T-shirt Necklines

[MLWCS]

I have a bunch of women's t-shirts (the form-fitting type) that have high
necklines. I would like to lower the necklines, if possible - preferably
scoop and not V. I'm not sure how to do this (without stretching, puckering,
etc.).
Is binding necessary on these mostly 100% cotton T's, or can i turn under and
stitch? What type of stitch do i use?

Any advice would be appreciated. Used to sew a lot years ago, but lately
it's limited to a mending or altering.

Thank you.

[Cynthia Spilsted]

I personally prefer to bind my necklines. It is more work but the finished
results are worth it. If you do not want to bind the neckline, I would
suggest cutting a piece of clear swimsuit elastic just slightly smaller than
the neck opening. Baste this to the wrong side with a long, wide zigzag
stitch. Turn the raw edge to the inside of the t-shirt and stitch along the
edge with a narrow short zigzag stitch (about 2 wide and 1.5 long). This
will give the neckline a memory and prevent gaping and sagging. Hope this
helps.
Cynthia
"MLWCS" > wrote in message
news:Zx0gb.18781$Rd4.12440@fed1read07...
> I have a bunch of women's t-shirts (the form-fitting type) that have high
> necklines. I would like to lower the necklines, if possible - preferably
> scoop and not V. I'm not sure how to do this (without stretching,
puckering,
> etc.).
> Is binding necessary on these mostly 100% cotton T's, or can i turn under
and
> stitch? What type of stitch do i use?
>
> Any advice would be appreciated. Used to sew a lot years ago, but lately
> it's limited to a mending or altering.
>
> Thank you.

[Trish Brown]

Cynthia Spilsted wrote:
>
> I personally prefer to bind my necklines. It is more work but the finished
> results are worth it. If you do not want to bind the neckline, I would
> suggest cutting a piece of clear swimsuit elastic just slightly smaller than
> the neck opening. Baste this to the wrong side with a long, wide zigzag
> stitch. Turn the raw edge to the inside of the t-shirt and stitch along the
> edge with a narrow short zigzag stitch (about 2 wide and 1.5 long). This
> will give the neckline a memory and prevent gaping and sagging. Hope this
> helps.
> Cynthia


Cynthia, that's *such* a clever idea! I've used that technique in making
swimmers and leotards for my daughter but never thought to apply it to T-shirts!
What a nice, clean, just-stretchy-enough finish that will make - I'm going to
give that a go! Thanks!
--
Trish {|:-}
Newcastle, NSW, Australia

[Kate Dicey]

Trish Brown wrote:
>
> Cynthia Spilsted wrote:
> >
> > I personally prefer to bind my necklines. It is more work but the finished
> > results are worth it. If you do not want to bind the neckline, I would
> > suggest cutting a piece of clear swimsuit elastic just slightly smaller than
> > the neck opening. Baste this to the wrong side with a long, wide zigzag
> > stitch. Turn the raw edge to the inside of the t-shirt and stitch along the
> > edge with a narrow short zigzag stitch (about 2 wide and 1.5 long). This
> > will give the neckline a memory and prevent gaping and sagging. Hope this
> > helps.
> > Cynthia
>
> Cynthia, that's *such* a clever idea! I've used that technique in making
> swimmers and leotards for my daughter but never thought to apply it to T-shirts!
> What a nice, clean, just-stretchy-enough finish that will make - I'm going to
> give that a go! Thanks!
> --
> Trish {|:-}
> Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Same here! Idea filed for later use! Hm... Wonder how it would work
with that 'invisible' elastic? Got some somewhere...
--
Kate XXXXXX
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

[Susiemw]

Here is a link to the answers I got when i asked this exact same question
several years ago.

good luck

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&threadm=24149-3ACF4550-
16%40storefull-621.iap.bryant.webtv.net&rnum=4&prev=/groups%3Fhl%3Den%26lr
%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26selm%3D24149-3ACF4550-16%2540storefull-621.iap.bryant.w
ebtv.net%26rnum%3D4

or do a search on t shirt & neckline. the date for the posts were april 2001.

susan

[Liz]

For anyone who has trouble with multi-line URLs, try http://tinyurl.com/q4kz

Liz

"Susiemw" > wrote in message
...
> Here is a link to the answers I got when i asked this exact same question
> several years ago.
>
> good luck
>
> http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&threadm=24149-3ACF4550-
> 16%40storefull-621.iap.bryant.webtv.net&rnum=4&prev=/groups%3Fhl%3Den%26lr
> %3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26selm%3D24149-3ACF4550-16%2540storefull-621.iap.bryant.w
> ebtv.net%26rnum%3D4
>
> or do a search on t shirt & neckline. the date for the posts were april
2001.
>
> susan

[[email protected]]

Re: T-shirt Necklines

Well, that was my step-by-step solution for cutting a dress (or
non-stretchy garment) neckline down, but, for a T shirt neckline, I'd
skip the interfacing details, and either use a stretch binding, or a
small satin binding around the neck.
In my reply over at alt.sewing, I mentioned that I use two rows of
stitching in the seam-to-be, to stabilize the new knit neckline and keep
it from laddering. Stitch before cutting the neckline down.
(Nice short link URL, Liz!)
Cea
---
(Liz)
For anyone who has trouble with multi-line URLs, try
http://tinyurl.com/q4kz
---
"Susiemw" > wrote :
Here is a link to the answers I got when i asked this exact same
question several years ago.
<snipped>

[[email protected]]

On Wed, 08 Oct 2003 04:51:52 GMT, "Liz" > wrote:

>For anyone who has trouble with multi-line URLs, try http://tinyurl.com/q4kz
>
>Liz

You can also preced the linkwith a "<" and end it with a ">" (minus
the quote marks)

<http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&threadm=24149-3ACF4550-16%40storefull-621.iap.bryant.webtv.net&rnum=4&prev=/groups%3Fhl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26selm%3D24149-3ACF4550-16%2540storefull-621.iap.bryant.webtv.net%26rnum%3D4>

[Elizabeth Hall]

Would be interested to know if this elastic is available in the UK as I have
never heard of it and it would eliminate the problem of trying to match
colours. What a good idea.
Liz
"Cynthia Spilsted" > wrote in message
...
> I personally prefer to bind my necklines. It is more work but the
finished
> results are worth it. If you do not want to bind the neckline, I would
> suggest cutting a piece of clear swimsuit elastic just slightly smaller
than
> the neck opening. Baste this to the wrong side with a long, wide zigzag
> stitch. Turn the raw edge to the inside of the t-shirt and stitch along
the
> edge with a narrow short zigzag stitch (about 2 wide and 1.5 long). This
> will give the neckline a memory and prevent gaping and sagging. Hope this
> helps.
> Cynthia
> "MLWCS" > wrote in message
> news:Zx0gb.18781$Rd4.12440@fed1read07...
> > I have a bunch of women's t-shirts (the form-fitting type) that have
high
> > necklines. I would like to lower the necklines, if possible -
preferably
> > scoop and not V. I'm not sure how to do this (without stretching,
> puckering,
> > etc.).
> > Is binding necessary on these mostly 100% cotton T's, or can i turn
under
> and
> > stitch? What type of stitch do i use?
> >
> > Any advice would be appreciated. Used to sew a lot years ago, but
lately
> > it's limited to a mending or altering.
> >
> > Thank you.
>
>

[Trish Brown]

Elizabeth Hall wrote:
>
> Would be interested to know if this elastic is available in the UK as I have
> never heard of it and it would eliminate the problem of trying to match
> colours. What a good idea.
> Liz


You can use the technique with ordinary knicker elastic. I've just made DD's
ballet costume (printed leotard) in this way (ie zig zag the elastic to the
neck, arm and leg holes, then turning once and zig zagging again) - the shop had
run out of clear elastic and so I was forced to use the ordinary stuff. Works
just the same!

HTH,
--
Trish {|:-}
Newcastle, NSW, Australia