Welcome back to the Charlie Tee Sew-Along! We're on Day 3 now and ready to sew or serge the shoulders of our tees and add the neckband. How did things go with hemming yesterday? Do you have any questions? Be sure to join the Fishsticks Designs Sewing Group on Facebook. That's the perfect place to find help when you need it!

Today's first step is very straightforward. Pin the front and back of your top at the shoulders and sew or serge them.

Now grab that neckband piece that you cut out on Monday.

Fold the neckband piece over so that the short edges are lined up and the right sides are together. (If you're using a solid cotton interlock, you won't actually have a right or wrong side.) Pin.

Sew or serge across the short edges.

Now you're going to fold that neckband over on itself so that the wrong sides are together and the long raw edges are lined up. It should look like an unattached neckband now.

Find and mark the center front of the neckband near the raw edges with a washable or disappearing marker.

Find and mark the middle of the front and back of the neckline, as well.

With the tee inside out, slide the neckband inside the neckline and line up the neckband seam with the middle of the back of the neckline. Pin in place. Line up the center front of the neckband with the center of the front of the neckline. Pin.

Since I'm serging and I like to remove the pins as I come to them, I pin on the inside with the pin heads facing away from where my serger blade will fall as the fabric moves through.

Pin the sides of the neckband in evenly. The neckband will be slightly shorter than the neckline. This is necessary to make the neckband fit properly. You'll have to stretch the neckband slightly to pin it in correctly.

Slide the raw edges of the neckline and neckband under the edge of the serger blade or under your sewing machine foot. I like to start sewing in the back at the neckband seam.

Stretch the neckband slightly as you sew so that it fits into the neckline. Remember that the seam allowance on the neckband is only 3/8". If you're serging, you'll only be cutting off 1/8". Try to keep your seam allowance as even as possible so that your neckband looks the same all the way around.

If you're serging, overlap the beginning and end and leave a tail a few inches long.

You can tie off the serging here, but I just grab one of the four threads and pull it tight. Then I trim the end of the serging down to about 1/4"

Flip the neckband out and topstitch 1/8" from the seam. Go slowly and keep your distance from the seam as even as possible. Be careful not to pull or stretch the fabrics. Let the feed-dogs move the fabric for you.

I do use a regular straight stitch here with stretchy nylon serger thread (like Woolly Nylon or Maxilock Stretch) in the bobbin. You can use a stretch (lightning bolt) stitch if you feel that you need to, but this way has always worked well for me, and I prefer the look of the straight stitch.