Lark Sew-Along: V-Neck

Today we're going to finish up the neckline of the V-Neck. For this I recommend using a combination of your sewing machine and serger if this is your first time putting in a v-neck band. If you've done a few and are feeling confident you can put it in using only your serger, but we'll be doing things long form for this tutorial.

Begin by aligning the two V edges of the neck band together with right sides facing each other.

Stitch at 1/4" along the edge and clip into the point to, but not through, the stitching line.

Press the seam allowance of the V seam open.

Fold the raw edges of the neckband to meet each other with the right side of the fabric to the outside. Press & trim off the v points that overhang the neck band.

On the shirt, staystitch just inside the 1/4" seam allowance at the point of the v. Clip to, but not through, the stitching at the point.

Quarter both the neckband and neckline as you did for the scoop & crew necks in the previous post. This will help to evenly insert the neckline binding.

Now you're going to arrange the point of the neckline binding with the V of the neckline as shown above.

You can either stitch just the point with your machine at a 1/4" seam allowance, then attach the rest of the neckline via serger, or you can stitch around the entire neckline and then use your serger to finish the seam allowance. If this is your first v-neck you may want to use your machine around the entire neckline. This way if you need to do any adjusting it will be a bit easier than with a serger.

Once you have the neckband in and finished it will look like this from the wrong side. You'll want to press the seam allowance towards the shirt.

Unlike with the scoop & crew necks, you'll not be able to use a coverstitch to stitch around the neckline of the shirt because of the fact that coverstitch machines are unable to turn corners. You can try to start stitching at the center front, around the back, ending at the other side of the V, but I find that most RTW v-neck shirts aren't stitched around the neckline. You can easily run a stretch stitch or zigzag though.

Next up is the boatneck, almost done!