Lining a Dress

Rowena__.

greetings all! on Mon, 18 Jan, Laura Robinette wrote:"...I am in the process of constructing a short sleeved dress using a pattern that does not call for lining it at all & I would like to line it. What would be the best way to do this...& do I line the sleeves?....

"to line a dress that has sleeves, you have a few choices, one is to just line the dress but not the sleeves, this might be just right for shortsleeves or something with contrast sleeves.

Another option is to line the sleeves, line the dress, then put them together as one. This still leaves an exposed seam at the armscye, but it works fine for casual things.

The way I like best leaves no exposed seams. For this explanation, I will assume that the dress is like a shirtwaist, i.e. has a buttonhole opening, the sleeves have no cuff, and that the bodice is a separate unit from the skirt (you might want to make a mini-sample to follow as you go, it will make so much more sense if you can see this in action):

1--cut your bodice and lining from the same pattern pieces. trim thesleevelining just a bit at the wrist edge, no more than 1" trim is needed.

2--stitch together the bodice, in whatever order you prefer, so that you have completed the shoulder seam, side seam, and sleeve inserted. Do the same for the lining.

3--put the bodice and lining right sides together. If you have a collar, put it in between the layers now, with raw edges even and matching any marks or seams. Stitch the buttonhole edge from the waist edge, up around the neck, and back down to other waist edge. Turn right side out. the collar should turn out to it's place.

4--now for the tricky part, having a sample helps this make sense: pull the sleeves out thru the waist, between the lining and the bodice, so that both sleeve edges are coming thru the bottom and both are turned wrong side out. Turn up the sleeve lining about 2" and insert this into the sleeve, so that right sides are together and the underarm seam meets. Pin this together, then stitch (it takes some maneuvering under the needle, but you can do it!). Pull the sleeve back out and the lining will go into place.

To line the skirt (I am assuming a simple skirt with darts or panels, if your skirt has pleats it's a little different), this is my favorite way but there are other good methods too:

1--cut the skirt and lining from the same pattern pieces, but cut the lining about 1" shorter at the hem.

2--make the skirt up to the point of putting it on the bodice; do the same for the lining.

3--put the skirt and the lining wrong sides together, matching seams andcenters, then stitch the two layers to the bodice at the waist. you can either treat the bodice and lining as one and stitch them to the lined skirt together, or you can attach your lined skirt to just the bodice then slipstitch the lining in place over the waist seam (which is the way iprefer to-do it). if you plan to use a waist stay, put it on now.

4--make your buttonholes or whatever closure you plan. (if you want to use a zipper, the steps are a little different, I'd be happy to tell about that if you need the info).

5--hem the skirt first, then you will hem the lining about 1" shorter so it will be hidden. You can make a thread chain to connect the skirt and lining at the hem, or leave them free. (make sure to hem the lining to it's own wrong side, not the inside of the garment). when I look inside the garment I don't like to see any exposed seams, so even on summer dresses I will usually still line with something light. I also don't like to see underwear (I don't know whose "flesh" they are using to come up with "flesh toned" bras and panties, but it is not mine), so lining means I don't have to worry about that either. babalu!