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Use your sewing skills to alter the neckline of a necktie blouse

Sometimes when I go shopping, or thrifting I find a blouse that I love. Well, at least parts of the blouse I love. Maybe I love the print of the material, the weight of the fabric and the sleeves. Yet, if I dislike the collar, sewing skills come in handy.

Use your sewing skills to alter a neckline

A client asked me to re-model several blouses like this. She didn’t like the necktie style and didn’t like the low “v” in the front.

Always think of creative ways to use extra fabric.

Alter the blouse by removing the necktie piece.

To start the alteration remove the necktie using a seam ripper.

Start working from the inside.

Removing the stitches from the inside of the collar. Only rip out the first layer of stitches because you don’t want the entire collar to come off. Look at the image of the graphic above, the necktie piece should still be attached to the outside of the shirt. The extra piece will flap up.

Trim it to about 1 1/4″ wide.
Cut off the extra length of necktie fabric
Fold the fabric down over the raw edge to form a new low collar in the back
Pin and top stitch down

Use the extra fabric from the necktie to cover the V neck.

Once the collar is finished, with the raw edges covered, concentrate on the extra length of fabric from the necktie.

Remove the seams from this necktie piece, so that the fabric lays flat in a single layer.
Iron it flat (my favorite iron is the Rowenta ).
Stitch a rolled edge on one length of the fabric, which will be forming the finished edge of the new neckline.

Grab your free sewing machine troubleshooting guide

Position the piece behind the ‘V’ neck according the coverage you desire. Pin it down and top stitch in place. Be sure that the piece is an even height on both sides of the ‘V’. (A 6″ inch ruler is perfect to have on handy for alterations like this)
Trim off the excess fabric, leaving enough to turn under the raw edges to finish off.