V-neck Tutorial Round-up

Last week I vented my frustration with sewing a V-neck tshirt, and vowed to find a better/easier way to do it. I think a V-neck is feminine and flattering and I would hate to remove it from my repertoire just because it's hard. I decided to scour the internet and my favorite books and find the very best tutorials for sewing a V-neck.

First of all, there are quite a few different ways/looks that you can achieve and still technically be a V-neck. Facings, lapped neckbands, continuous neckbands, and mitered neckbands are the ones I came across during my search. Take a look at the following photos and links and choose the one that works best for you!

Facings

• Sewing a V-neck Facing by Salme Patterns
• Art of Dressmaking

Lapped Neckbands

• Easy V-Neck Sewing Tutorial from The Sewing Rabbit
• "Mitered" V-neck binding from Cake Patterns (check out the Caveats for great tips)

Continuous Neckbands

• How to Sew a V-neck t-shirt by Seamwork Magazine
• Not a tutorial, but there are great directions in the instructions for the V-neck view of the Sewaholic Renfrew pattern.

Mitered Neckbands

• Sewing with Knits

This technique works better with a more gentle curve to the neckline, you can even try it with a scoop neck pattern.

In addition to these links, there are a bunch of videos on YouTube if that will work better for you. After doing this a few times I would highly recommend staystitching the V of the shirt, reinforcing the V with some scrap knit interfacing, and basting. Practice helps! And don't forget topstitching to help control unruly seam allowances.

Have you sewn a V-neck, or avoided it? What's your favorite method?