Alternative neckline treatment

I have a nice pattern for a square neck stretch top (McCalls 3728), however it has a standard faced finish to the neckline. The facing is a bit too narrow and has a tendency to pop out above the neckline. I'm also not entirely sure I like facing for a knit top.

Anyone got any other suggestions for what I could do with this? Could I use some sort of bias binding around the neck? Does this affect the pattern at all? Any ideas would be most welcome!

Thanks, Julie.

Reply to
JulieB
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Alternative neckline treatment

Reply to
sewingbythecea

Why not stop stitch the facing down an inch from the edge? This gives a nice neat and reasonably unobtrusive finish and eliminates pop-out of facings.

Reply to
Kate Dicey

I made a similar pattern in a T-shirt knit and used a lightweight fusible fleece to stabilize the facing; after trimming the facing seam I pressed it to the inside and stitched several evenly spaced rows of straight stitches around the neckline. It gave the neck area a kind of trapunto-like trim that was very attractive. I got lots of complements on the top and it completely solved the flipped out facing problem. Give it a try, I think you'll like it.

Martha

Reply to
password

Now, this got me thinking: if you don't need extra bulk around the neckline, could you use fusible interfacing for the facing? You could sew it on like a regular facing, turn it to the inside and pres it down, and it wouldn't shift.

Has anyone ever tried this? Any reason why it wouldn't work, apart from being rather fiddly to press and offering the possiblity of scorched fingers?

Reply to
Sally Holmes

I wouldn't... Fusible interfacing tends NOT to stay stuck to knits, unless you use a knit fusible. It isn't really designed for the wear. either.

Reply to
Kate Dicey

But couldn't you use it to get the neckline started? I've done this with a bias fusible, and just used it to turn the fabric evenly and smoothly before stitching. It worked well for me.

Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati

Reply to
SewStorm

I'd use a crossgrain strip of knit; bias would pull.

My knit necks are all round or oval, so my methods might not be of much help.

When I sew a separate strip to the neck, I make it a band; I see no reason that it couldn't be turned entirely to the inside, like the bias facings I put on the necks of woven shirts. You'd have to miter it at the corner, and it might be a mite lumpy, if you haven't a significantly-lighter fabric to cut the band from. Leaving all inside edges raw helps some; on my nicer shirts, I hand-hem the raw edge with a laddery sort of stitch (one running stitch in facing alternates with one stitch in shirt) after hand-picking along the edge of the band from the right side. For everyday shirts, I zig-zag over the seam and let it go at that. It looks quite nice if I starch the seam before zig-zagging it. If I'm using jersey, the raw edge does tend to curl, but it's on the inside and jersey is too light to show through.

I also hem necks: turn a quarter inch to the inside and zig-zag or hand-hem the raw edge. Painting the edge with starch before hemming makes zig-zagging much neater. (Neck hems on wovens are turned twice, of course.)

Joy Beeson

Reply to
joy beeson

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