Mini Tutorial:​ How To Sew An All-In-One Facing

1. Stitch, iron and clean-finish (if needed) both garment side seams. Leave the shoulder seam edges open as pictured above. Interface the wrong side of the garment at the are covered by the all-in-one facing. You can use the facing pattern pieces to cut the corresponding interfacing layers. Staystitch the curved edges of the neckline to stabilize them and prevent them form stretching out as the garment goes though its remaining construction steps. The stitch should be applied within the seam allowance and not be visible on the finished garment's right side. 

2. Stitch the facing sides seam and leave the facing shoulder seam edges open. Clean finish the bottom facing edge using the technique of your choice. In this tutorial the edge is serged then folded and topstitched. As you did with the garment layers, staystitch the facing's curved neckline edges. 

3. With the garment on its right side, place the facing compartment on top of the the garment layer such that fabric face sides are touching and all edges of the armholes and neckline align. The garment sides seams should perfectly align with those of the facing. Insert pins perpendicularly to secure all facing and garment edges together. It helps to replace the pins with a hand basting stitch if you don't feel quite comfortable stitching on your sewing a machine yet. In the image above, the curved neckline edges have been hand basted. 

4. Leaving about 1/2" of unstitched space at the beginning and end of each stitch, machine stitch the edges of the neckline and armholes.

All stitches should stop at about 1/2" form the shoulder seam edge- you should be able to separate the facing and garment shoulder seam edges as pictured above, 

5. Before flipping the facing layer to the garment's wrong side, clip wedge notches into the seam allowance layers at the neckline and armhole's most curved areas.

6. Iron all facing seams with the facing and all seam allowance layers pointing away form the garment as shown above. It may be easier to iron on a sleeve board so you can reach the narrow shoulder area. Understitch the facing along the neckline and armhole edges. Understitching means applying a topstitch on top of the facing and seam allowance layers at about 1/8" away from the seamline. This stitch keeps the faced edges flat and prevents the facing layer from rolling to the outside of the garment. 

7. Flip the facing layer to the wrong side of the garment. Align and pin the garment shoulder seam edges together with face sides touching. Stitch the shoulder seam at 1/2" seam allowance as shown above. Repeat on both sides of the garment. 

8. To complete the facing layer, fold the shoulder seam allowance inward to enclose all ra wedges and slipstitch the folded edge to the garment's seam allowance layers underneath. 

9. Fold the facing's center back seam allowance inward (toward the facing's wrong side) and pin it to the zipper tape, enclosing all raw edges underneath. Slipstitch the facing layers to the zipper tape underneath to complete the facing application.