Thrifted Mens Shirt With Diy Peter Pan Collar

Add a super cute Peter Pan collar to an otherwise ordinary mens button-down shirt!

Posted by Erica L.

About

I was inspired by a verrrry cute shirt I saw online that went for about $100-something. I realized I could just add a collar to a regular shirt with some scrap fabric and get the same thing for way less!

I eyeballed everything and improvised along the way, so forgive me for not including measurements and details. I wanted my collar to be narrow, with a wide neckline, so I made sure I cut my pieces as best I could to fit that. I used a collar tutorial (http://www.sew2pro.com/back-to-front-blouse/) to see how the basic shape should look and how to attach it correctly using bias tape. Work slowly and make adjustments if you need to.

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You Will Need (5 things)

  • 1 Mens Shirt
  • ¼ yd Fabric
  • Straight Pins
  • Bias Tape
  • Sewing Machine

Steps (8 steps, 60 minutes)

  1. 1

    Thrift a mens button down shirt (or grab an old one from a friend/boyfriend/brother/dad). I got a couple for about $5 each. For the collar, you'll need about .25 yards of fabric (I bought a remnant for about $2 at the craft store).

  2. 2

    Try the shirt on and decide how low you want the collar to be, and place a straight pin about .5 above that point to mark it (you want just a little bit of extra fabric to attach the collar to). I used straight pins as a guide for the shape of the neckline (a wide v) as well. I also used a seam ripper to take the tag out so that it wouldn't get in the way.

  3. 3

    To cut the original collar off, lay the shirt flat on its side with the collar pulled taught. This way, you can cut through both sides at once, using the pins as a guide for a straight line. I cut my collar wide and low, but you can cut narrower/higher if you'd like.

  4. 4

    This is where it gets a little tricky! For the new collar, you'll need 4 identical pieces of fabric. I made a rounded Peter Pan shape that curved and tapered at the end, and made sure that it was a little longer than half of the cut neckline shape. Use this piece as a guide to make 3 more. I made mine pretty narrow, but you can experiment with a wider collar too.

  5. 5

    Sew 2 of the fabric collar pieces together, along the edges so that they match up. Turn inside out so that the edges are concealed inside. Repeat with remaining collar pieces.

  6. 6

    You'll need the bias tape to attach the collar pieces to to the shirt. I highly recommend using this tutorial (it's for a child's shirt, but it shows/explains the process very well and helped me a lot): http://www.sew2pro.com/back-to-front-blouse/. Since I made my collar pieces a little longer than the neckline, I simply overlapped the collar ends around the back and sewed them in place so that I wouldn't have to worry about making them a specific length.

  7. 7

    Press the collar so that it lays flat.

  8. 8

    Style however you'd like! I wore mine with high-waisted shorts and tights, but I also like wearing it over leggings.