Groovy Cat Nightgown + How to Sew a Facing

I made this cozy flannel nightgown with the Sadie Grace Nightgown Pattern by Seemingly Smitten. It’s a classic styled, long-sleeved nightgown, available in sizes 6 months to 8 years. It’s VERY generously sized with a wide neckline. I originally cut out the 2-3 years size for Sophie but ended up cutting it down to a 1-2 years size length with a 9-12 months neckline. Sophie is 3 1/2 and about 26 pounds. The raglan style sleeves make the nightgown quick to sew since you don’t have to inset the sleeves. The bias tape enclosed neckline can be made with or without the tie on the front. I added the tie for Sophie but would probably opt out of that for a younger child like Audrey.

The instructions say to cut a keyhole from the gown’s neckline, enclose the keyhole with bias tape, then add bias tape around the perimeter of the neckline. I found that the bias tape around the keyhole wouldn’t lay flat. It kind of puckered out and it was driving me crazy, so I decided to sew a facing for the keyhole instead. Making a facing is a little more advanced than the pattern intended but it’s really not that hard. My mother in law taught me so let me teach you how to sew a facing!

How to sew a facing

Start by cutting piece of your fabric that mimics the neckline of the gown and is the same width as the front of the bodice. The length of this piece should be about 3.5 inches. It’s not shown on the picture below, but you also want to serge or zig zag the bottom of the facing to prevent fraying as this part will not be encased in the seams.

Fold the facing in half and cut out your keyhole on the folded side.

This is how it will look when you open it back up.

You will need to cut the same size keyhole on the gown itself. Use the keyhole you just cut in your facing as a guide.

Then lay your facing and the nightgown right sides together and sew around the top edge and keyhole.

After the facing is sewn to the gown, you will need to cut small snips around the bottom of the keyhole so that it will lay flat after tuning right sides out. It’s hard to see in the picture below but I have indicated where the cuts are with arrows. Be careful not to cut into your stitches.

Also snip the top corners of the keyhole off.

This is how it will look after turning right sides out. Outside of nightgown view:

Inside of nightgown view:

Sew either side of the facing into the seam where the sleeve connects to the bodice. (Where pinned in the picture above.) Serge or zig zag the edges to prevent fraying. This is how it will look after sewing together: