Novelty Necklines: Beyond the Basic Neckline

 

Move beyond basic necklines with creative ways to reshape, correct, and embellish your sewing patterns. Explore notched, double, woven-tube, and scarf-embellished necklines while learning how small design changes can give a familiar pattern a completely new look.

How to Reshape, Correct, and Embellish Necklines to Give Your Sewing Patterns a Creative New Look

A neckline doesn't have to stay exactly as it was drawn on the sewing pattern.

Once you understand how a neckline is shaped and finished, it becomes another area where you can experiment with design. You can make it wider or narrower, raise or lower it, introduce angles or notches, layer one neckline over another, add dimensional fabric details, or embellish it with something as simple as a scarf.

You can also correct a neckline that doesn't behave the way you expected.

A neckline that gaps away from the body doesn't necessarily mean the garment—or even the pattern—is a failure. Sometimes a relatively small pattern adjustment can make an enormous difference.

Novelty necklines are where fitting and creativity come together.

Reshaping a Neckline

One of the easiest ways to give a familiar sewing pattern a different appearance is to change the neckline.

A round neckline might become a V-neck. A high neckline could become a wider scoop. A basic square neckline could be made deeper, shallower, narrower, or wider.

But don't think only about changing one neckline style into another.

Even altering the width and depth of the existing neckline can change the character of a garment.

Before cutting your fashion fabric, trace the original bodice pattern rather than cutting into it. Draw your proposed neckline on the copy so you can preserve the original pattern.

Remember that changing the neckline may also mean changing its finish. A facing, binding, lining, or other neckline treatment designed for the original shape may no longer fit after the neckline has been altered.

That's another opportunity to design.

Resolving a Gaping Neckline

Few things are more frustrating than sewing a garment that seems to fit well everywhere—except for a neckline that stands away from the body.

Before trying to fix the finished garment, consider why the neckline is gaping.

The neckline may have stretched during construction, particularly if portions were cut on the bias. The garment may be too large through the upper bodice. The neckline itself may simply contain more length than is needed for your shape.

If you're still working with the pattern, a small wedge can sometimes be removed from the neckline area and transferred into an existing dart or otherwise incorporated into the bodice shaping.

If the problem is caused by stretching during construction, stabilizing the neckline earlier in the sewing process can help prevent it.

Staystitching, careful handling, and appropriate interfacing or stabilizing methods can make an important difference.

Don't automatically pull the neckline tighter with binding and hope the problem disappears. First determine whether you're correcting stretching, excess pattern length, or a fitting issue.

Once you understand the cause, the solution becomes much easier.

Create a Novelty Notched Neckline

A notch can turn an otherwise simple neckline into a distinctive design feature.

Start with a round, square, or relatively straight neckline and introduce a notch at the center front.

The notch might be narrow and subtle or wider and more dramatic. It can be V-shaped, rectangular, or another geometric shape.

This is a wonderful example of how a very small pattern alteration can make a garment look completely different.

The finishing method becomes especially important around the corners and points. A properly drafted facing can help produce a crisp, intentional shape.

You can also emphasize the notch with contrast fabric, piping, decorative stitching, or buttons.

Suddenly, the neckline isn't merely an opening in the garment.

It's a focal point.

Experiment With a Double Neckline

Why have one neckline when you can visually create two?

A double neckline uses layering to produce depth and contrast around the neck. One neckline shape can appear behind or beneath another, creating the illusion of layered garments or an inset.

Try combining contrasting shapes.

A V-neck could reveal a curved neckline beneath it. A square outer neckline could frame a softer inner shape.

Color and fabric can make the effect even more interesting.

Use two shades of the same color for a subtle effect, or introduce a print or contrasting fabric when you want the inner neckline to stand out.

This is also a clever way to use smaller pieces of beautiful fabric left from another project.

Add a Woven-Tube Neckline

A woven-tube treatment introduces texture and dimension around the neckline.

Fabric tubes can be created, turned, and arranged into a woven or interlaced design before being incorporated into the garment.

The tubes might match the garment for a sculptural, monochromatic effect or use contrasting fabrics to emphasize the weaving.

Imagine a solid-colored blouse with several narrow fabric tubes woven together around a simple neckline. The basic blouse becomes the background while the neckline becomes the feature.

This technique invites experimentation.

Before attaching anything permanently, arrange the tubes on the garment or a test neckline. Try different widths, spacing, and weaving arrangements until you find a combination you like.

Sometimes the most interesting design develops while you're playing with the pieces.

Embellish a Neckline With a Scarf

A scarf doesn't always have to be an accessory added after the garment is finished.

It can become part of the garment itself.

A scarf-embellished neckline might incorporate a narrow fabric scarf attached or anchored at the neckline so that it can be tied into a bow, knotted loosely, draped, or allowed to hang.

The scarf can match the garment or provide contrast.

A floral scarf detail could enliven a solid blouse. A solid scarf could provide a quiet contrast against a print. A lightweight, flowing fabric could add softness to an otherwise structured garment.

You can also change the way the scarf is tied from one wearing to another.

That gives a single garment more than one personality.

Shop Your Own Pattern Collection Again

By now, you may be noticing a theme in this creative-design series.

Your pattern collection is a design library.

Look through your patterns specifically for necklines.

Don't worry about whether you like the entire garment pictured on the envelope. You may be interested only in its neckline.

Perhaps one pattern has an unusual notch. Another has a layered neckline. Another uses a scarf treatment you've never considered adding to a blouse.

Study how those details were constructed.

Sometimes you may be able to adapt an actual pattern piece. Other times, the pattern simply gives you an idea for something you can draft yourself.

Either way, you're using your collection differently.

Make a Neckline Sample

Novelty necklines are excellent candidates for sampling.

You don't necessarily need to sew an entire test garment every time you want to experiment with a neckline detail.

Create enough of the upper front and back bodice to test the neckline.

Practice the notch.

Experiment with the woven tubes.

Try different scarf lengths.

Test the double neckline.

Check the facing.

And most importantly, try the neckline against your body whenever fit is involved.

A small sample can answer a lot of questions before you cut into expensive fabric.

One Pattern Can Have Many Necklines

Imagine making the same basic blouse several times.

The first has its original round neckline.

The second has a small center notch.

The third has a contrasting double neckline.

The fourth has a woven-tube treatment.

The fifth has a soft scarf incorporated into the neckline.

The basic pattern hasn't changed very much, yet the finished garments may look completely different.

That's the beauty of learning to personalize sewing patterns.

You stop seeing a pattern as instructions for making one garment and begin seeing it as the foundation for dozens of possibilities.

Look Beyond the Neckline Printed on the Pattern

The next time you pull out a favorite pattern, look at the neckline and ask yourself:

What else could this become?

Could you reshape it?

Could you add a notch?

Could you layer another neckline beneath it?

Could fabric tubes add texture?

Could a scarf turn it into the focal point of the garment?

And if the neckline gaps, could correcting the fit finally turn an almost-right pattern into one you'll want to sew again and again?

Those questions are where creative sewing begins.

The pattern gives you the starting point.

You get to decide where the design goes next.

Find Your Next Neckline Inspiration

Before buying another pattern, explore the sewing patterns you already own and look at their necklines with a designer's eye. Notice unusual shapes, facings, inserts, ties, notches, collars, and embellishments that could inspire your next project.

Need even more ideas? Browse the sewing patterns at The Needle Market Shop for neckline inspiration. You don't have to be searching for an entire garment pattern. Sometimes one interesting design detail is all it takes to inspire something completely new.

You may discover a pattern you want to sew—or an idea that helps you transform a pattern you already love into an original design of your own.