Today we’re thrilled to have Jessica from *A Little Gray* here with us to share a fantastic tutorial on transforming the facings of the Playtime Tunic into an adorable collar! Jessica has always been a fan of Oliver + S patterns, especially the ones released this fall, and the Playtime Dress + Tunic quickly became her go-to choice. She loves its simplicity and versatility, which makes it perfect for creating multiple projects.
If you’ve followed Jessica before, you might remember her earlier version of this dress, where she turned the facings into a faux Peter Pan collar. For this particular project, however, she decided to keep the original design of the facings, and the results were just as delightful.
The picture below shows the Christmas-themed version of the Playtime Tunic. In this iteration, Jessica omitted the sleeves entirely and opted for bias tape binding around the armholes instead. She found that the sleeveless design created a charming cap sleeve effect. Additionally, she shortened the hem to tunic length and added pom-pom trim for that festive touch.
[Insert image of the Playtime Tunic with facings as collar]
Today, let’s dive into the details of how Jessica achieved this adorable collar transformation!
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To begin, she cut out two front facings and four back facings. Since the facings would now serve as the collar, she skipped the interfacing step to avoid adding too much bulk. However, she did fuse a thin strip of interfacing onto two of the back pieces where the buttons and buttonholes would go.
[Insert image showing the cutting process]
For the front facings, Jessica shaped them to mimic a Peter Pan collar by curving the bottom edge while keeping a straight edge along the fold, approximately 1.5 inches wide. Once cut, she sewed the front facings to the back facings at the shoulders as per the pattern instructions. Afterward, she laid the pieces right sides together, pinned them, and sewed along the curved edge with a ¼-inch seam allowance. Clipping the curves helped achieve a smooth finish, and once turned right side out, she pressed the seams carefully, rolling them slightly to one side to ensure a neat appearance. Taking your time during this step is crucial, as the front facing will be highly visible.
[Insert image showing the sewn facings]
Next, Jessica focused on constructing the bodice. She sewed the bodice pieces together at the shoulders, leaving a 1-inch gap on either side of the neck opening. This gap was intentionally left unstitched to prevent any visible seam allowances from peeking out beneath the facing collar. If you’ve ever worked on the Class Picnic Shorts, this technique should feel familiar.
[Insert image showing the bodice with the gap]
After pressing the sewn seams open, Jessica turned the bodice right side out and stitched the 1-inch gaps with the wrong sides together. These sections would eventually be hidden beneath the facings, so there was no need to finish the edges.
[Insert image showing the bodice with the gap closed]
With the bodice prepared, Jessica flipped it wrong side up and pinned the right side of the facing (the side meant to show) to the wrong side of the bodice, aligning all the raw edges. She took care to ensure everything lined up neatly around the neck. While pinning, she noticed a small amount of excess fabric hanging over the back edges, which she simply trimmed to match the bodice. She wasn’t entirely sure if using a ½-inch seam allowance during the facing construction might have prevented this, but trimming the excess worked perfectly for her.
[Insert image showing the pinned facing]
She then sewed all the way around the inside edge with a ½-inch seam allowance.
[Insert image showing the sewn facing]
To ensure the facings stayed in place, Jessica undertook the understitching step, pressing the seam allowance toward the main bodice as far around the curve as possible. This helped keep the seam tucked away on the wrong side of the fabric, ensuring it wouldn’t be visible from the front.
[Insert image showing the understitched seam]
Finally, she topstitched the outer edge of the facings to secure them in place and give the collar a polished finish.
[Insert image showing the completed topstitching]
And voilà ! The bodice with its newly transformed facings was complete. The front looked just as lovely as expected, and the back revealed a beautiful contrast that highlighted the fun button choice.
[Insert image showing the back of the finished dress]
This holiday season is still young enough to allow for some last-minute crafting, and creating a sweet holiday dress is a project you’ll definitely cherish. Thank you so much, Jessica, for sharing this fantastic tutorial with us today!
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There’s still plenty of time to craft a special dress for all the upcoming celebrations, and you’ll never regret squeezing in some last-minute sewing. Thanks for stopping by, and happy crafting!
— Jessica
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