Hem, Topstitching, Facings

Yesterday, I hemmed the shirt. I had attached the facings to the front. Next, I sewed across the bottom of the front facing, right sides together, to make the front finished edges. Once the corners had been clipped, the seam allowances trimmed and the whole thing turned right side out, I ironed it and ironed up the rest of the hem as well, sewing it in place.

I decided in addition to a line of topstitching close to the edge of the shirt front and collar, I would also add a line of topstitching down the front, about an inch and a half from the edge. The placement of this line was dictated by the loose edge of the facing on the inside. I’ve put pins in perpendicular the the front edge, to hold the facing in place, as I am sewing from the right side. I also put a few pins in on the line of stitching so I would know which stripe to follow. The main benefit of this line of stitching is that it will hold the facings in place up at the neck edge, where they tend to unfold themselves and show up when not wanted.

Next, I added the facings to the top of the pants. After sewing, I pressed the seam allowances open and then I pressed them toward the facing. Then I understitched the facing to the trimmed seam allowances.

The next photo shows the pants, ready to wear except for hemming and pressing.