Dear readers,
I used to hate facings. Absolutely hate them. I would go to great lengths to avoid them altogether, including fully lining garments rather than risking the bunching, the showing through, or the flipping out of a flimsy facing.
And if I am perfectly honest, even though I now know how to draft and construct facings that behave properly, I still do not fully trust them. The potential for rebellion is always there.
So here are the three methods I rely on to keep them in check.
Chainstitching: my favourite
This is the one I reach for most often. Chainstitching is tiny, flexible, and almost invisible from the right side. It is particularly well suited to lightweight to medium-weight fabrics where you want the facing to stay in place without adding any stiffness. Because the stitch has give, it works with the garment rather than against it.
Work the stitch by hand, catching the facing loosely to the seam allowances. The goal is enough hold to keep the facing flat and in place, without pulling or distorting anything from the right side.
Stitch in the ditch: the fast option
When seams cross the facing at the shoulders or sides, stitching in the ditch is fast, clean, and nearly invisible. Working from the right side, you stitch directly into the seam line, which catches the facing underneath without anything showing on the surface.
It works especially well at shoulder seams and side seams. It is the quickest of the three, and when the construction allows for it, it is a very satisfying shortcut.
Catch stitching all around
Catch stitching the facing to the seam allowances all the way around the inner edge is the most thorough method. Completely invisible from the right side, very secure, and more time-consuming than the other two. On tailored garments, a jacket, or a coat, that extra time is well spent.
What comes before all of this
These three methods will all do their job. But well-behaved facings start much earlier in the process: with good drafting, proper fusing, and understitching as far into the curves as you can go. Without those foundations in place, no amount of hand securing at the end will fully make up for it.
That will be a Tiny Tip for another Tuesday.
Happy sewing,
Delphine