Adding A Rugby Neckline
Before I start this lesson, I would like to preface it by saying that some people learn best by reading. Others find visual aids much better. So, for those who like the visual way, I have included many diagrams. Beside each diagram is a short description of the steps shown. For those who like to read more, the paragraph following the diagram goes into more detail.
We have all seen these necklines on what are commonly called "polo" shirts. It is the classic golf shirt neckline that features a placket with either buttons or snaps and a collar. Sounds pretty plain, doesn't it? But, with different fabric choices, you can change the look of this classic knit top. Extend the length and you can even have a dress.
The ones you see in stores are generally made with a single layer knit collar that is dyed to match the shirt and that is finished nicely along the edges. These are available in some fabric stores and from certain mail order companies, but they are difficult to find in my town. I have ordered them wholesale to match cotton knits that I purchased but, when you re-order the knit, the collar no longer matches. So this is why I don't have them for sale any longer. I don't like to use them if they are slightly "off" and I certainly won't sell them to customers if they are not the same colour as the knit. The solution is to use a contrasting colour; it looks better to have a contrast than to have two shades that don't match. But be careful here in your contrasts, they can end up looking "home-made".
Now, you can make your own collar from the knit fabric of the shirt or from a contrasting fabric, either knit or woven. This opens up a whole range of possibilities and I find this more to my liking. Notice both the tab and the collar are contrast woven fabrics on this shirt from Stitches magazine. The use of two different colours is more interesting than if she had only used one.
Tab Front Shirt
This rugby shirt is made from cotton knit, but the collar is made from beige faux suede and the tab or placket from the same faux suede in cream. Picture scanned from Stitches Magazine, Vol. 9, No. 6.
Tab Front Shirt
The shirt in this picture is made from cotton knit, but the contrasting collar, placket and welt pocket are made from a cotton print from the Debbie Mumm Collection of quilting cottons. Scanned from Australian Stitches, Vol. 8, No. 6.
Recently, I made Jalie #924, which is a multi-sized pattern for women with a rugby shirt and leggings. The shirt has a tab front that is exposed on the front of the shirt.
Jalie # 924
This multi-sized pattern features a loose-fitting polo shirt and leggings for women.
Often rugby shirts have the tab inside so that it only shows when the neckline opens and flips back. This pattern is sewn so that the tab is actually on the outside, giving you the opportunity to play with the design by using contrasting fabrics. You can use either knits or wovens for the placket and collar. I used a black and white-striped 100% cotton jersey for the shirt and made the placket and collar in cotton/lycra jersey in black for contrast. I interfaced the collar and placket as advised in the pattern and am glad that I did.
Jalie #924 Polo Shirt
This shirt was made from 100% cotton jersey in a black and white stripe. The collar and placket are made from cotton/lycra jersey in solid black. The pocket is also trimmed with the black to add a design detail to the shirt. Be sure to interface both the collar and placket.
There are quite a few versions around for making this type of rugby collar. I am going to go over the ones in the Jalie pattern, as they are fairly simple but very brief. Because the patterns are produced in Quebec by a French person, the English version is somewhat difficult to follow.
Cut the fabric for the placket and interface it with something fairly light. Fusible knit interfacing is a good choice here. Don't skip interfacing the placket because you will be putting either buttons or snaps on later, and they won't hold unless you stabilize the fabric.
This placket piece is 5 1/2" by 9". Interface and then, on the wrong side, mark the center front, mark a line on either side 1/2" away, and also mark two fold lines 1" away from those lines. Finish the raw edges on the two long sides.
The placket is marked on the center front. Then the stitching lines are 1/2" to either side of the center front and whatever length you choose. These markings give you a placket that is 1" wide. If you want a narrower or wider one, simply move your stitching lines. e.g. if you want a placket 1 ½" wide, mark your stitching lines ¾" on either side of the center front line. You also have two more lines, which are the fold lines. These will be on either side of the stitching line, and the space between them and your stitching line should be the finished width of your placket. In the example I am using, all the lines are 1" apart, giving a finished placket with a width of 1".
Tip: I use Scotch tape for lots of markings in my sewing. For this placket, I placed two strips of ½" wide tape on either side of the CF line and sewed right along the edge. This gives you a perfect stitching line.
Most rugby shirts have a 6" opening. This Jalie shirt has an 8" opening.
Pin placket to shirt, right sides together. sew around markings, then slash down center front line to within 1/2" of the bottom and clip right into the corners.
Place the placket fabric on the shirt front, right sides together, and match the center markings of both. Place a few pins to hold the placket securely during stitching. Now stitch down your stitching lines, pivot and stitch across the bottom, and then stitch back up the other stitching line.
Tip: As you approach the bottom corner, shorten your stitch length and keep it short across the bottom and for about ½" after you turn back up the long line. This area needs to be securely stitched as you will be clipping it.
Now, using a pair of scissors with sharp points, cut down the center front line and clip at an angle right into the corners as shown. If you don't clip far enough, it won't turn nicely and the placket will be puckered at the bottom. Be careful not to clip past the stitches though; otherwise you will have a hole (eek!).
Turn the placket piece to the inside of the shirt and press the opening nice and flat.
Working from the inside of the shirt, fold the right side of the placket on the fold line. This brings it over to fill the space that you just created above. Press firmly. Note, the seam allowances inside the placket face to the side of the shirt. But you can press them open if you like.
Secondly, fold the left side of the placket on the fold line, on top of the side you just folded and pressed. Look at the right side of the shirt now to see if it is the way you want it.
Women's shirts have the opening to the left and men's open to the right. To change the direction of the opening, simply reverse the order in which you folded the sides of the placket.
Lay the shirt in front of you with the right side facing you. Lift up the shirt at the bottom of the placket and you will see the two ends of the placket plus the little triangle of shirt fabric that was made when you clipped the opening. (just like a welt pocket) Stitch through all these layers to hold them in place. Be careful not to catch the shirt in your stitching. You can zigzag the bottom edges of the placket if desired. If your placket fabric is a woven, you should do this. If it is a knit, it really doesn't matter as it won't ravel.
Now it's time to add the collar to the neckline. Making the collar is simple. In this Jalie pattern, the collar is a single piece. Your pattern may have you cut the collar double. These directions apply to the Jalie collar. Interface the entire collar and fold it right sides together along the length. Stitch the two short ends, trim the corners, and turn it right side out. Press it well. A wooden clapper helps here to get a crisp edge. Topstitch around the edges of the collar on the right side. I have seen decorative stitching done here quite effectively. One polo shirt I saw recently had little scallops along the edge formed by a crocheted edge that was secured to the shirt every 1/2".
Working each side the same, open out the placket so that it lays flat. Pin the collar to the neck edge, placing the edge of the collar in the middle of the placket. In our example, this will place it ½" away from the fold line marked by the dotted line in the diagram. Check that both sides of the collar are placed the same distance from the fold lines.
Now fold the placket back over itself on the right side. It will also cover ½" of the collar. Now you can stitch the neck edge through all thicknesses.
The next step is to finish that neck edge. Don't skip over this step because it just won't look very nice inside. And when you wear the collar open, you can see the inside neck so let's make it look nice. So we will bind the neck edge with a strip of fabric. For this you can use either some of your knit fabric cut on the cross grain (the direction of stretch) or you can use a strip of woven fabric cut on the bias. Double fold bias tape also works well.
With the collar and placket just as they are (placket turned back over the front edge), place the binding fabric along the neck seam. Stitch the neck edge once again exactly on top of the previous line of stitching. If you are using bias tape, open out the tape and place the crease of the fold on top of your stitching line. When you turn it to the inside, the other fold will come just below the neck seam and the tape will cover all the seam allowances. If you are using self-fabric, cut your strip about 1" wide, sew the neck seam at 3/8" and fold under the other edge on the inside to cover the stitching line.
As you can see, the placket turns back to make a nice corner and all that junk at the edge is now inside and hidden.
Now you are ready to make buttonholes in the placket. Or you can put in snaps. From reading The Creative Machine Newsletter (an email sewing list), I have been convinced that, if you want to use snaps, the way to go is to buy The Snap Setter. So many people have attested to the fact that this tool puts in snaps that really stay that I have been won over. I am going to purchase one of these handy tools from Joanne's Creative Notions later this week. It is made by The Snap Source and is a patented tool that protects and aligns the snaps. It has adaptors that can be used for different sizes of snaps. And you can also purchase the snaps that are made to fit it. These are snaps with longer prongs so the snap doesn't pull out. Apparently the designer of the tool was so convinced of its effectiveness, that she mortgaged her house to get her design patented and manufactured.
Jeannine Twigg, designer of The Snap Setter, also has a book that is dedicated solely to using snaps on all kinds of projects, including children's wear, tab curtains, polar fleece, and more. You can find this book at Joannes' Notions or at Amazon.com
I know that many of you are terrified of buttonholes and even more terrified of putting them in knits. So let's get over the fear.
Any fabric that you put buttonholes in must be interfaced. This is because the use of the buttonhole puts extra stress on that fabric and the interfacing will give it that extra strength. Buttons and buttonholes also stretch fabric after many uses and interfacing fused correctly will prevent stretching.
When you fuse interfacing to the buttonhole area, make sure that any give in the interfacing is opposite to the direction of the buttonhole. So, if you are using knit interfacing, place the stretch of the interfacing at right angles to the direction of your buttonhole. If you fused the placket fabric as advised above, you will notice that you now have two layers of interfacing inside your buttonhole and button area. This is good, as long as the interfacing is not too stiff.
Before you touch the shirt, be sure to make a sample of a buttonhole. Simulate your placket by interfacing a square of fabric and then fold it double. If you have a machine that can measure the button and make the correct side of buttonhole, that's great. If not, my rule of thumb is to make the buttonhole 1/8" larger than the button. This works for most flat buttons. Shank buttons may require a slightly larger hole especially if they are rounded or domed buttons, but you probably won't be using those on a knit shirt.
In the words of Ann Person, author of The Stretch and Sew Guide to Sewing Knits, "the most important thing I can say about machine adjustments is keep the pressure light. For a good buttonhole on a knit, make the stitches farther apart than the normal satin stitch used for woven fabrics. This is something you should practice over and over again before actually putting the buttonholes into your garment." She also recommends using tear-away stabilizer on both the top and bottom of the fabric if you are making buttonholes in a difficult knit fabric. Stabilizers come as tear-aways, melt-aways, and wash-aways. Solvy is the wash-away stabilizer preferred by Sandra Betzina.
So, make one buttonhole and then cut it open. I used to use a sharp seam ripper to do this, but I have since bought a buttonhole cutter and now use it for all buttonholes. It comes with its own little mat for cutting and the cutter is a small chisel. The trick is to place the chisel at an angle with the edge of the blade resting on the space between the sides of the buttonhole, and then gently roll it upwards to a vertical position before applying the pressure to cut. I used to place it vertically right at the beginning and would always cut the threads on one side of the buttonhole.
As stated before, buttonholes on knits should not be thread-heavy. Your fabric will not ravel, so you don't need to have a lot of thread coverage. And a buttonhole that looks like satin stitching will look overdone and will look home-made. Take a look at some shirts that you have purchased to see what manufacturers do with their buttonholes. Make a couple of samples before you make the final ones in the shirt. If you have made one good buttonhole, be sure you can repeat it - that's why I recommend making a couple of test buttonholes. It is always faster to test than to rip out.
The usual recommendation is to make the buttonholes in the same direction as the knit lines. This will result in less stretching out. So, in this shirt, with a placket, the buttonholes will be vertical. This also duplicates the vertical lines of the placket, so the buttonhole looks better.
Tip: If you are using a machine with a 4-step buttonhole, start with the top end first. On my machine, this is called step 4. But I find that if I start with one of the sides, sometimes it doesn't begin where I want it to. Then the position of the buttonhole is slightly off by the time I finish. If you start with the wider end at the top first, then do the left side, make the bottom bar tack, then come back up the right side, you are more in control of the position.
Finally, to find the correct position for the buttons, place the plackets together as they will be worn and stick pins right through the center of the buttonhole to the fabric beneath. This is where you should sew on the buttons. Many sewing books tell you that the button should be positioned near the top of a vertical buttonhole, because gravity will pull the shirt down and the button will rise to the top of the buttonhole. I have never found this to be true and I think that the friction of the fabric prevents this from happening. So I now sew them in the middle position. Do whatever works for you.
By the way, I would love to hear about your success stories with knits. Please email me with any sewing stories you would like me to share with others.
Copyright protected, August 2002, Julie Culshaw
Any sewing questions? I would be happy to try and answer them: you can email me at mail@timmelfabrics.com