All-In-One Facings: A Tutorial

Here's a tutorial for a technique that I use a ton.  It's not particularly hard, just hard to explain, and I haven't found any good, clear instructions for it on the internet.

It's called an all-in-one facing, and you can use it for sleeveless dresses, shirts, vests, basically anything that doesn't have sleeves and needs to have a finished seam around the neck and arm holes.  Also, it'll make anything sleeveless reversible, if that's your goal.

The best part about it: No hand sewing! After following a particularly obnoxious commercial pattern that required me to hand stitch around a sleeveless arm hole, I thought this tutorial was due.

This is our final goal.  See how the front of this garment has perfect side and shoulder seams with no top stitching?

Well, the inside looks exactly the same.  So nice and neat, and again, reversible! (er, not this dress.  but it could be, you know?)

Let's get started, shall we?  For the purposes of keeping this tutorial to a mere 2,352 pictures instead of twice that many, I'm going to skip any discussion of closure.  Not the emotional kind.  The zipper/button/velcro kind.  But you can adapt this technique to whatever your pattern or imagination calls for.

Let's assume you've cut out a bodice front and back:

You'll also need a lining or facing front and back:

(this picture shows a lining, which is what you'd use if you want to make something reversible.  Otherwise you can just use a facing, which would just cover the area around the neck and arm holes, leaving the majority of the bodice unlined)


Step 1:
Sew your bodice front to your bodice back right sides together at the side seams:

Step 2:
Sew your lining front to your lining back right sides together at the side seams

Step 3:
Turn your bodice right side out.  Keep your lining inside out.  Slip your lining down over your bodice, lining up all neck and arm curves.  Your bodice and lining fabrics should be right sides together.

Step 4:
Now pin your bodice to your lining.  Place a pin about 2 inches down from the shoulder seam on each side of each strap (you'll use 8 pins here)

Step 5:
Put another pin at each of the side seams to hold everything together.

Step 5:
Sew the bodice to the lining, stopping when you get to each of the pins near the shoulder seams.  You'll be sewing 4 different areas here - the front and back neckline and each underarm area.  Depending on what kind of closure you're using, your back bodice may be in two pieces.  That's ok, it doesn't change the process.

Clip the seam allowances close to the stitching line.

Step 6:
Turn the whole thing right side out through the bottom opening and press.  Now everything is sewn nicely together except the shoulder seams.

Step 7:
Turn your bodice inside out so the two bodice shoulder straps are right sides together.

Step 8:
Pin the shoulder straps right sides together, moving the lining straps out of the way.

Step 9:
Sew the straps together.

Step 10:
Twist the lining straps so they are also right sides together and pin.  This may take a little coercion, but it'll work (this is where you'll be glad you left a good 2 inches free).

Step 11:
Sew the lining straps together.

Turn the whole thing right side out.  See how both shoulder seams are now finished without exposed seam allowances on the outside:

and the inside?

That's good.  The battle is halfway won.  Now we just have to do something about these raw edges:

This is the part where some patterns I've seen will tell you to hand stitch the shoulder seam closed on one or both sides.  But that can be avoided!  Moving on....

Step 12:
If you're making a reversible top, at this point you need to sew the bottom edge closed.  But you'll need to leave a hole to turn right side out at the end, and yes, you'll have to hand-sew that opening shut.  (Or you could top stitch around the bottom edge and close your opening in the process.)  But if this is a bodice for a dress, you can leave the bottom edge open and continue with these instructions.
Turn the whole thing right side out.

Step 13:
This is the part that is difficult to show in pictures and may seem strange, but stay with me.  Separate the bodice and lining.

Step 14:
Reach your hand up between the two toward the shoulder.

Step 15:

Pinch the two shoulder seams between your fingers.

and pull the whole thing down and out as you remove your hand.

(If you've sewn the bottom shut for a reversible top and have only left a small opening for turning, it'll be harder to do this step, but just keep working at it.  You'll have to pull the whole shoulder strap through your opening.)

Step 16:
Keep pulling until you see your two unfinished seams on either side of the shoulder strap and your shoulder seam is laying flat.

Step 17:
Now you'll be able to see the two seams that you sewed 2 inches shy of the shoulder seam.  Put a pin where each of those seams ends.

Step 18:
And now sew between the pins, smoothly connecting the two stitch lines.  Make sure to back stitch at the beginning and end.

Step 19:
Pin down the opposite side of the shoulder strap.

Step 20:
And sew a connecting line on that side too.  This side will be harder because you'll have a lot of fabric bunched up within the strap that you'll need to keep out of the way of your needle.  Just go slowly and stop occasionally with the needle down to shift the fabric and squish it out of the way as necessary.

It'll kinda look like a stuffed dog bone at this point.

Step 21:
Now just pull the shoulder strap back through and right side out.  Press the whole thing well, repeat the steps to finish the other shoulder strap, and you're done!  If necessary, close the hole at the bottom edge like I mentioned.

Or if you're making a dress, you can now attach the skirt to the bodice.

And that's all I've got on all-in-one facings!  Have fun with it, this technique will really make your garments look clean and professional.

note: For dresses that have a back bodice split into 2 pieces (such as dresses that will be finished with a zipper or buttons), this tutorial shows a much easier way to do an all-in-one facing.  But if you want to have a keyhole opening that doesn't extend all the way to the waist seam like the dress above, you have to do it this way.  sorry :)

I Read Crap. You too?

Wow. Char makes crap, and she makes it faaaast. I posted about the drawer stickers on Monday, and she's all "hey, check it out" on Wednesday:

Head over to her post and see for yourself! I just love the little ties on the shelf, too.

I/we think one of the most rewarding parts of blogging is putting something out there and then hearing and seeing that someone not only liked it but then used it somehow. Which reminds me, we have a flickr review coming up. Made something from one of our tutorials? Add it to the group! You might find yourself in an upcoming post. (Who wouldn't want to follow crap?)

I-know-where-it-goes Drawer Stickers: a Tutorial

Do you have a member of household who feels a bit challenged trying to figure out what goes in which drawer? Sigh. I do. I know it's all part of the learning process, but I thought these might help lessen the learning curve in this area. Since someone relishes removing eeeevery single article of clothing and then shrugging her (adorable) shoulders when I declare cleanup time.

UPDATE: For non-DIYers, drawer stickers are available here.

Before the Silhouette came into my life, I might've just freehanded these on colored contact paper or printed labels and laminated them and stuck 'em on. And I promise crafterhours isn't becoming an all-vinyl-all-the-time blog, we're just in try out the new toy mode. Albeit quite the flexible multi-purpose toy.

I drew the clothing outlines with the software that comes with the Silhouette. (I'm already tired of typing that word. So I'll stop now.) It was just a bunch of rectangles and ovals and some merging and cropping. The software made it surprisingly easy. But if you don't want to bother, here's an image you can use to "trace" your own.

I made a set for each kid. The other kid isn't ready to deal with sorting yet, but it'll help Gramma, too.

I loooooove "weeding" vinyl. That's so ridiculously nerdy to say. But it's so fun to pull away the leftovers to reveal this:

And then they're ready to go. These are not tricky little pieces, so you don't need transfer tape. Just stick 'em on and watch the magic fairies pop out and put the laundry away. Ooooooh, I wish.  In this version, nightgowns and dresses are going in the same drawer, but maybe I need to cut another version of the dress with a moon and a star cutout or something?

The bathing suit drawer makes me sad every time I open it now. I am ready for waaaaaaarm!

Poor Adrianna has been sick for a week now, and my kids have now had their third round of stomach bugs this season. Like, 3 times in less than 3 months. On top of sniffles and coughs and a random high fever with no other symptoms. I can't take any more! I want nap time for crafting, not for laundry and wondering whether I'm next.

At least when the laundry is done we all know where it goes.

P.S. Another nerdy vinyl comment. I'm not buying any more "light-tack" mats. Because after the "heavy-tack" mats are used for a while, they turn into "light-tack"mats as the stickiness wears off. Hmph. Wish I'd figured that out sooner.

Two Silhouette Shirts and Get out the vote!

Susan:

Here's a shirt I worked on with a friend. The friend's husband is getting ready to head out on a series of loooong work trips and she's throwing three happy hours in his honor at their favorite bars. Three stops = tour. His nickname is Zeke.

We used the Silhouette's trace function and noodled around with the photo below to create his image. It must be good, because my 4yo knew exactly who it was when she saw the shirt. (Validation from 4yo: Awesome! You know they're telling it like it is.)

A note about the trace function: When my Silhouette was packed, the software didn't include "trace". When I updated the software online, it suddenly appeared. 

Adrianna:

I've seen this quote in a couple places recently and knew I had to make it into a shirt for my brother. I exchanged the normal canoe image for a kayak since that's what he does.

I grin every time I see it.  Nothing like a good Deliverance joke.  And now I have the dueling banjos song in my head.  What's even better is that my brother is actually at risk of running into this problem, but I won't tell you where he kayaks because I don't want to offend anyone from West Virginia.

Hey, new topic: Today is the last day to vote in seventhirtythree's Knock-Off contest!  I feel very honored that my BCBG dress knock-off was chosen as one of the top ten.  There are some incredibly talented people out there - go check out their projects and vote for your favorite, why don'tcha?

Happy Valentines Day(ish)!

Are ya sick of Valentines Day yet?  Too bad.  I had our playgroup V-day party here today, so you're getting the pictures a day late.  I'm not a big Valentines day person, but I do enjoy the chance to colorize the winter blahs, and everything in my house is already red, so it was a no-brainer to host.  I guess it's no different from what we do to other holidays - embrace the aspects we like/believe in, discard the parts we could do without.

I wish I could show you the indoor decor, but as previously mentioned, my house is cave-like in it's complete and utter lack of available natural light.  It would be perfect for vampires.  Well, the traditional kind at least.  But it was your usual fare - doilies, balloons, garlands, and some vinyl mirror art.  Ok, just one flashtastic shot:

But I can show you some of the treats I made!  After I move them all outside to photograph!

I think you'll find that the theme this year was "hearts".  I know, stepping outside the box.  I tend to be on the cutting edge of design like that.

We have heart-shaped sandwiches

and heart-shaped jello

and even heart shaped veggies! (er, we had more than 3.  I forgot to photograph.)

My husband shared a little known fact with me while helping cut those veggies:  In order to compensate for the girliness inherent in cutting a carrot into a heart, boys have to wield their vegetable peelers like a ninja.  Sound effects and all.  It's like I have 3 kids.

And we had some non-heart shaped stuff too.  But never fear, it was still pink.

I made these cookies from Prudent Baby.  Love!

And some traditional red velvet cupcakes with swirly cream cheese frosting topped with a jaunty little strawberry hat (this is food described as if it was coming down the runway, just in case you were wondering.  I should go to bed now probably.)

So there you have it, the most non-crafty post I've ever written!  I promise it won't happen again.  But seriously, how was I supposed to follow Susan's "Pretty Pleats?" Tank?  You see my dilemma.

Happy V day(ish) to you!