How to Line a Skirt

A skirt lining ensures that skirt fabric doesn’t ride up on the wearer’s legs. Most good tailoring includes a lining, but you can install one after the fact if you need to. The best way to make a skirt lining is to measure it from the pattern of the skirt and stitch it in before you hem the skirt; however, you can also approximate a lining with a ready-made garment.

Steps

Pick your Lining Style

1. Buy lining fabric at your local fabric store. Dress skirts and business attire usually employ shiny lining so that the skirt doesn’t catch at your legs. You can choose cotton to match a cotton skirt if you are lining a casual skirt.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   • A cotton lining will allow your legs to breathe more. However, it may catch on your legs and pantyhose just as the skirt would.
   
   
   • Cotton lining is used to turn a see-through skirt into a solid skirt, so that you don’t need to wear a slip.
   
   
   
   


2. Make sure that your lining doesn’t show through the skirt material. If it is a light skirt, consider white, beige or peach material.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   


3. Review the construction of your skirt. If it is easy to deconstruct, you can take a seam ripper to the hem and the sides to insert your skirt inside the hem. If it is solidly constructed, you will want to sew the lining on top of the skirt seams.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   


4. Purchase several yards of fabric. Measure the length of the skirt and the width at the widest hem to see how much fabric you will need. Double the width and add one inch (2.5cm).
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Cutting a lining

1. Turn the skirt inside out. You will use the existing skirt as your pattern for the lining. If you made the skirt yourself, find the pattern and use it to measure the lining.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   


2. Set the lining facing up on your worktable. Place the inside out skirt on top of it. Draw around the edges of the skirt with a fabric pen. Measure and mark any slits or zippers on the lining fabric as best you can.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   • Use the skirt pattern as a template in place of this step for a homemade skirt.
   
   
   
   


3. Flip the skirt over and move to a new section of fabric. Repeat drawing around the outline of the other side of the skirt. Measure and include any zippers, slits or other features.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   


4. Cut the lining material to size with fabric scissors. Cut one-half inch (1.3cm) outside of the pattern line to account for seam allowances. Cut the bottom hem one inch (2.5cm) shorter so that the lining doesn’t go past the bottom hem.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   • If your skirt has a wide waistband, measure the length of the skirt from the bottom of the waistband to one-half inch above the bottom hem.
   
   
   
   


5. Use a seam ripper to take up the facing material, if your skirt has it. This is the material that folds inside the skirt, leaving finished edges.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   • For a better lining, you will want to set the lining inside the facing and sew it down with a basting stitch.
   
   
   
   

Sewing the Lining

1. Sew a zigzag stitch around the exterior of the lining to prevent fraying. Use thread that matches the lining fabric.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   


2. Pin the lining underneath the facing material. If you don’t have facing material, pin it to the inside of the skirt, below the waistband and above the hem.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   • Pin the sides of the skirt. Your two pieces of lining should overlap at the edges.
   
   
   
   


3. Cut around zippers or slits. You want them to either go inside the facing or to the edge of the existing seam around those points.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   


4. Hand stitch around your seams. Use a whip stitch in a thread that matches your skirt fabric. When you stitch be careful to go through the lining material and the facing, but only gather a few inside threads on the skirt’s outside fabric.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   • You don’t want the stitches to show through.
   
   
   • A whip stitch is used to hem fabric down. The stitch will show on the inside more than the outside. After knotting the thread and anchoring it on the back side, insert the needle through a few threads of the outer fabric, point your needle forward one-eighth inch (0.3cm), and bring the needle up through the facing and lining layer. Pull the thread through and a long stitch will wrap around the edge on the inside. Repeat until the hem is complete.^[1]
   
   
   
   


5. Complete a whip stitch all along the waistband, sides and bottom hem. Then, stitch around zippers and slits.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Things You'll Need

• Sewing machine


• Measuring tape


• Thread


• Lining fabric


• Fabric scissors


• Pins


• Worktable


• Needle


• Thread

Sources and Citations

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from How to of the Day http://ift.tt/UHpeEj

via Peter