What is a Sweet heart neckline ? And what is so special about it that most brides refuse to think beyond it for the most special dress of their lives – the wedding day gown?
The distinctive feature of a Sweetheart neckline is the shape of the top part of a stylized heart it sports. It combines the features of other popular necklines – a dip in the middle which makes it resemble a V neck; the width and scope of a square neckline.
See what I mean ?
It is associated with wedding gowns because of the simple reason that this is a neckline which suits most everybody irrespective of body shape and face shape. It is super flattering, revealing or concealing as you want it to be and utterly feminine, romantic and at the same time modern – so what is not to like?
Related posts : 60 Different types of neckline ; How to draft necklines ; Tips for choosing the best neckline for you.
Different types of Sweetheart necklines
There are many ways you can design a sweetheart neckline for your clothes.
Simple sweetheart neckline
Strapless sweetheart neck
Sweetheart neckline combined with Spaghetti straps
Very wide sweetheart neckline
Illusion sweetheart neckline
How to sew the regular Sweetheart neck on your dress
This is the simple way I sew a regular sweetheart neckline – by making a paper pattern for the neckline and sewing it with a facing.
Step 1 Draft the neckline you want
On a folded paper piece draw the sweetheart neckline you want – as you can see the right side line of the square is the fold of the paper.
The neck width should start at 2 1/2 inch (folded) and go higher depending on the width you want for the neck. Same for the neck length/depth – go higher from 6 1/2. You can measure a favorite fitting dress and see what neck line width and neckline depth you want.
When you draw the neckline you can take the red line as the cutting line – the neckline stitching line will be 1/4 inches to the inside.
Step 2 Make a paper pattern
Open it up to this.
Step 3 Cut out the bodice and facing piece
Follow this tutorial to make a basic bodice for your bodice if you do not have one already. The facing piece should be at least 5 – 6 inches wider and 2 1/2 – 3 1/2 inches longer than your neckline. I have cut out a 11 inch wide plus 10 inch long piece for the facing
Step 4 Interface the facing piece
Attach interfacing to the back of your facing piece.
Step 5 Stitch the side edges of the facing
Turn the edges of facing to the backside and stitch in place.
Step 6 Stitch the facing and bodice together
Keep the facing wrong side up on the bodice kept right side up (it means the right sides of bodice and facing are together, if you did not get it). Align the center of the facing and the bodice top edge – this is important.
Pin in place or Sew a basting stitch straight down along the center as professional tailors do.
Sew along the cutting line you have drawn and 1/4 inch to the inside. The cutting line is also sewn as a finishing for the edge – you can skip this if you want to.
Step 7 Cut it out
Cut along the cutting line. After you cut out the neckline, make snips all along the seam allowance – this is very very important.
Step 8 Under stitch
Now stitch the seam allowance and the facing together close to the neckline edge. This is a skip-able step but can make your neckline stay in place – especially if you are not top stitching
Step 9 Turn facing to back and top stitch.
Your sweetheart neck is almost done – just turn the facing to the back and hand stitch the facing there with small invisible stitches in the same color thread as your bodice – if you have underlining stitch the facing to the underlining. You may want to top stitch along the neckline at this point to give the neckline definition.
Related posts : Neckline names ; Sewing different necklines
Thank you so much Sabrina.
Late to the party but wanted to say thank you for a very helpful tutorial! I am wondering if I wanted to make a knit top with a sweetheart neckline, would there be options to finish the neckline other than a facing or a full upper self-lining? Serge edges, clip at angles, turn under & stitch? With or without strips of clear elastic? Thanks a lot for your suggestions!
I might be the only one confused, but I have reread the very first step a few times, and I still can’t understand what you mean by “as you can see the right side line of the square is the fold of the paper” … I don’t see it – where is the fold line marked here? Do you mean your 6 1/2″ line on the 3 different examples?
Hi Jo
Yes, the fold line is not clearly marked so may be you are confused. It is the 6 1/2″ line .
What kind of interfacing should we use ?
Hi Ruby
Can you look at this page Interfacing
Sarina,
You are a very good teacher! Thank you very much for the fantastique idea to share your knowledge. I am a dress-maker, studied for three years and certified. Done wedding dresses and suits for the man. However, I forgot how to draft a sweetheart neckline! you make it so easy. THANK YOU SO MUCH. Just one more thing I might mention. My teacher those days used to tell us: ” the best dress you can make when you don’t see the seems.
Kind regards, and happy sewing, Kristina
So nice of you to say that, Kristina – I am really touched. Best wishes.
Hi Sarina, your tutorials are very good and a great help to any-one who has not done things like this before. Keep up the good work. Thank again .
Thank you Rita
This is a great tutorial and well explained. I’m fairly new to sewing and even newer to sewing garments so excuse my newbie questions. 🙂
I would like to try this technique but I’m a bit confused as to why there is so much material leftover that is turned under (shown in step 7 and step 8). Could you not leave just a 1/4″ or 1/2″ and sew it the same way or does this type of neckline need it to provide some stability?
I don’t have a top with this type of neckline to look at but I’m thinking of other neckline types on my shirts and don’t see this much fabric turned under.
Thanks for providing these great tutorials!!
Karen
Hi Karen
When you sew with a facing you usually turn under atleast 1 inch of fabric – if it was a binding it would be different – but with the inward turns in this type of neckline needs a facing. Hope this is what you wanted to know.
Thank you for the reply Sarina! That answers my question. 🙂
Very good it’s useful thanks for giving so much details
Hi Kaur
Thanks for reading and leaving the comment