, easy to fix.  See the new cutting line?  I just cut off the extra.

cowl patternOpened out the paper, pinned the straight edge of the pattern to the fold and cut it out.  Then opened it out, and with right sides together I sewed (serged) the shorter slightly curved seam to make a tube.  The seam will be the back.

Refold the piece with wrong sides together, the raw curved edges will be together. 

zig zag collar edgeI used a narrow zig-zag stitch to baste the raw edges together, then I used pins to mark the center front and the halfway points at the sides.  neck edge

I also “quarter pinned” the neckline of the top.   Then it was easy to match the seam at the center back of the cowl to the pin at center back.  Same for the center front and the halfway points at the sides.  I joined the pieces with my serger, then used a twin needle to top-stitch the seam allowance away from the collar.

close up cowlneckline topstitching detailme in cowl frontcowl on model teeI’m pleased with how this turned out, but am working out a looser cowl.  It’s still too hot.  Sometimes.  I’ll keep you posted.

Yvette Chilcott

I'm a mother of 3, stepmother of 3. My hubby and I share our home with 2 cats, and my hobbies, including my food experiments.

2 Responses

  1. I have oth of these patterns… now f I could only do this!!!! love the colour of material you chose!!!

  2. I love the cowel neck idea…at my age I don’t feel comfortable in v neck tops and I enjoy sewing McPhee patterns

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