Help! Sewing disaster part 2

[Misty9]

Having already asked the hive mind for help on my initial cock up with this dress, can you help with another one please?

The pattern says to "understitch [the facing] as far as possible" but i cant see how i would do the tight corners on the shoulder straps and if I only understitch the long straight bits then it'll look crap with some bits done and some not won't it?

My solution thus far has been to forget the understitching, but then the raw edges will fray... I'm not sure the arm holes are even big enough. Disaster from start to finish

I've missed part 1 of this so forgive me if that means I've misunderstood! Do you want to stay-stitch it which would help neckline hold its shape and prevent fraying? Or understitch it, which would stop the facing peeping out from inside when you're wearing it?

If stay-stitching, I'd do it before any pieces are attached, close to the cut edge and within the seam allowance, using a shorter than normal stitch length. You should be able to get all the way round as nothing's joined up yet.

If under-stitching, it sounds like the pattern's agreeing you won't quite be able to get into the fiddly bits, so just do what you can to sew the seam allowance from the seam joining the outer garment + facing, onto the facing (keeping the outer garment piece out of the way). It shouldn't be visible from the outside that tiny sections aren't under-stitched.

If I've totally misunderstood this, feel free to point me at thread 1

Thank you B1 and yes it is understitching the pattern talks about. Hmm, but the bits left raw will be the top of the straps- and they'll be very visible won't they?

I'm close to chucking the whole thing and selling my machine....

Oh and don't worry, part 1 was me being slapdash with cutting out and the whole thing being way too wide! I've cut it down to a tunic top to lose some of the bulk. Maybe it'll have to be a skirt next?!

At times it's definitely a myth that sewing's relaxing! Large glass of wine?

Just trying to picture your construction. Has the pattern told you to:

1. Sew back and front facings together at shoulders
2. Sew back and front outer garment pieces together at shoulders
3. Put the facing and garment together with right/good sides touching.
4. Sew all the way round neckline, front and back
5. Open it out and flip so facing is on the inside of your garment - the raw edges on the shoulder seams of both the garment and the facing should now be hidden inside against each other

Then you can think about under-stitching. Does that make any sort of sense? Trying my best but wish I could draw you a picture...

No....it was this:
Sew front and back of garment at sides (right sides together)
Sew front and back facing at sides
Pin facing to garment
Sew neck, shoulders, and armholes edge (so facing is now sewn to garment inside out

I think I may have done it wrong... aargh!

That could still work (suspect it should have said sides and shoulders at first, but no matter). Assuming you're now attaching the facing, you can always make the shoulder seams look neat, pretty and stop fraying by covering them with a bit of bias binding later on. See how it washes, nothing to stop you doing it later if you need to.

I have done a very bad drawing of how I assemble a tunic, so attach for your amusement

Aww thank you my shoulders don't get sewn together as they are fastened with a button (probably another thread if I get that far!) hence my confusion. And I thought I was making my life easier with that style...!

Ohhhh that sounds lovely! I've made similar a long time ago but cheated and put poppers underneath a button because I have form for cocking up buttonholes...

I've checked the instructions and I have sewn the facing to the wrong side of the dress.... sigh. Not sure whether I can be bothered to unpick and re-sew - and I've already trimmed the seams too so it'd be tricky to sew again.

Oh bum! We've all done it screw it up and chuck it in a corner set it aside for a bit until you can bear to look at it again.