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How to Enlarge A Collar With A Collar Expander – No Sew! Care & Repair Series #4

by Kellie Rose | Aug 21, 2022 | Product Guides, Sustainable Sewing, Tutorials

Welcome to post number 4 in our Care & Repair Series! Today we’re offering a solution to an annoying problem – how to enlarge a collar that is too tight… without any sewing! We’re going to be talking about how to use use a collar expander in this quick product guide.

We wanted to bring these little wonder products to your attention – who knew they were even a thing?!

These nifty little extenders are NO SEW and a great little temporary fix that can even be switched between garments.

With this series of Care & Repair blogs we really want to bring into focus all sorts of different ways in which we can all reuse, repurpose, repair and rejuvenate the clothes that we already own.

A shocking 300,000 tonnes of discarded clothing goes to landfill every year in the UK. according to Wrap, the waste charity, this is up 5% of the UK’s carbon and water footprint. And small things like this can really add up.

Being able to adjust the size of a collar that’s snug can help give a shirt a longer life. These collar expanders can also be used on skirt or trouser waistbands too!

Expanders aren’t permanent fixtures to your garments so they can easily be switched between different shirts – just make sure you take them out before your shirt goes in the wash!

The collar expanders come in a variety of sizes and finishes…. make sure you select the best match for your garment, although it’s unlikely you will see it if you’re wearing a tie, you do need to make sure the collar expander will fit through your garment’s existing buttonhole

These plastic collar extenders will increase the neck size of a shirt by half a collar size and do not stretch.

The other metal extenders do stretch and come in a variety of sizes

How to Enlarge A Collar With A Collar Expander

Choose the collar extender that best matches your garment

Take the white disc in your fingers and feed the loop through the buttonhole.

Loop the band over the existing button on the collar.

Alternatively you can start by looping the loop around the existing button and then feeding the white disc through the buttonhole.

This is what the collar extenders look like when used correctly.

6. The larger collar extenders can also be used for waistbands. You need to match the size of the disc on the Expanders as closely as possible to the original button.

And that’s it! It really couldn’t be more simple, could it?

Check out Hemline’s video for a demo of the metal variety, which are stretchy, rather than fixed like this one

Thank you for supporting our online shop with your sewing shopping… It means the world to us & enables us to keep putting out FREE content like this for you to make & create ❤️

Linking Collar or Waist Expanders Together

Should you need greater ease at the waistband or collar, the expanders can be looped together to create a larger stretch like this.

So you can see how easy it is to prolong the life of your garment if it’s become a bit snug.

Stay tuned for more posts in our Care & Repair series

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How To Use Waistband Extenders – No Sew! Care & Repair Series #2

by Kellie Rose | Apr 27, 2022 | Care and Repair, Haberdashery, Haberdashery Guides, Product Guides, Sustainable Sewing

Welcome to post number 2 in our Care & Repair Series! Today we’re offering a solution to a common problem – how to really quickly and easily extend a waistband… without any sewing! We’ll highlight this little wonder product and run you through why you might need them and how to use these waistband extenders.

Let’s be real. The pandemic has meant that many of us have put on some extra pounds and clothes might have become a little snug!

Or perhaps you’re in the early stages of pregnancy and could do with an extra bit of room before buying some maternity clothes?

And let’s not forget – some days we’re just bigger than others… This can be due to our monthly cycles, or perhaps eating certain foods can make you bloat.

You might need some extra comfort post-surgery, or just after a jolly good meal! Or perhaps something has shrunk in the wash (that old chestnut…!)

Our bodies can even fluctuate in size from day to day so a quick temporary fix can help ease discomfort.

We wanted to bring this little wonder products to your attention – who knew they were even a thing?!

And as these nifty little extenders are a NO SEW temporary fix it means they can even be switched between garments to extend their life.

With this series of Care & Repair blogs we really want to bring into focus ways in which we can all reuse, repurpose, repair and rejuvenate the clothes that are already in our wardrobes.

300,000 tonnes of discarded clothing goes to landfill every year in the UK, making up 5% of the UK’s carbon and water footprint, according to Wrap, the waste charity. There’s never been a more important tome to make do and mend.

Being able to easily adjust the size of waistbands can help give them an extra lease of life and also improve their comfort by adding a little extra room. The wasit band extenders generally give you and extra will extend the waistline by approximately 2.5cm- 5cm on your waist band and are suitable for trousers, jeans or skirts.

No need to replace perfectly good garments that haven’t worn out; this is better for our wallets and for the planet – win win!

Extenders are not permanent fixtures to your garments so they can easily be switched out as required. Just make sure you remove them before laundering!

The waist extenders come in a variety of options…. make sure you select the best match for your garment.

You can also link multiple extenders together to achieve the level of fit you require – read to the end of this post to see this in action…

How to use waist band extenders

Select the Waist Band Extender product which best matches the fastening and colour of your garment. There are button, hooks and jean button products to choose from

Waistband Expander

2. Thread the existing fastening through one of the holes on the extender piece