Ahhhh, the world is going back to normal. For those of you wondering, no, there was no actual catalyst making me feel like a grumpy bear last Tuesday, it was just PMS. For those of you who weren't wondering and are now all, "WTF? Can I go anywhere without hearing about menstruation?!?!", my bad, I apologize.
See how sincere I am? This has doves AND a peace sign.
So on to the business at hand. Facings. Does anyone like them? I've never really been pro-facings, but I've seen them work in off-the-rack clothing quite well, especially with knits. In my own sewing adventures though, they just don't make me happy. They always flap all over the place and poke out of arm and neck holes no matter how much I tack them down, so I tend to make a full lining when I can.
Some of you are probably wondering what the heck we're talking about. Facings are those weird little pieces of fabric you interface and sew onto arm and neck holes (and sometimes other places, but these are what we're talking about in this tute) to keep the raw edge from showing. Here's an illustration:
Image via www.caitlinsclothing.com
Now, you may want to ask, "Regan, why do we even need facings? Can't I just roll the raw edge over a couple of times & sew that down?" First of all, stop interrupting me. Second of all, you could do it that way, but you'd run the risk of warping your neckline and arm holes. See, every time you roll your neck/arm hole over, you stretch it out more because you're making the neck/arm hole bigger and bigger. Woven fabric doesn't like this offensive stretching and will rebel against you by puckering. It does this because of the tension caused by the stretching. Knits don't care as much because, by their very nature, they stretch. This is why you can finish knit garments with a rolled hem.
And trust me, I've tried every cut corner in the book. If there was a way to not line OR use facings and have a nicely finished garment, I'd let you in on the secret in a hot second and then I'd get a book deal showing everyone my awesome sewing knowledge. The plain and simple truth is that, while you can do without them, it just wont be purty. You've already spent enough time constructing your garment so don't flush all that hard work away by only saving yourself an hour. It's worth it to spend the extra time, I promise.
So, this technique is the harder of the two that I will (eventually) show you. I like to get the rough stuff out first. Like, when a person says, "I have good news and I have bad news." I always ask for the bad news first. Isn't that weird?
Onto the tute! First, baste your lining and fabric together along the neck and arm holes at 5/8" (or whatever your seam allowance is). Trim, leaving yourself 1/4" of seam allowance.
Cut 1 1/2 inch wide bias strips and sew them together, end to end, making one really long strip. Mine is about 40" long and I will use it to bind the neck and arm holes.
BIG TIP: Spray your strip with starch & let it dry to give you more control. Trust me, this is a lifesaver! Be sure to let it dry before pressing so it doesn't get all flaky.
Next, fold your strip in half and press it.
Now take your fab-o strip and pin it, raw edges up, along the neckline on the wrong side of your fabric.
Starting an inch from the end of your strip, sew close to the raw edge (I use the edge of my presser foot as a guide) and stop an inch before the end of your strip. Then pin your edges together and sew.
Trim your threads and extra strips.
Then stitch the rest of the strip as shown (see the black stitching line?)
Trim close to stitching, but be careful to not cut your stitching! Slow and steady.
Roll your strip over to the right side and pin baste it in place.
Stitch as close to the edge as possible.
Done!
I don't like this wonkiness...
but I'm not about to resew it. All in all, I am really happy with this neckline and will keep it, but I wanted to show you this mistake because I feel like so often we're so hard on ourselves. Was the wonkiness the first thing you saw? If it was, don't worry, you won't hurt my feelings. :) But if it wasn't, then take that idea with you when you sew your next project. People will not see the little imperfections. Cross my heart, hope to die, eat a horse manure pie.
I'll be taking a staycation with Martha after Labor Day and plan on getting a ton of sewing done, so hopefully I'll get you the other, easier, lining tute soon.
xoxo,
