Oaklynn Sew-a-long: Day 5

We’re nearing the end of our Oaklynn sew-a-long! Today we’ll be attaching our neckband and/or hood.

CREW NECK:

The biggest thing we see about the crew neck band in our FB group is that the band is “sticking up”. This band is a bit wider than our neckbands normally are; this is intentional. If you are using fabric with too much recovery (think custom cotton spandex), your band will be more likely to stick up more rather than relaxing. For these fabrics, you may need to remove a bit of width (the long side, going with the stretch); begin by removing 1/4″-1/2″ and see if that resolves the issue.
Do be sure to take the full seam allowance.

HEMMED HOOD:

Make sure you’ve cut on the crew neckline, not the v-neck line!
Be sure you’ve cut your hood pieces out as mirror images.
The edges of the hood should NOT overlap; you will butt the edges together and baste to keep them from shifting during attachment.

V-NECK:

Make sure that you do the inverted v snips at the corners! This will help you achieve a smooth finish.
Only stretch along the back neckline; to help with this, pin/clip center back, then the “V”, then the remainder of the neckline so you can make sure you’re not stretching the front neckline at all.
Use your sewing machine for the “v” portion of the front neckline; this will help you maintain a crisp finish. You can serge the edges after to finish them. You can also baste the entire neckband ahead of time.

BANDED HOOD:

First, you will need to attach your hood.
Be sure you’ve cut the appropriate neckline.
After the hood is attached, you’ll attach the v-neck band just as in the written tutorial.

Don’t forget:

For all options, make sure you are taking an accurate and consistent seam allowance
Basting your neckband/hood first is a great way to ensure you’ve stretched appropriately, and gives you a chance to do any troubleshooting you might need to do for the best finish possible
Be sure not to stretch the actual neckline while clipping/pinning/sewing.

Want to sew along with me? Check out today’s video!

If you have questions about attaching your hood or neckband, you are always welcome to post in our SAL group so we can help you! Be sure to check in each day during the SAL, and look for daily posts to enter our giveaways. We can’t wait to see what you create this week!