How to Sew a Facing and Draft Your Own Facing Pattern

Sewing a Facing is a common garment construction step for finishing waistlines, armholes and necklines. Done correctly, it gives a beautiful finish to a garment. Use our guide to learn how to sew a facing with a sewing machine and if needed, create your own facing pattern.

Facing - What is it?

A facing is a layer of fabric sewn on the inside of garment openings, such as armholes, necklines or waistlines. Facings finish the edge of the opening and add structure and support.

Facings can be cut from the garment fabric or a different fabric.

Unless they are topstitched or edgestitched, facings are invisible from the right side of the garment. They are usually interfaced for strength but don’t have to be.

If the edge is straight, facings can sometimes be drafted as extensions to the pattern piece. If the edge is curved, a facing is often a separate pattern piece, and a separate piece of fabric is used.

Facings are typically sewn so that they are on the inside of a finished garment, but facings may be sewn on the right side of the garment as a design detail.

Examples of a Facing

On the left, the facing finishes the center front of a jacket and is visible on the inside. On the right, a facing is used to finish the top of a dress.

  • WHEN DO YOU USE IT?

    • Facings are used to finish garment openings in place of waistbands, collars and sleeves.
    • They can be cut to an even width all around the opening, or they can be shaped.
    • Skirts and trousers with facings instead of waistbands are generally more comfortable to wear, as no tight band digs into the waistline.
    • Facings also allow for a little more wiggle room in the fit, as the skirt can slip up or down the waist to a place that’s comfortable.

  • TIPS + NOTES

    • Facings need to be deep enough to stay hidden, but not too deep to be bulky.
    • Trimming and clipping a facing is important to reduce bulk and ensure curved necklines and armholes can turn all the way right side out and maintain their curves.
    • If your garment has an underlining, catchstitch your facings to the underlining to keep them in place.
    • You may want to stabilize a faced opening with stay tape, if it’s an area that may stretch out over time.

HOW TO SEW A FACING

Prepare your garment for attaching the facing. Assemble the area of the garment where the facing will be sewn, so the opening is ready for the facing to be attached. Press seams open.

Fuse or sew interfacing to facing pieces.

Assemble the facing to match the garment. This includes sewing any side seams.

Finish the long outer edge of the facing, the one that isn’t going to be sewn to the opening of the garment.

PIN FACING TO GARMENT

With right sides together, pin the facing to the opening. Match up the seams of the facing to the garment seams, and sew around the facing with a regular 5⁄8" (1.5cm) seam allowance (or the seam allowance used in your pattern).

TRIM SEAM ALLOWANCE

Trim the seam allowance to ¼" (6mm), or trim the seam allowance in half.

If the edge is curved, clip and notch curves.

UNDERSTITCH AND PRESS

Understitch the facing. If you are stitching toward an enclosed area, where it may be hard to reach by machine, such as a corner, understitch as far into the corner as you can and then backstitch to secure the stitching.

Press the facing to the inside of the garment. The understitching will help the facing roll to the inside; pressing it will keep it in place.

TACK FACING TO GARMENT

If desired, tack the facing to the garment at the seams. This helps keep the facing from flipping out to the right side. You can do this by hand, taking a few hand stitches through both layers. Or stitch in the ditch of the seam and clip threads close to the stitching.

HOW TO MAKE A PATTERN FOR A FACING

If you want to add a facing to a pattern, it’s quite easy to do!

TRACE PATTERN

Once you’ve decided where to add the facing, fold out any darts or pleats from the pattern piece that will affect the facing area.

Then lay the pattern piece on pattern tracing paper and trace around the outer edges.

This is the start of your new facing pattern piece.

CREATE FACING DEPTH

Measure out from the edge where the facing will be attached about 2" (5.1cm) all along the edge, and draw in the facing line parallel to the opening edge. Depending on where the facing is located, you may want a narrower facing or a deeper one. Remember, you can always cut off the facing if it seems too deep.

Mark the grain line to match the grain of your original pattern piece, and transfer any notches from the original pattern piece so it’s easy to sew the facing to the opening. If the piece was cut on the fold, mark the cut on the fold side.

Before cutting out the new pattern piece, use a ruler to redraw the straight lines.

YOU CAN DO IT! MORE TIPS

You can do this! Sewing a facing is an important technique that gives your garment a professional finish, and is essential for so many garment designs like button up shirts and jackets.

If you're new to working with garment facings, its always a good idea to do a few test runs before jumping into your project. This helps you get used to working with the different layers of fabric, and a test scrap allows for experimentation, success and mistakes before using your good fabric.

If the garment fabric is opaque and a facing won’t show through to the right side, use self-fabric (the same fabric as your garment) for the facing. If your garment fabric is sheer, or sheer enough that the design will show through to the right side, choose a matching solid-coloured fabric to use for facings.

If your garment fabric is thick or textured, use a solid, medium-weight fabric instead for facings.

If there is no lining sewn to the facing, then the outer edge of the facing needs to be finished. You can simply sew around the edges with a zigzag stitch or with a serger. You could turn the edge under and stitch it or pink the edges. A pinked finish is best for tightly woven fabric that won’t fray. For unlined coats and jackets, bind the edges with bias tape for a professional look. Doing so creates bulk, so it’s best used for garments in thick fabrics where the edges won’t show through.