Monday, January 15, 2007

Convert this.








If Almy is going to charge $54for a shirt that doesn't fit, we've got the option of paying just as much (albeit overpriced) for a shirt that does, and then changing the collar (very simple surgery).
Kudos to Lauren for finding this one--and it's on sale!
You can take any collared shirt to a tailor to have it converted--I'd recommend taking a bonafide clergy shirt and collar and studs with you to demonstrate. But it's easy to do at home if you're not scared of a needle and thread:
  1. Acquire a seam ripper, a needle, black thread, and a thimble.
  2. With a seam ripper, detach the collar (the part that folds down on a normal shirt).
  3. Sew up the seam that's left; it now looks like a band/mandarin collar.
  4. Sew a small button onto the outside of the very back of the neck.
  5. Sew a small button onto the inside of the front of the neck, right behind where the top button already is.
  6. Voila. No studs, buttonholes, ironing, or sewing machine needed.

PS: You will have to adjust the size of the collars you wear; nobody that sells clothes at the mall intends for anything to be as tight as the clergywear people do. So, on a typical 'small' size shirt, try a size 15.5 collar. It takes some experimentation.

4 comments:

Lauren Browder said...

YEAH SUSAN!
Yes, I did find the shirts at Banana Republic, but the sale price has not made it down here to Lubbock. They had white, black, pink, and something else that I didn't think would work. Also, they come in fitted (tighter in the chest) or tailored (more loose in the chest) depending on your preference. My only problem with them was that they were really long, and I like to wear my shirts untucked. This weekend I'm taking one to an alterations lady here in town. I'll let you know how it works out! Let me know if you all have found any other good solutions!

Anonymous said...

You can modify mock-neck turtlenecks in the same way, if you can find the ones with tight, high, thin collars.

Just fold it in and tack it, or cut half off and serge edges or have them serge. Attach small buttons and there you go!

Anonymous said...

Where do you get the collar to put on the altered shirt?? (I'm new at this)

susan said...

You get the collars from the Almy website, or Whipple, or WomenSpirit, or wherever you can find vestments. Getting collars from the 'Family Christian Bookstore' is not recommended; they usually don't have them in small enough sizes for women. I recommend 'clericool,' because they look less like cheap plastic than some of the others. Good luck!