Changing a neckline once sewn
- MingMakes
- Jul 28
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 17
Having fitted a bodice block with Sarah Veblen on her mentorship programme, my second wearable toile involved drafting a v-neck blouse. I experimented with a couple of neckline shapes prior to making my pattern, and found that a more curved neckline suited me better.
In the photos below, I had cut the upper part of the front bodice on the fold and pinned it to my first wearable toile at the shoulder and side seams to replicate how it might look.
The first V neck looked quite sharp and I much preferred the second more rounded look, and so I proceeded to sew up my blouse using this. I took some photos at this stage to show Sarah and we agreed that the shape of the neckline didn't look particularly flattering.
We discussed that with the busy print and my wide shoulders, the neckline needed expanding and so I experimented with widening, curving and lowering the V. I couldn't bear to start all over again on this beautiful Liberty lawn fabric so the steps below describe how I changed the neckline.
Changing the neckline before sewing buttonholes
Unpick the understitching
I unpicked the understitching around the neckline around the front and to the back neck darts.
Fold back the neckline
I folded the neckline back, putting the right sides of the facing and front neckline together, the same as when constructing it.
Baste a new neckline
I basted a line further into the garment to simulate a new neckline. Note that the photo below shows that I notched the original neckline seam where I only needed to clip it (I always get confused by this!).
Pin it back
I folded it back again so I could see what the new neckline would look like, and pinned it together to hold the facing in place.
Repeat on the other side
I roughly copied the shape on the other side and tried it on.
Mark the new neckline
This neckline looked much better to me. I preferred how I'd pinned the right side, and so marked this on the right side of the fabric with a Prym Aqua Trick Marker. Having done this, I realised the blue colour of the pen didn't show up that well against the blue background so I went over it again with a white running stitch.
Theoretically I could have used my original basting line as a guide to where I moved the neckline to, but with the slight loss of translation in the folding back and pinning, I wanted it to look exactly how it saw it in the mirror. You can see in the photo below the difference between the basted line (blue thread) and where the neckline appeared after folding back and pinning (white thread).
Record the new neckline
This information now needed to be transferred to paper, both for sewing this pattern in future as well as creating a template to use on the other side for symmetry. Using transfer paper and a tracing wheel again, I marked the new neckline seam line, as well as the centre front seam, shoulder seam and armhole seam for reference.
Theoretically this could have been done directly onto my pattern piece, but I wanted to check the reference seams all lined up first.
Amend the paper pattern
I then transferred this to my original paper pattern piece.
Mark the new neckline on the garment
I pinned this to the blouse along the reference seam lines, and about 1cm back from the new neckline so I could fit the transfer paper underneath. I used the tracing wheel and repeated this in sections until the whole neckline was transferred.
The red dotted line indicates the new neckline marked. I then repeated this on the left side of the blouse.
Adjust the back neckline to match
Once the front neckline was decided upon, I needed to create a smooth transition to the back neckline (blue fabric marker) at the shoulder seam. It rejoined the original back neckline roughly where my neck dart was.
Sew the neck neckline
It was now time to sew along my new marked neckline, then clipping and understitching. Here are the before and after photos, with the blouse just pinned at centre front. I was really pleased with the result, the new neckline looked much more flattering.
It does mean that the facing is now more narrow than originally intended, but it does the job well enough in the circumstances.
Thoughts about changing the neckline on a completed blouse after sewing buttonholes
This technique worked well since I hadn't yet sewn the buttonholes, which then led me to think about what I would do if this was already a completed blouse with buttonholes sewn.
If changing the neckline without deepening it, the steps would be the same.
If wanting to deepen the neckline, I think it would have to be to a level below the top buttonhole. I would consider:
Unpicking the top buttonhole to reduce bulk.
Applying fusible interfacing over it to reinforce the buttonhole opening.
Following the steps above.
Sewing a new buttonhole or two. The spacing between the top buttonhole and the next would now be different compared to all the others, so a little experimentation might be needed to see what would look right. Maybe a trio of buttons at the top might look OK? If I was deepening the neckline enough that it was reasonably close to the next buttonhole, I'd consider leaving the second one down as the top buttonhole and putting a snap at the top to keep it from flapping open (top tip from Sarah Veblen).
What I discovered
It is often during these sewing mishaps that I really learn something, and am grateful (eventually!) for the experience. I enjoy the problem-solving and figuring out what might work. Thinking through the steps helps me understand the construction process better, making me really think about what is necessary to get an accurate result and avoid some potential pitfalls. It also helps me avoid the despair of thinking I need to start all over again, which is not a great place for creative ideas.
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