SMALL LAVALIERE BOW DIY

Hello my little cats!

Last week I told you about a La Redoute workshop I did for their press days. The brief was both simple and terrible. The brief was to come up with an idea to customize a white T-shirt with a "Paris" theme. Thank you very much... I find the exercise of customizing a white tee-shirt or jeans, for example, a real challenge. For me, these are such strong, raw pieces, and in a way, a bit sacred: you don't touch a basic when it's well cut. So when I'm asked to make a do-it-yourself piece in this style, it's always complicated for me to intervene. But the Mac Gyver in me wanted to take up the challenge! So a "Paris" customization... Well, I thought of making a lavallière collar on the white tee-shirt, and it was great to teach some of you the basics of sewing during the evening. We had a great time with Laure and Charlotte, and I've been slightly obsessed with lavaliere collars ever since.... So the idea was to go further, ever further with us... And imagine a lavaliere collar design, for any shirt! I'll leave you to it, I'm off for a straw smoothie, because with a bow like that, forget about going to an Italian restaurant for lunch. A perfect shirt for going out for drinks on the terrace! Oh wait...

To make this DIY, you'll need :

• - a classic shirt, in this case an old Asos.
• - cotton fabric (a good meter),
• – the collar pattern to download here,
• - a pair of scissors,
• - pencil, pins, sewing machine and iron.

Start by tracing and cutting out the pattern 4 times from the fabric in the color of your choice. The collar is made up of two parts for the front and two parts for the back. Assemble the two front sections using pins to secure the thinner ends. Do the same for the back.

Then machine-stitch 1 cm from the edge - this is the seam allowance - and iron to open the seam.

Now take your scissors and cut the collar, just the collar stand, but not the collar stand, as this is important.

Also cut the last button, if there is one. Take the top or bottom of the lavaliere and pin it to the collar stand. First find the middle of the back of your shirt, and align it with the seam you made on the lavaliere.

Mark the ends of the collar stand on the collar with a pencil. Remove the pins and join the back and front, right sides together, using the pins.

Make a one-centimeter notch at the mark you've just made, then use the iron to make a one-centimeter fold. This is where we'll sandwich the shirt collar with the lavaliere collar, once we've turned the sewn collar inside out.

Stitch all around the collar, a centimeter from the edge of the fabric, then don't forget to notch the curves of the collar and the points of the lavaliere bottom. And, of course, don't sew the preformed opening, as this will also be used to turn the collar inside out. While we're on the subject, turn the lavallière right side out and iron your work.

Sandwich your collar stand in the lavallière and machine-stitch a few millimeters from the edge.

And TA-DA! Tie a classic bow and voilà, a very Viktor and Rolfesque shirt! A big kiss!