Armhole & neck facings: Don’t forget to clip or notch the edges…

A few of the costumes that I’m designing for the Passion Play have neckline facings.

Facings are great to use when turning or creating a professionally finished hem is impossible. I like using facings around armhole openings or necklines since it’s quick and produces professional results.

Neck and armhole facings: Don’t forget to clip or notch the edges

In the above picture you’ll see the notched edges around this costumes neckline. Why make notches? Doing this step enables the facing to curve and lie flat against the garment. This is a step you really don’t want to skip since if you avoid it, you might notice that your facing won’t lie flat and an unnotched/unclipped facing can cause the fabric to pull in odd ways. I’ve noticed with the major pattern companies they leave out this reminder since at times they assume that a sewer will know this. That’s not necessarily true, especially if the person is new to sewing.

I used my old Wiss pinking shears that I inherited from my mom. These shears are older than me (over 43 years old) and they’re still doing a great job. I really love these pinking shears, they’re heavy and they’ve obviously lasted a long time! If you don’t have pinking shears you can either make notches (using scissors) like the ones above or simply clip close to the seam.

I must say that the seams that my newly acquired Brother sewing machines did was excellent. My Brother PC420 did a wonderful job sewing straight seams and my Brother 1034D serged everything quite nicely. Thus far, since I’ve used these machines, the only issues I have were my fault and those mistakes were easily corrected.