​Understanding Neck Shaped Facings

A neck facing is cut at the exact shape of the neck area it finishes. The facing strop is stitched to the raw neckline edge after which it is flipped to inside of the garment to enclose all raw edges. In its finished position, the facing layer lays flat against the wrong side of the garment and should not be visible on it face side. The neckline edge should be a well-defined, smooth curve with no stitching visible in the right side of the garment. 

The facing pieces corresponding to the garment's front and back neckline, are cut using separate sewing patterns. The patterns should be aligned and cut such that they are the mirror image of the neckline (as pictured above). This alignment will ensure that when stitched and finished, the facing's right side is visible on the inside of the garment and the facing and garment wrong sides are touching. 

Facing patterns can be drafted using the main garment patterns. When drafting a neck shaped facing, the the facing outline is drawn directly on the garment patterns, using the neckline edge as a guide. The facing outline is then transferred to a separate piece of paper to complete the facing  pattern. The resulting neck facing pieces should fit perfectly within the garment's neckline edges as shown above. 

Before attaching the facing to the garment's neckline edge, each facing piece should be staystitched align its inner curved edge to stabilize these vulnerable edges and prevent them from stretching out of shape during the construction process. The facing compartment is then stitched, usually at the shoulder seams, to match the shape of the garment's neckline. Prior to aligning and stitching this facing compartment, it is helpful to first clean finish the facing's outer edge using the technique of your choice. This of course, should only be done if your garment is unlined and the facing's outer edge will be visible on the garment's wrong side. You can clean finsh this edge after the  facing has been stitched to the garment's neckline, but you'll find that this is often more uncomfortable and difficult to do at this stage. 

Once the facing compartment is complete with its outer edge clean finished, it is layer flat on to top of the garment layer such taht fabric face sides are touching. In addition, the facing and garment neck edge should align perfectly and any corresponding seams, usually the shoulder seams, should overlap and match perfectly. The shoulder seam will often provide a great starting point for aligning the facing layer as it provide a guideline for ensuring the edges will fall naturally into place. The facing layer should lay flat against the garment layer underneath. To keep the layers properly aligned as well as to facilitate the machine stitching process, insert the pins perpendicular to the edges as shown above.