Welcome back to the second day of the Aster sewalong. Everything I show you today will apply to both views, even though I will be showing you with View A (crop top).
Step 5 - With the right sides touching, pin the Front to the Back at the top of the straps.
Sew at a normal 1/2" seam allowance. Press the seam allowances open.
Repeat for the Facings.
Step 6 - Place the assembled and pressed facing on top of the assembled Front / Back, with right sides touching. Line up the raw edges along the inner neckline. Pin.
Stitch the neckline at a normal 1/2" seam allowance. At each corner, reduce the stitch length to 1mm within 1" in either direction of the corner.
To pivot at the corners, leave the needle down, lift the presser foot, turn 90 degrees and continue sewing.
Step 7- Clip a wedge into each corner, as pictured. Clip close to the corner without clipping into the stitches.
Notch the curved areas of the strap. This will help it press smooth once turned.
Press seam allowances toward the Facing.
Press the seam allowances toward the facing. Understitch the facing to the seam allowance where possible (You will not be able to understitch in the corners.)
Step 8 - Re-align the remaining raw edges of the Facing and Front/Back, with right sides touching.
Please note that the Facing straps are intentionally narrower than the main straps to help them turn to the wrong side and remain unseen. Line up the raw edges and allow the main strap to bubble slightly. Pin in place.
Stitch each of the armhole/strap edges, once again pivoting at each corner. Remember to reduce the stitch length to 1.0 mm within 1” in either direction of the corners.
Step 9 - Once again, clip a wedge into each outer corner.
Clip along the strap curves where necessary. This will help it press smooth once turned.
Press the seam allowances toward the facing along the underarm section.
Understitch the facing to the seam allowance along the underarm section. You will not be able to understitch the strap portion of the armhole.
Step 10 -Carefully pull the garment right side out by pulling each Back section through the strap toward the Front section.
The last thing I recommend doing today is giving everything a good press. Because the Facing straps are a bit narrower than the main straps, the Facing should naturally turn slightly towards the wrongs side of the garment and remain not visible.
If any of your corners are puckering, now is the time to go in and clip the seam allowances a bit more to get a nice pressed corner.
That is it for today.