Hi friends, I’m going to share some ugly truths behind my careless execution of a knit neckline, and an idea for a cover up of said faulty execution. The moral: you don’t always have to rip your seams for a sewing error; cover it up.
Fabric: Gorgeous navy/white striped knit from Sew Much Fabric . I bought it as part of my Neon Spring Wardrobe Plan to tone down the neon part. More about that progress in a future post.
Pattern: Much used Renfrew top by Sewaholic Patterns .
The mess up:
Careless application of the neckband where the stripe is unevenly sewn is quite obvious in the photo above. Alas.
The cover up: Hey, look! I had a stretch plastic sequin braid in my box of seemingly-useless-sewing-stuff.
On close inspection (photo below), the sequins are incorporated into a stretchy woolly nylon braid. 
After a bit of manipulating with steam to give it a curve, it was hand sewn to the neckline for camouflage. It’s now utterly glam!! Notes (warnings) to remember: 1) Never apply an iron directly to a plastic or nylon braid. Ever. 2) Do not attempt to sew it down using a sewing machine; needles will break.
Behind the glam:
So, how does one maintain the stretch factor in the neckline? By using a hand-sewing diagonal stitch using the same direction as the overcast stitch. Except, we’re not overcasting an edge here but attaching a stretchy braid to a stretchy knit and therefore maintaining the stretch factor.
Done! Kinda messy from the inside but it’s utterly glam from the outside — and that’s what really matters in our daily, frequently-used wearables.
Beginning of the Neon Spring Wardrobe Plan…. the coral ponte pants (fabric from Sew Much Fabric) and the first neon bright item. More to come.
Have a safe summer, friends!
Samina
Sew Everything Blog 
Perfect solution! I love it. Thank you for the do’s and don’ts of applying a neckline.
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You’re welcome! Glad you like the idea.
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Great save Samina – love the bling! But one question: why didn’t you cut the original neck band on the bias? Whenever you have a stripe or check it’s usually the best option. Gives contrast/interest and no worries about matching mistakes….sometimes the stripes even match up, if you’re lucky 🙂
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Hi Charlene!! I didn’t think it was a good idea to cut a bias strip on a lightweight knit to avoid further instability. Maybe lightly interfacing might have done the trick? The thing is, I’ve made this neckline in the past with the knit stripe running around in perfect alignment. This time I was plain careless. Oh well. Let’s see how this one holds up.
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I think a lightweight fusible knit interfacing would give good results…but that’s for another time – I think the bling was just waiting to find a garment….it was fate! 🙂
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That’s a lovely outfit! Well done fixing the neckline!
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Thanks, Linda! Planning to wear the outfit while running an errand today — all masked, gloved and keeping the distance. Maybe I should make a matching glam mask 🙂
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What a great fix!! I love the look
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I love these kinds of solutions. Especially when they really accentuate beauty and hide an error. Beautiful ❤️
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Inspired!!
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