I must have been a fan of sewing & crafting from a young age, because I grew up looking at this book ever since I can remember. It was always a familiar presence on our bookshelves.
Turning the pages the other day took me to a section of accessories for women, which would be quite on-trend today. I refer to the detachable collar which is all over the fashion map today starting at the top. Louis Vuitton’s Marc Jacobs sent out ladylike designs for the Spring Summer 2012 collection with the detachable collar as a recurring theme.
Inspired by the old craft book, I decided to start making the lacy collar pictured on the page. The instructions are simple. You start out with”narrow” lace; I used 7/8″ wide ecru cotton lace purchased from a past ASG Conference vendor, Luc from The Netherlands. “Narrow” lace could mean anything but I am using this one because I have it :).
Reading through the instructions, I figured that I will have to go my own way with the measurements and the method. The original was for a close-to-the-neck jewel neckline for a very thin person. This is what I did so far: Cut the lace into 20 pieces, 6″ each. 
Sewed inner edge of the lace with a running stitch and gathered the thread; made a knot.
Sewed up the shorter ends together to make a complete 
flower. Continued with the rest of the lace pieces to make 20 circles/flowers. You can follow any method of making these flowers, actually (how about yo-yos?). See “audition” picture below.
Audition!
Next step has not yet been accomplished: Sew 14 circles together in a straight line through the center; pin a 15″ length of bias binding enclosing one edge of the flower unit, pulling the binding a little so that it curves. When satisfied with the curve, sew the bias binding permanently. Attach 1 remaining circle between first & second circle, and one more between the second & third. Attach another extra circle between the last two to create a collar shape. Repeat for the other side of the collar.
There are no instructions for how to attach the collar to the neckline; I think the book assumes that the wearer will hand tack it on, but laundry issues emerge. I would rather attach this collar with small buttons, or add a flange which will tuck inside the neckline.
Here’s what I see: this project can go either way. It will be a really nice looking, or a really juvenile look for someone like me. Watch what happens……
I need your help here! Lets have some attachment options in the comments section. If you’ve made detachable collars, can we see?? Send me a picture — you know where to find me.
Samina, American Sewing Guild. Follow us on Twitter @SewingGuild
PS: Sorry about the bad formatting of this post, and about the delay in uploading it. 🙁
Jewelry designers at Dannijo came up with this Peter Pan collar. Brilliant!!
Oooo — Samina, what a fun concept! I wear a lot of vee neck tops so I’m going to try to figure out how to do a detachable for that style. I like your idea of a flange that inserts, maybe buttons on the inside of the garment… or small flat snaps? I’d better get to work!
Check out 2nd hand stores for old fashion doilies. Make great “lacey” attachments to plain t-shirts and tank tops.