Good to see others trying this - although I do mine for historic reasons rather than for ease of cleaning (which is what the historic motivation was). I've been playing around with this for over 20 years. A few notes which might help- You are making what are known as detachable "single" cuffs - French cuffs are double the width and folded in half over the shirt sleeve. Half inside and half out - and usually soft (not stiffened). I'd also suggest using a much shorter stitch length on your sewing machine - better quality shirts, and almost all historical cloth cuffs and collars use music shorter stitches. A finer needle and good silk thread would also improve the appearance, but not essential. Shirts made for cuff links also often have a twist to the sleeve placket, but again adding this to a modern mass produced shirt is extra work and not strictly necessary. With regards keeping things clean, if you are prepared to use totally natural fibre fabrics (cotton or linen) and then some natural starch, you'll make washing much easier. The reason old detachable collars were starched was initially for ease of laundering. By the late 19th century the aesthetic qualities of heavily starched collars and cuffs were important, but one of the advantages of starching collars was still how it facilitated washing them. You needn't starch them as stiffly as in past times (especially if you aren't looking for historical authenticity), but I'm sure you'll find a little starch helps. In my experience, you do need to use starch powder, not spray or liquid starch as these latter starches often have additives which although they provide stiffness don't seem to give as many of the advantages powdered starch has when it comes to laundering. The finest starches are made from rice, but ordinary cornflour (I think its called corn starch in North America) will work if you find it hard to find a supplier of traditional laundry starch. Try to find one that is a natural as possible - it will just work better. I've used (separately) both Kershaws and cornflour. But I also see as well as Kershaws there is a brand called Argo on Amazon which would probably be just as good. To starch an article check out the directions on the box of starch if there are any. If not, it usually goes something like this. (I'm sure there are things on UA-cam or the internet better than this but in case you don't know) Mix an amount of starch (I'd use a couple of tablespoons, but it depends on the type of starch and the stiffness you want) with a little cold water to a thick paste (devoid of lumps). Then add a sizable quantity of boiling water (about a half a litre to a litre is what I use). The starch should go clear before going white again. Then add some more cold water to get the strength (stiffness) of starch you want and make it easier to handle. Dunk the clean items to be starched into the starch solution and allow them to soak up the starch (it will take a couple of minutes). The longer you leave them the more of the starch will be absorbed and (depending on the concentration of the starch) the stiffer they'll be. Then, dunk the same items in a bucket of clean cold water, but only quickly - if you don't do this you'll get unevenly starched things that are often a bit slimy. Then allow to air or line dry. Do not use a clothes dryer for things starched this way. Iron them when still a little damp to get a crisp finish - or spray with a little water if they are totally dry before ironing (even if you are using a steam iron). They're ready for wearing. The main thing that will help with washing the dirt away is boiling the soiled articles. You need to use really hot water to wash the starch and the dirt out of the fabric. The starch, rather than the fabric, will absorb most (if not all) of the grease and dirt while you are wearing the collar or cuffs. So all you need to do is get the starch out of the items and they're clean. Ordinary laundry soaps won't get the starch (or the dirt) out effectively if the water isn't really hot. Before modern washing machines, most clothes that could handle it, would be boiled in a "copper". If you don't have a machine that will boil clothes (and most don't these days) or a working copper and you're only doing collars and cuffs, a large pot on you kitchen stove works well. Add a little laundry soap (I use Lux flakes but I'm sure anything that's for washing by hand would work) to a nearly full pot of water and when it is boiling add the collars and cuffs for about 10 - 20 minutes, then rinse a couple of times in a tub or bucket of cold water replacing the water for each rinse and wringing the items in your hands to get all the soap etc out. If they're badly soiled sometimes I'll scrub them with a brush and some sunlight soap before repeating the boiling, but I have rarely had to do this. Sometimes I also put them into the washing machine with other "whites", but make sure the boiled things are well rinsed or you might end up slightly starching other things in the wash if all the starch hasn't come out. But they are usually ok just with boiling and don't need the machine. Then you can re-starch them. There are also a number of places that will supply good soft and stiff detachable collars - although making them yourself is fun and usually much cheaper. I'd recommend you have a look at the following, if for no other reason than to get ideas. Darcy clothing www.darcyclothing.com/ in England, RJW Shirts www.rjwshirts.net/ in Australia, and for custom made shirts try Luxire luxire.com/ - I believe they'll do soft collar detachable, although I have only had attached collar shirts from them using their vintage shirt design. There's a company in the US called Amazon Dry Goods www.amazondrygoods.com/categories/collars.html that make the original disposable style collars.
Thank you for taking time to write such a detailed explanation. I am most grateful and will try your suggestions about using rice starch instead of cornflour. I will also investigate the double cuff and twist.
@@jimkoss3318 - there's not really a source for patterns I know of other than finding vintage adverts for collar styles (Arrow Collar Man etc) and copying. Please let me know if you do find anything better. You could always buy old collars and try copying them. Although you'd usually need to enlarge the length as most old collars that have survived are small. I sometimes look on Etsy or Ebay and just save the pictures of vintage collars I like which are being sold. Cheaper than having to buy something that is invariably too small to ever wear. Another approach would be deconstructing an old attached collar shirt that fits you. (remember that a detached collar needs to be bigger than an attached collar to be able to fit around the collar band of the shirt). I'd be hesitant to pull a vintage collar apart - just because of it's historical value. There'll undoubtedly be some trial and error before you get something you're happy with. I have a couple of modern detachable collars which fit my neck well. I used them to draft the basic pattern for the stand half of the collar. I traced them from flat and then transferred this to create a cardboard pattern on card (something like flexible brown Manilla card works well). Then when cutting out the part, I add a seam allowance, but no allowance for the inner lining or the seams (especially the points) are too bulky. I draft the collar patterns (other half of the collar) using the images I have, eventually making it out of out of card also. You can always cellotape the trial collar patterns to the stand pattern (leaving a little gap along the fold to act as a hinge) and try them out on a shirt before committing to fabric. When you're happy, carefully cut down the join and you have the patterns back to use. It's best to use proper studs (rather than buttons for this (just punch out a little slot for the collar studs with a hole punch) as you don't want to wreck the patterns getting them on or off your neck.. To construct I have tried two methods. Firstly, I tack the lining to one half of the collar and notch the seam allowance where needed. Then press the allowance over, doing the same to the other half and top stitch them together. It really can help to lightly starch the lining / inner fabric before cutting or sewing anything.This seems to come out neater (especially on single piece non folding collars such as a wing-tip style) than the other method of stitching right sides together and turning and then top stitching afterwards - although I have had success doing that also. Hope this helps.
1920sman Thank you very much. This is a better explanation than I had any hope to expect. I am not aware of any vintage patterns anywhere. I have found a site to procure modern detachable collars (i.e., Historical Emporium). So I will attempt to design my own collars. What fun!
@@jimkoss3318 I used one of my standard shirt patterns and modified it. I have not hunted to find a pre-fabricated pattern for them. If you make one, let me know, I would be most interested in trying it out.
Good to see others trying this - although I do mine for historic reasons rather than for ease of cleaning (which is what the historic motivation was). I've been playing around with this for over 20 years.
A few notes which might help-
You are making what are known as detachable "single" cuffs - French cuffs are double the width and folded in half over the shirt sleeve. Half inside and half out - and usually soft (not stiffened).
I'd also suggest using a much shorter stitch length on your sewing machine - better quality shirts, and almost all historical cloth cuffs and collars use music shorter stitches. A finer needle and good silk thread would also improve the appearance, but not essential. Shirts made for cuff links also often have a twist to the sleeve placket, but again adding this to a modern mass produced shirt is extra work and not strictly necessary.
With regards keeping things clean, if you are prepared to use totally natural fibre fabrics (cotton or linen) and then some natural starch, you'll make washing much easier. The reason old detachable collars were starched was initially for ease of laundering. By the late 19th century the aesthetic qualities of heavily starched collars and cuffs were important, but one of the advantages of starching collars was still how it facilitated washing them. You needn't starch them as stiffly as in past times (especially if you aren't looking for historical authenticity), but I'm sure you'll find a little starch helps.
In my experience, you do need to use starch powder, not spray or liquid starch as these latter starches often have additives which although they provide stiffness don't seem to give as many of the advantages powdered starch has when it comes to laundering. The finest starches are made from rice, but ordinary cornflour (I think its called corn starch in North America) will work if you find it hard to find a supplier of traditional laundry starch. Try to find one that is a natural as possible - it will just work better. I've used (separately) both Kershaws and cornflour. But I also see as well as Kershaws there is a brand called Argo on Amazon which would probably be just as good.
To starch an article check out the directions on the box of starch if there are any. If not, it usually goes something like this. (I'm sure there are things on UA-cam or the internet better than this but in case you don't know)
Mix an amount of starch (I'd use a couple of tablespoons, but it depends on the type of starch and the stiffness you want) with a little cold water to a thick paste (devoid of lumps). Then add a sizable quantity of boiling water (about a half a litre to a litre is what I use). The starch should go clear before going white again. Then add some more cold water to get the strength (stiffness) of starch you want and make it easier to handle. Dunk the clean items to be starched into the starch solution and allow them to soak up the starch (it will take a couple of minutes). The longer you leave them the more of the starch will be absorbed and (depending on the concentration of the starch) the stiffer they'll be. Then, dunk the same items in a bucket of clean cold water, but only quickly - if you don't do this you'll get unevenly starched things that are often a bit slimy. Then allow to air or line dry. Do not use a clothes dryer for things starched this way. Iron them when still a little damp to get a crisp finish - or spray with a little water if they are totally dry before ironing (even if you are using a steam iron). They're ready for wearing.
The main thing that will help with washing the dirt away is boiling the soiled articles. You need to use really hot water to wash the starch and the dirt out of the fabric. The starch, rather than the fabric, will absorb most (if not all) of the grease and dirt while you are wearing the collar or cuffs. So all you need to do is get the starch out of the items and they're clean. Ordinary laundry soaps won't get the starch (or the dirt) out effectively if the water isn't really hot. Before modern washing machines, most clothes that could handle it, would be boiled in a "copper".
If you don't have a machine that will boil clothes (and most don't these days) or a working copper and you're only doing collars and cuffs, a large pot on you kitchen stove works well. Add a little laundry soap (I use Lux flakes but I'm sure anything that's for washing by hand would work) to a nearly full pot of water and when it is boiling add the collars and cuffs for about 10 - 20 minutes, then rinse a couple of times in a tub or bucket of cold water replacing the water for each rinse and wringing the items in your hands to get all the soap etc out. If they're badly soiled sometimes I'll scrub them with a brush and some sunlight soap before repeating the boiling, but I have rarely had to do this. Sometimes I also put them into the washing machine with other "whites", but make sure the boiled things are well rinsed or you might end up slightly starching other things in the wash if all the starch hasn't come out. But they are usually ok just with boiling and don't need the machine. Then you can re-starch them.
There are also a number of places that will supply good soft and stiff detachable collars - although making them yourself is fun and usually much cheaper. I'd recommend you have a look at the following, if for no other reason than to get ideas.
Darcy clothing www.darcyclothing.com/ in England,
RJW Shirts www.rjwshirts.net/ in Australia,
and for custom made shirts try Luxire luxire.com/ - I believe they'll do soft collar detachable, although I have only had attached collar shirts from them using their vintage shirt design.
There's a company in the US called Amazon Dry Goods www.amazondrygoods.com/categories/collars.html that make the original disposable style collars.
Thank you for taking time to write such a detailed explanation. I am most grateful and will try your suggestions about using rice starch instead of cornflour. I will also investigate the double cuff and twist.
1920sman Do you have a source for collar patterns? If not I’m planning on trying to design my own. Any tips?
@@jimkoss3318 - there's not really a source for patterns I know of other than finding vintage adverts for collar styles (Arrow Collar Man etc) and copying. Please let me know if you do find anything better.
You could always buy old collars and try copying them. Although you'd usually need to enlarge the length as most old collars that have survived are small.
I sometimes look on Etsy or Ebay and just save the pictures of vintage collars I like which are being sold. Cheaper than having to buy something that is invariably too small to ever wear.
Another approach would be deconstructing an old attached collar shirt that fits you. (remember that a detached collar needs to be bigger than an attached collar to be able to fit around the collar band of the shirt). I'd be hesitant to pull a vintage collar apart - just because of it's historical value. There'll undoubtedly be some trial and error before you get something you're happy with.
I have a couple of modern detachable collars which fit my neck well. I used them to draft the basic pattern for the stand half of the collar. I traced them from flat and then transferred this to create a cardboard pattern on card (something like flexible brown Manilla card works well). Then when cutting out the part, I add a seam allowance, but no allowance for the inner lining or the seams (especially the points) are too bulky.
I draft the collar patterns (other half of the collar) using the images I have, eventually making it out of out of card also. You can always cellotape the trial collar patterns to the stand pattern (leaving a little gap along the fold to act as a hinge) and try them out on a shirt before committing to fabric. When you're happy, carefully cut down the join and you have the patterns back to use. It's best to use proper studs (rather than buttons for this (just punch out a little slot for the collar studs with a hole punch) as you don't want to wreck the patterns getting them on or off your neck..
To construct I have tried two methods. Firstly, I tack the lining to one half of the collar and notch the seam allowance where needed. Then press the allowance over, doing the same to the other half and top stitch them together. It really can help to lightly starch the lining / inner fabric before cutting or sewing anything.This seems to come out neater (especially on single piece non folding collars such as a wing-tip style) than the other method of stitching right sides together and turning and then top stitching afterwards - although I have had success doing that also. Hope this helps.
1920sman Thank you very much. This is a better explanation than I had any hope to expect. I am not aware of any vintage patterns anywhere. I have found a site to procure modern detachable collars (i.e., Historical Emporium). So I will attempt to design my own collars. What fun!
@@jimkoss3318 I used one of my standard shirt patterns and modified it. I have not hunted to find a pre-fabricated pattern for them. If you make one, let me know, I would be most interested in trying it out.
wonderful stitches, always interesting projects. Thanks for sharing :)