How to sew a neckline facing?

Today, we're going to learn how to sew a facing! But what exactly is a facing? It's a piece of fabric that is sewn onto the opening of a garment. It can be sewn onto the neckline (as in this article), the hem, or even the waistband of pants, for example.

In the case of this article, this piece is sewn at the neckline. It allows you tofinish the edgesofthe neckline and achievea nice finish.

For this tutorial, I used the facing from my old pattern , which is no longer available for sale. But you can findmy other patterns here.

How to trace a neckline facing?

If the pattern you want to sew does not have a facing and you want to add one, you can create it yourself. It couldn't be easier! Simply trace the front neckline and the back neckline.

Note: for this example, seam allowances are already included in the pattern.

Let's start with the front neckline! At the neckline of the front of your pattern, measure 4 cm on the center front and make a mark. Then do the same at the shoulder. Finally, connect these two marks with a curve that matches the neckline you traced. If it helps, you can add a few reference points 4 cm from the neckline. This will make it easier to draw the curve.

Next, trace your facing using pattern paper pattern baking paper, and cut it out.

There you go, your front facing is ready; all you have to do now is cut it out of your fabric!

In terms of fabric, this piece is cut like the front of your pattern the center front is positioned at the fold of the fabric to obtain a symmetrical piece.

Follow the same procedure as before to trace the back facing.

For the rest of this article, I have used one of my former bosses as an example. For this model,there is already a facing and the seam allowances are 1 cm.

The lining of the pieces

To give your neckline more structure, you will needto interlineyourfacing. To do this, cut out the front and back facings from the interfacing using the same pattern pieces you used for your design.

Then heat-bond the interfacing to your facings, making sure to position the grainy side of the interfacing (the side that contains the adhesive) on the wrong side of the fabric.

Assembly

Overcastorserge the shoulder seams of both facings.

Then, place the front facing against the back facing, right sides together, to match the shoulder seams. Pin and stitch 1 cm from the edge (this is the seam allowance value of the pattern).

Next, lay your facing flat with the right side down and press the seam allowances with an iron.

Finally,overcastorsergethe entire outer edge of the facing. This will prevent the edges from fraying, but it will also help to secure the interfacing to the facing. Over time, the interfacing can come unstuck.

Sewing the facing

Now that the facing is assembled, we can sew it tothedress.This means that the front and back of your pattern must already be assembled at the shoulders.

To do this, place the facing on the neckline of the dress, right sides together. The right side of the front facing is against the right side of the front neckline, and the right side of the back facing is against the right side of the back neckline. Also match the shoulder seams. Then pin the entire neckline and stitch 1 cm from the edge (this is the seam allowance for the pattern).

Here are some tips for sewing this seam:

• If the neckline is curved, follow the curve when sewing.
• If the neckline is V-shaped or has one or more angles, start by sewing along one of the straight lines of the neckline. When you reach a point, stop, leave the needle in the fabric, raise the presser foot, turn your work to put it in the right direction, lower the presser foot, and resume sewing.

When you have finished sewing, trim the curves and notch the corners. This will give you nice curves and corners when you turn your work inside out.

Then fold the facing toward the inside of the dress and iron your work. At this point, you have two options for securing your facing to the inside of the garment:

• Either you make anunderstitch: this is a seam that is only made on the facing and allows you to secure the seam allowances to it. In this case,there will be no visible seam on the outside of the garment.
• Either you do atopstitch: to do this, you attach the facing to the dress by stitching a few millimeters from the neckline. In this case,the seam is visible on the outside of the garment. This is the technique I used for this article:

For this tutorial, I used the facing from my old pattern , which is no longer available for sale. But you can findmy other patterns here.

I hope this tutorial will be of great help to you!

See you soon,

Cadia