The machine is for aiding in attaching stiffening elements or stays to shirt collars or to inserts which are later attached or positioned inside the outer surface of the collar. The stays are first stamped from sheets of hard thin flexible material such as a polyester plastic and coated on at least one side with a film of heat sensitive adhesive. The stays are stacked in a magazine with the side containing the adhesive facing either upwardly or downwardly depending on which of the collar elements the stay is to be attached to. Each end of the collar, or liner, is tautly drawn over a thin shelf of the same configuration as the outline of the collar. A machine element will move the lower most stay from beneath the stack and position it within a channel to be engaged by another machine element and moved into position within the collar or liner where it is to be attached. The adhesive is then heated by a heating unit to a point to cause the adhesive to soften and adhere to the collar or liner as the case may be, after which the outer collar material, together with the collar lining, is attached to the shirt.