An overwrought overlapped V neckband, and how it could have been avoided

One thing I liked about the Kwik Sew 304 top I made the other week was the overlapped V neckband.

But wait, you say, isn't that just a regular V neckband with a seam down CF? Well, it is, it turns out, if you look at the Vintage Patterns Wikia's picture of the envelope front linked above, and I suspect if you try to follow the intent of the instructions (which are not the clearest).

The funny thing is, my envelope shows a definite overlapped neckline. I wonder if the illustration was changed to match the instructions? I suspect it was — my envelope style, with its mention of Sew-Knit-n-Stretch instead of Kwik Sew at the bottom, is probably the older of the two.

Anyway, I tried to make a compromise between the instructions and the result that is shown on my envelope. For whatever it's worth, I documented the process, but this is certainly not the simplest way to do it. Skip to the end for that.

First, the band is attached most of the way around the neckline. This pattern marks CF, shoulder seams, and CB on the neckband piece. The proper right side of neckband is stitched on all the way to the corner (most patterns would mark this with a dot). The left side is left free for a bit more than the width of the neckband.

To see how this will work: the proper right side of the neckband -- here seen at viewer's left -- will be on top, meaning that where it's being folded under here will be where you want to stitch it to the neckline. 

This particular pattern happens to have you cut some extra length past CF in the neckband; I would guess many others would give no more than the seam allowance.

This is where we want the stitching line on the neckband to match the one on the neckline. If anything, slant it a bit short at the folded edge, to tighten it up -- but not too much, or it will pull at the neckline.

You may as well clip the neckband to the dot now. 

If you're concerned about fraying or stretching, you may want to have staystitched the V before beginning; many patterns will tell you to do this. I don't think it's that crucial on a firm knit like this, especially if one handles it as little as possible after the clipping.

The stitching line on the band matched up to the stitching line on the opening, with the other end of the neckband held out of the way. This is slightly awkward. Stitch from the corner (so you just meet up with the end of the previous stitching — at the dot, if the pattern has one) to the folded edge of the neckband.

Then the left neckband goes flat on top, and you stitch again over the just-previous stitching, through left neckband, right neckband, and neck opening. Also be sure this stitching closes up any remaining hole between the left neckband and the neckline.

It should look like this from the outside. The remaining end of the left neckband is not yet stitched down, so as you can see in the right of the photo, that side of the band looks a little loose.

 

Now the proper left neckband is stitched, roughly perpendicular to the band, down along the first stitching that was done to attach the right neckband to the neckline. This stitching is analogous to the one was chalk-marked on the right end of the neckband, and again, the neckband can be shorted slightly toward its folded edge.

As this pattern had some excess length in the neckband, that can now be trimmed off. (I actually cut the pattern piece a bit short on one end, for lack of fabric.) Again, I would guess many other patterns will just give you the seam allowance, and that step would then be unnecessary.

Now that I've gone and said all that... I drew out the steps far more than necessary. Instead, you could just [reinforce and] clip the neck opening, lay out the neckband with the overlap as it should sit when finished, and attach it not all that differently from how you'd attach a round neckband — you'd just have to start and end at CF. This method would make it much easier to use a serger as well. The only disadvantage I can see is not being able to adjust the tightness of the neckband along its folded edge, but I think that's just as well done in the pattern in the first place.

As for what this says about older Kwik Sew patterns: I feel that as far as instruction quality and overall polish, Kwik Sew really hit its stride sometime in the mid-to-late 80s. By then, their patterns had cutting layouts, very professional-looking flats and construction diagrams, and completely reliable (if not necessarily glamorous) illustrations. Even so, I would say many of their older patterns are really unique and worth seeking out. Their swimwear, knitwear, and lingerie in particular were more varied than the other American brands'. The company still exists — since 2011, as part of Butterick/McCall's/Vogue — but I feel that it's really drifted away from that niche in the past few years. You can see many other vintage Kwik Sews on the Vintage Patterns Wikia.