A better collar.

If you're sick of reading my yammerings about interfacing, click away now . . .

You may remember that the lovely shirt I made for Hubby had some interfacing problems, i.e. the fusible kept coming un-fused. 

I tried to re-fuse it, but sadly, every time I washed the shirt, it would un-fuse again.  It took me a good 15 minutes to iron this shirt - three times what it normally takes - just to get it looking somewhat presentable.  And with each wash the situation got worse.  It was time to make a new collar.

While I was at it, I changed the shape of the collar.  After Hubby wore the shirt, he told me he felt the collar points were too long, and I had to agree with him.  I hadn't really noticed it at first, but after he mentioned it, I compared the pattern piece to his RTW shirts, and the collar really was quite exaggerated. 

The original collar.

Neither of us are up on men's fashion so we're not sure what the current look is, although he did spot a similar shirt collar the other day at Armani.  Still, he needs to feel comfortable in his shirt, so I reduced the size quite a bit.  This one matches the RTW shirts he's been used to.

The new collar.

I think I mentioned the other day that I ordered a few different interfacings from Fashion Sewing Supply.  In my pink shirt, I used Pro-Sheer Elegance Medium, and felt it was a little stiffer than I wanted for my own collar.  So yesterday I made 4 collar pieces:  two in each fabric (the white of the old shirt and the yellow of the new shirt I'm making), one with Pro-Sheer Medium and one with ProWoven Shirt-Crisp.  Then I held all the pieces of each collar (upper, under and stay slot) together to see how they felt.

Fashion Sewing Supply lists Shirt-Crisp as a crisp but not super-stiff collar interfacing.  I found it to be lighter in weight than the interfacing from my local fabric shop which I used on the first shirt.  It did apply somewhat easier than my previous interfacing, but I still had to go over each area several times to get it to fuse.  The directions say that some fabrics will fuse more easily without steam; I tried it both ways on the same collar, so I'm not really sure which one did the trick!  I think I've got a stable collar now, but only a run through the washer and dryer will tell me for sure.

I had a lengthy discussion with a lady at the fabric store last week who told me that fusible interfacings are not meant to be washed and dried, and that men's shirts should ONLY be made with sew-in interfacing.  I'm not really sure I agree with her, but time will tell.  I'm contemplating taking apart one of Hubby's RTW shirts to see how it's done.  I hesitate to use sew-in interfacing because I don't want the bulk in the seam allowances and can't figure out how to do it with the seam allowances trimmed!  Basting, I guess.  Sigh.  Any ideas from you shirt-makers out there?

Meanwhile, here's the collar for the new shirt, to give you an idea of the stiffness:

The Interfacing of Choice

There was some discussion when I posted my shirt muslin about which interfacing was best for a business shirt collar and cuffs.  I'd tried Pellon Shape Flex on the muslin and not been entirely happy with it.  At JoAnn's I bought some Pellon 950F Shir-Tailor.  And then at my local fabric shop when I was buying the shirt fabric, I asked if they had a good interfacing.

The lady at the counter produced a bolt of heavy woven fusible.  When I asked what it was called, she said, "Shirt Interfacing."  I checked the bolt itself but it was unmarked.  So I said, "I'll try a yard."

When I got started on my collar yesterday, I cut two collars and a piece of each interfacing.  I fused them to my fabric to see which one I liked better.  For me, the "Shirt Interfacing" won hands down.  It feels firm and crisp, but still allows the fabric to have some give.  (The Pellon 950F is a non-woven.)

I'm pretty sure that what I bought is the same thing as the Pro-Woven Shirt Crisp Fusible Interfacing sold by Fashion Sewing Supply.  It's about 48" wide and the characteristics match the description.  The price at my local fabric shop was $6 a yard - not nearly as expensive as I'd imagined a high-quality interfacing would be.

This morning I took a few comparison pictures for you guys who are interested.   First is a comparison of the textures, with the "Shirt Interfacing" on the left and the Pellon Shir-Tailor on the right.

 
The glue on the "Shirt Interfacing" is not bumpy like it is on a lot of other interfacings I've used.  Since this didn't come with directions, I had a little trouble at first getting it to fuse.  When I looked on the Fashion Sewing Supply website, I found a great instruction page and had much better luck when I followed their instructions.  

Rather than using the wool setting and pressing for 5 seconds in each place like I do with most fusibles, I used the highest setting on my iron with as much steam as I could get, and pressed for 20 seconds in each place, starting from the interfacing side.  Then I turned the piece over and did the same on the fabric side.  Finally, I kept the high heat and turned off the steam and pressed again on the fabric side.  Even with all that high heat and steam, there were some areas I had to go over again.

This next collage shows the difference in weight.  I threw in the Pellon Shape Flex I used on my muslin so you could see how much heavier this " Shirt Interfacing" is.  The Shirt Interfacing is on the left, Shir-Tailor in the middle and Shape Flex on the right.  I put a single layer of each on my very colorful guest room duvet  - notice how much color shows through on each.

I hope this is helpful for some of you.  It seems like it's not that easy to find information on interfacings and which ones to use for any given project.  That said, I think personal preference comes into play - personally I like a much softer collar on my own blouses.

Some people were also interested in whether I thought the David Coffin Shirtmaking book was worth buying and reading.  My answer is an unreserved yes.  I made my muslin with a combination of the pattern instructions and this book, but for my final shirt I'm going completely "by the book" and I think the results are really professional-looking.  Here's my collar, constructed as Coffin recommends.  Check out the built-in curve which will help it lay against the body nicely:

And here's a final sneak peek - I got as far as finishing the collar yesterday:

Not bad,  if I do say so myself!