Business Casual Part 3-2: One piece collar with contrast stitching, shirt dress “Philippa” tutorial

Welcome to the Business Casual series! We will share exciting tips from various inspiration magazines about sewing elements such as concealed button plackets and lapel collars, polo closure, sleeves or cuffs. In this post, I’ll show you step-by-step how to sew the collar with contrast stitching from the shirt dress “Philippa” from the inspiration Magazine 1/2025.

We showed you how to sew a collar with stand in the article Business Casual Part 3-1: Shirt/Blouse collar with stand. The collar of the shirt dress “Philippa” is one piece, meaning the collar and stand are cut together. So depending on what kind of collar you wish to sew, you might want to check out both instructions.

If you want to read more helpful tutorials, you can find an overview here: “Tips and Tricks”.  It’s worth checking back regularly or subscribing to the newsletter to make sure you can learn our experts’ tricks!

Sewing collars – step by step instructions

Step 1: Cutting and ironing on the interlining

The collar for the “Philippa” shirt dress consists of just one pattern piece, which you cut twice in the fabric fold.

Iron an interlining onto the undercollar to reinforce it.

Step 2: Sew the collar together

Lay your collar pieces right sides together and sew them together along the outer edge. Sink the needle into the fabric at the corners and then lift your presser foot to turn the collar. This prevents the 2 layers from shifting. You can now sew all the way through.

Cut off the seam allowance at the corners and cut a small nick as close to the inner corner seam as possible.

Turn the collar inside-out. Make sure that you turn the corners completely. You can use a tool such as a thin metal or wooden stick for this.

Iron your collar.

Step 3: Sew on the upper collar

The first step is to sew the top collar to the neckline. The upper collar is the collar piece that you have NOT reinforced with interfacing. Please note: This step is incorrect in the original instructions in the booklet, which starts with the undercollar. However, you actually start with the upper collar.

Place the upper collar with the right side on the wrong side – i.e. the inside – of your neckline. Pin it in place and sew it on. At the ends, the top collar will protrude 1 mm over the button placket.

Step 4: Sew on the undercollar and topstitch the collar

Now press the seam allowance of your undercollar – the one with the interfacing pressed on – 1 cm inwards.

Now pin it to the neckline just outside the seam of the upper collar.

Fold the seam allowances neatly inwards at the ends or the button plackets, making sure that everything is nice and smooth.

To ensure that the collar lies nicely afterwards, lay it out as you want it to lie later and iron the upper collar a little beyond the fold.

Now topstitch the collar all the way around and sew the undercollar to the neckline at the same time. We sew from the right side of the fabric and start at the center back, where we end again. This way, our securing stitches are  not visible from the outside at the end when we fold our collar down.

I choose a yarn color that stands out in contrast to my fabric. It’s the same in the original dress from inspiration magazine. However, you can of course also choose an inconspicuous thread color.

Sew very close to the edge and raise and lower your presser foot to reposition your fabric in the corners – always lower the needle into the fabric first!

Finished! Our collar with contrast stitching is done. All that is left is deciding on your closure.

I hope my instructions have helped you with your sewing. If you have any questions, you can always write to me in the comments directly below this post.

See you next time,

your Linda