Neck Seal

[Aradun]

Okay, so I thought I’d post this in a separate thread so it’s not lost in my WIP in case it may be helpful to others looking to make their own neck seal.
 
I purchased a neck seal from a vendor on Etsy and while I’m very pleased with the construction of the seal itself, I want to redo the bib portion because I’m not happy with how it lays.
 
You can see from the photo below that the bib’s design prevents it from laying flat and causes it to bunch up. Nothing against the vendor. This is well constructed and in fairness the vendor offers an upgraded version with a different style bib. I elected to save $10 bucks instead and went with the basic version. Live and learn.
 

 
I’ve been toying with how to construct the bib and have viewed a couple of tutorials online and in the FISD forums. All have varying methods of construction and patterns.
 
A luck would have it, I wear a particular clerical garb for ministry known as an amice, and as I put it on last week I realized with excitement that this is constructed like a neck seal. There are different versions of this garment but the modern version pictured below is similar to what I use.
 

 
The bib is a three piece construction with a single front piece and two back pieces that are seamed along the top of the shoulders to the front. The collar has a Velcro tabbed closure.
 
Here’s a few pics of mine so you can see how it is laid out and how the seams run.
 
Here’s the front view:
 

 
Here’s the view from the back:
 

My amice only has a Velcro tab in the collar itself with the back portion free hanging. There’s a 1/4” overlap on each side to minimize any gapping in the center. However, some have Velcro running the entire length down the back. Those are a pain to put on without help.
 
Here’s a top view pic with it laid out:
 

You can see that there’s a seam running along the shoulders. The front is one solid piece and two separate pieces form the back.
 
Here’s a pic of the shoulder seam which is 1/4”.

 
The collar portion of the bib is actually sandwiched between two pieces of fabric that form the collar.

 
Here are two pics of the pattern I made from the amice itself.
 
Front piece with measurements:
 

Overall dimensions 13”w x 12.5” l
 

 
The amice I have does not have seamed edges. The edges are overlocked with a special stitch to prevent the edges from fraying. However, overlocking requires a special sewing machine so you may need to tweak the measurements above for seam allowance.
 
The neck opening itself is “universal” one size fits all and measures 17.5” which is plenty of real estate for padded neck seals, but you may want to try a mock up to ensure proper fit before sewing everything together.
 
This is a really great, simple design for constructing a bib.
 
I’m reconstructing my neck seal now and will post pics once finished.

[Retrofire]

Dude this is awesome of you to do. Thanks so much!

[Aradun]

50 minutes ago, Retrofire said:

Dude this is awesome of you to do. Thanks so much!

My pleasure brother!  I have to confess, I’m cheating a bit with my remake.  As I’m sitting here on my sofa getting ready to watch the latest episode of Hawkeye, my daughter, who is a fashion design major and currently quarantining in our basement, and going a bit stir crazy, has been tasked by this taskmaster with making the bib and refitting the neck seal 🤣🤣.  It’s nice to have access to a pro 😉.

[Aradun]

Here’s the initial test fit.  I used a stretchy athletic fabric we had lying around which posed a bit of a challenge for seaming and connecting.

If you stretch this fabric while running it through the sewing machine the seams can get wavy or bunch a tad after running it through the machine and it relaxes.  I’m fine with that, as the seams and edges won’t be seen under my armor and will be covered by my compression shirt when using it with my TK. The important thing is that it lay flat.





The bib lays much nicer now. I still have to add Velcro to the back portion of the bib to provide a proper close to the bib in the back. Correction, my minion, I mean my daughter, still needs to add Velcro to the back portion. That’s in progress now.

[Zv288bot]

Looks amazing! Definitely re-doing mine now. Especially with the awesome measurements you added. Thanks again!!

[Aradun]

8 hours ago, Zv288bot said:

Looks amazing! Definitely re-doing mine now. Especially with the awesome measurements you added. Thanks again!!

No problem!  Happy this helps.

[Aradun]

Here’s a pic with the Velcro attached.  



I’m not too keen on how the Velcro looks at the base of the neck seal. There’s about 2.5” of zipper that extends below the seal and it is pushing the Velcro out a bit, as both are rather stiff.

I’m going to remove the Velcro completely and attach the top portion of the bib directly to the zipper. I think the remainder of the bib can hang free like it does on my amice.

It won’t matter for my TK b/c it will be hidden under the compression shirt and that free hanging portion should be hidden by my armor for the JFO.  

Probably won’t be getting to this final adjustment until early next week.

[M.J]

Hi Dennis love the tutorial, having longer hair the zip would worry the heck out of me.

I can see the Velcro pushing, once you've attached it to the bottom like you mention you can place one or two small velcro squares closer to the bottom so as you place it on its not going to fold and bunch up, you can also make it smaller (shorter), I've made quite a few and they have a very small fabric around the neck I tuck in and it doesn't come astray.  

Thank you for sharing this as well 

[Aradun]

So I cleaned up the back by removing the Velcro. As I had about 2.5” of zipper extending below the collar, I just attached the top portion of the bib to the zipper itself, and seamed the remaining portion of the center pieces that hung below the zipper. There’s enough of an opening when unzipped coupled with the stretchy bib material to pull it over the head without issue.

It lays much nicer now. If I were to do it again, I’d avoid the t-shirt/stretchy material only because I personally wasn’t fond of working with it, but YMMV.

I may trim it or round off the bottom once I suit up and see how it looks.

[Zv288bot]

Looks awesome! I bought some cotton material but not t shirt stretchy so hopefully it will work! Thanks again and now I’m wondering if I just need to go with a zipper.


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[Aradun]

Just now, Zv288bot said:

Looks awesome! I bought some cotton material but not t shirt stretchy so hopefully it will work! Thanks again and now I’m wondering if I just need to go with a zipper.


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Thanks.  Good choice on the fabric.  It's what I would have went with, had I not had this extra material lying around.  You'll get nice seams and crisper edges with that fabric.  To get that clean look with with the material I was using requires a special sewing machine that does an overlocking stitch, which I do not own.

IMO, Velcro would be a bit easier, especially when getting suited up.  You might not even need assistance depending on how you do it.  I went with the zipper only because it was how the vendor made the neck seal I bought.  Ideally, if I were constructing this from scratch (which I may do sometime in the distant future) I'd use a hidden zipper so that the zipper is not seen at all, giving it a cleaner look.  I think Velcro could also provide a similar hidden look. 

[MrPoopie]

4 hours ago, AradunFF said:

Thanks.  Good choice on the fabric.  It's what I would have went with, had I not had this extra material lying around.  You'll get nice seams and crisper edges with that fabric.  To get that clean look with with the material I was using requires a special sewing machine that does an overlocking stitch, which I do not own.

IMO, Velcro would be a bit easier, especially when getting suited up.  You might not even need assistance depending on how you do it.  I went with the zipper only because it was how the vendor made the neck seal I bought.  Ideally, if I were constructing this from scratch (which I may do sometime in the distant future) I'd use a hidden zipper so that the zipper is not seen at all, giving it a cleaner look.  I think Velcro could also provide a similar hidden look. 

You will need assistance getting dressed in this armor no matter how look at it. It's really difficult to get  the battery pack and harness situated properly and get everything buckles once you have your armor on. You lose a lot of mobility in the shoulders once your chest and shoulders are on. Because of this having the zipper on the neck seal isn't really an issue.

Looking great.

[jennyruth]

Does your neck seal drop a little lower in the front or is it all the same height going around. Also, and I may have missed this, but about how tall is your seam part?

I'm thinking about what you said about using an invisible zipper, but I'm not sure it will work with fabric that thick. They are normally used for thinner applications. But a smaller zipper size is totally possible. I'll have to play around! Thanks for all of this info!

[Aradun]

Hey Jenny! The neck seal does contour in the front which makes it much more comfortable.

I’m not sure what you’re referencing when you refer to the measurement for the seam part. I just thread the needle and press the foot peddle thingy lol. That’s about the extent of my sewing lingo.

[jennyruth]

8 minutes ago, Aradun said:

Hey Jenny! The neck seal does contour in the front which makes it much more comfortable.

I’m not sure what you’re referencing when you refer to the measurement for the seam part. I just thread the needle and press the foot peddle thingy lol. That’s about the extent of my sewing lingo.

Oh, goodness. Can I blame autocorrect for the mistake and myself for not proofreading? Haha That was supposed to ask how tall the seal part is, basically the ribbed part—in front and back. Thank you!

[Aradun]

And here I thought you were going to teach me something new!  Lol.  Sorry for the delay, in getting back to you.  The back of the neck seal measures 2 5/8” and the front measures 2 1/8”.  Those are the measurements for the ribbed portion.  

[jennyruth]

On 3/4/2023 at 11:08 AM, Aradun said:

And here I thought you were going to teach me something new!  Lol.  Sorry for the delay, in getting back to you.  The back of the neck seal measures 2 5/8” and the front measures 2 1/8”.  Those are the measurements for the ribbed portion.  

Haha! Nothing to teach yet

Thanks so much and no worries about the delay. We all have other lives

[jennyruth]

I finally got the neck seal finished to a place I’m happy with. I wanted to show you how I ended up doing the back, in case it was helpful. I added 1.5” to my pattern on that side so that it could lap over the zipper and hide it some. The bottom part of the zipper is mostly hidden, so concealing that part wasn’t necessary. Then, I put small snaps in the top and bottom corner of the overlap to hold it down. It’s not completely inconspicuous, but you can’t see the zipper. I guess it’s almost like a backwards Mandarin collar

 

[Aradun]

Looks amazing, as always! You’ve got sewing great skills Jenny.

[jennyruth]

37 minutes ago, Aradun said:

Looks amazing, as always! You’ve got sewing great skills Jenny.

Thank you! Don’t be too fooled. There were multiple iterations