How do you attach facing to a neck edge on a shirt?

I'm making a pajama shirt and I'm completely confused about how to attach the facing. Do I baste stitch it and gather it like sleeves, and then stitch? The directions that came with the pattern confuse me at this point. Also, what is "grading" the seam allowances?

This is one of these steps where you should have someone standing by your side ~ but lets see if I can walk you through it :)

What the facing is ~ is the fabric that finishes the edge of your PJ neckline. You do not want to gather it like a sleeve since the point here is to create a finished edge for the neck.

Have you already attached the front neck facing to the back neck facing yet, and edge stitched the outer edges? The next step is to pin the facing to the shirt. This is done by matching right sides together. Typically ~ you lay the shirt on the table, with the "right side" facing up, then invert the facing with the "right side" facing down. Pin the two together, matching notches, circles, center backs and seams.

Stitch along the seam allowance...do NOT gather since this will pucker the neck opening. If you are nervous about this, use a baste stitch the first time through. Before you do any clipping, let's double check to see if you've sewn the facing on properly! Merely flip the facing around like you are "tucking in" a collar. The seam you just basted should now be the finished edge of your shirt.

If everything looks like it's in the right place, unflip the facing back into it's original position, and this time sew it for real.

Grading the seam allowance means that you don't trim the seams at the same length. This prevents having a bulky collection of seams beneath the finished edge of your neck line.

If you are still confused, email me and I'll walk you through it in greater detail :)