All About Linings - Design, Fabrics, Construction

**The Art of Lining Garments: A Guide to Creating a Beautifully Finished Product**

When it comes to garment construction, lining is an essential step that can make all the difference between a well-made and a poorly made garment. In this article, we will explore the world of linings, including how to create a beautiful hem, how to address common issues such as shoulder pads and center back pleats, and how to finish seams to create a professional-looking interior.

**Walking Your Pattern**

One of the most important steps in lining a garment is to "walk your pattern." This involves aligning your pattern pieces with where they will get sewn together and pretending you are sewing the fabric. It's essential to make sure that the sole lines are the same length across the chest, waist, armpits, and hem. Adding about an eighth of an inch to each vertical seam is a good starting point, as this allows for wiggle room in case adjustments need to be made later on.

**Adjusting for Shoulder Pads**

When it comes to jackets and coats, one common issue that can arise is the armhole. To address this, you will want to make adjustments for any shoulder pads used in your garment. This may involve shortening or lengthening the armhole to accommodate the pad. It's also essential to consider the hemline, as you want to ensure that it falls at a comfortable height without adding too much bulk.

**The Importance of Hemming**

Hemming is an essential step when lining a garment. You will need to hem both the front and back of the garment, making sure that the sole lines are even and consistent. It's also crucial to consider the fabric used for the hem, as you want to ensure that it looks good on the outside. Adding a little extra room at the bottom of the hem can make all the difference in creating a flattering line.

**Edge Stitching**

In some garments, such as bras and lingerie, you will not need wiggle room between the lining and the shell. In these cases, edge stitching is essential to create a secure finish. This involves sewing the seam attaching the lining to the shell, then pushing the seam allowance underneath the lining fabric before top-stitching on the lining to attach it to the seam allowance. This creates a clean, finished edge that looks professional.

**Special Considerations**

There are some areas where you will want to avoid having wiggle room between the lining and the shell. For example, in garments with a lot of folds and tugs, such as pleated skirts, it's best to simplify the lining shape to prevent bulk and make sewing easier. In bra cups for bathing suits and lingerie, you may need to edge stitch to create a secure finish that prevents the lining from showing on the outside.

**Recommended Resources**

For those looking to learn more about lining garments, I recommend checking out "Professional Sewing Techniques for Designers" by two fashion school teachers. This comprehensive guide covers a range of lining styles and provides valuable instruction on how to sew in a jacket. Another recommended book is "The Hell of Joseph Armstrong," which offers valuable insights into garment construction and finishing techniques.

**Conclusion**

Lining garments may seem like a daunting task, but with the right knowledge and techniques, you can create beautifully finished products that are both professional-looking and comfortable to wear. By following these tips and tricks, including walking your pattern, adjusting for shoulder pads, hemming, edge stitching, and considering special considerations, you'll be well on your way to mastering the art of lining garments.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey party people let's talk li-ming's if you're excited about more carbon construction videos on my channel hit the thumbs up button and leave me a comment below seeing so so this video is going to cover what mining zarg when we use linings what materials to use different styles of linings design considerations for linings a general construction rules for linings all the things so pause this video grab something to take notes with and let's do this just as a reminder I come from a fashion design background I was a fashion designer in the industry for a long time before I transitioned to university teaching and then eventually to youtube so my point of view comes from that working in the fashion industry thinking about designing clothes to be mass produced and sold but that being said I do hope that this video is helpful for anyone who wants to make clothes first up what is lining lining is the fabric that covers the inside of a garment and one of the ways that we inspect clothes the quality of clothes is to open it up and see if you know the seams are finished nicely if the overlock is messy if the lining is sewn in properly and in a nice material okay all those things aren't really important and you know I'm gonna go over a lot of things and you might be thinking who cares that much about linings but it's really important to think these things it is it can be the difference between a sale and a miss really quick when I say self fabric self fabric using the industry means the outside fabric that's being used the most and the term contrast fabric is something that's also used on the outside but not the most used so if I let's say I have a baseball jacket and the front in the back body are one color and the sleeves are a different fabric the body the front and back body is the self fabric and the sleeves are the contrast fabric now when I say she'll that's kind of a term that means like the whole outside most self and one two three seventeen contrasts that are used on the outside the whole outside as opposed to the lining which is on the inside so those are the terms I'm going to be using a lot in this video okay and I want to talk about facings for a hot second because facings also are part of the inside of the garment okay so facings are a separate piece of fabric used to finish the garment from the inside and face things are made out of self or contrast fabric not lining fabric some garments are just finished with facings and no whiney but just your strategically placed facings to finish armholes finished necklines and the seams are all finished on the inside etc okay and other garments are finished with a combination of facings and linings a very few garments are finished with lining only the whole piece inside okay that folds out to create the lapel of a jacket this is actually the facing piece most of it sits on the inside and it's sewn to the lining here this piece to reinforce the pocket opening because it's such a high stress point it is called the pocket facing and you know this whole edge is stronger because this facing is attached here to the pocket bag next when and why do we use lining when you're trying to decide whether to use lining or just facing okay let's think about the following things hey we use linings when we want some warmth our lining fabrics can actually be even thicker than our shell fabrics for example those denim or corduroy jackets with the shearling on the inside the lining and it kind of sticks out and you know I've designed like leather bombers varsity jackets with like a fat quilt lining on the inside I'll add a thick flannel for extra warmth too we want more structure a little bit more strength a long more durability you know and lightnings can really help the garment retain its shape prevent stretching and really prolong the lifetime of your garment number three we want to cover all the seams and interfacing and pads and support structures inside the garment okay when you are a garment geek like I am you tend to think all of that stuff looks really interesting I love looking at tailored jackets with all the feather stitching and all the details and stuff I love looking at that stuff but your average person wants a nice clean finish for another reason can be it is easier faster or and or cheaper than doing all the scene finishing you know all the scenes on the inside everywhere especially if you have a complex garment with a ton of scenes and five we want to slip the garment on easily off and on which is why linings are often slippery materials especially the sleeves and reason number 316 is linings protect the skin from scratchy shell fabrics like a lot of woolens people do not like to seal the underside of leather against their skin hey sometimes the backs of fabrics have a lot of loose threads and loops and you want to cover all of that from being itchy or just like snagging every time someone wears it let's talk about designing lining first of all there are several styles of lining the first and most common kind is a full attached lining it covers the whole inside of the garment and is attached at all the edges neck sleeve has all of it second unattached lining so unattached lining is with the lining is sewn in the garment in one part and then loose in the areas loose in other areas so for example the lining of a skirt it can be attached at the waist and then just not attached at the hem so it kind of moves on its own and when you have an unattached lining you do have to finish the seams somewhat on the inside because people will see all of that you can also do sleeve lining only yay and when would you do that exactly most often let's take for example a summer jacket and you don't want to add too many layers because it'll get hot and sweaty but it's in a matte fabric you know something not slippery so that it'll be hard to pull on over a t-shirt and then your sleeves will bunch up into the sleep of the jacket not comfortable not great right so you want something slippery for the person to slide over their tee shirt sleeves so you put in a very nice light slippery lining just in the sleeves and into the body no lining so that it still stays like that nice summery jacket a half lining is a lining that stops about midway down the length of the garment so it's in the sleeves it's all across the back and in the front but it stops of course unattached and you most often see these in long spring coats like a trench where you want the lining for support and strength around the shoulders but you don't want the extra heaviness and warmth all the way down under lining this is when you cut the shell pieces of your garments all the outside pieces and then you cut the same powder pieces out of the lining fabric and you saw those two layers together as if it were one piece of fabric and this is great when you have something where you love the surface pattern or the texture of a fabric but you want the overall fabric to be thicker and stronger and so you get the strength of having that lining being sewn into the same scenes or you know if you have something that's worth a little bit sheer a little bit flimsy you want that whole thing underlined or you love the effect of the - of the sheer on top of another fabric you know that color that gets created at the two layers you want to underline those and there are actually a lot more design considerations when it comes to lining first up pockets you knew this was coming right if you don't know about my love of pockets then you must be new here welcome to the channel I literally buy men's jackets and men's jeans sometimes so I can get some proper size pockets and there are many kinds of pockets patch pockets and different shapes single well pockets double wall pockets wall pockets with a button wall pockets with a button and a button Luke wall pockets with the zipper pockets done in a contrast fabric pockets done and self fabric pockets pockets pockets number two facings you have some flexibility in the shapes of facings you know pockets can cut you know you can have the facing cut through in the middle of the pockets face things can go around the pockets you can add a little bit of piping along that seam attaching the facing to the lining and the pot the piping can be in a wide tape it can be regular round piping it could be in a contrast fabric all these things and number three of course with linings you can choose all kinds of different colors and patterns it does not have to be a color that's close to the shell it really depends on your brand and customer pay is your customer someone who would really enjoy you know a beautiful dressy great blazer but have like a really fun zippy lining like a blue polka-dot or something or is your customer more conservative or maybe they want more of an investment piece that's not super trendy so they want like the gray blazer with maybe a charcoal lining less trendy more investment basic so you can decide when you decide on a lining quality from your fabric mill or a distributor you will get a color card or you buy a color card some people give them up free not everyone and the best color cards look like this so you can pop these little babies out and test the colors next to the sell fabric number four the lining does not have to be all one fabric you know I've seen coke linings where they're one color on the top and another on the bottom this jacket has the inside panels a different fabric a lot of different combinations can be made and you know you just create a secret for your customers to enjoy you know on the out on the inside v you can get rid of your facings and make your garment reversible of course you can't do this with every garment but if your garment is in a rather simple shape go for it and six once you understand the basics of whining and how it helps the garment feel free to have some fun you can layer fabrics on the inside like if you have like a beautiful soft lace that's not gonna scratch against the skin you can layer that on top of like a sin but crisp silk that has the structure and support okay so interesting layering up like a sheer print a sheer mesh something like that or you know you can have the lining longer than the shell on purpose and you can create like a peplum with like layers and layers of ruffles cascading down from underneath a jacket and it can be structured on the inside like a lining like a an unattached lining let's talk lighting materials Hey we design linings so that they look great but we choose linings of based on what can enhance and complement the performance of our shell fabrics and really this is all the more reason to study fabrics and how different qualities can complement each other my number one pet peeve about linings is why the silk garments have a man-made lining a polyester lining on the inside because all the beautiful qualities of silk are lost you know that gorgeous soft slinky drape the breathable warms you know there are inexpensive silks you can use like habit ID that you can use for the lining like Timmy hematite is too thin and flimsy to often be used as a self fabric but it makes for a great lining some people call it China silk I prefer habit I whatever silk Georgette's are another good option they are semi sheer you know so you have to think about that in the particular design decision but honestly there are a lot of silk fabrics that work you know you can choose heavier silks or heavier fall winter coats all those good things but you know what I have a whole all about silks video I'll link that in the description box where I do a lot of close-ups with different silk watches so you can learn more about silks and that being said always always match the weight and warmth of the lining to your garments purpose ok don't use a flimsy tissue wait have a tie if you're doing a winter coat always think about the warmth of the garment with the shell and lining combined your spring jacket will be too hot if you use a light outer fabric and then a really stuffy unbreathing polyester okay I use that term a lot unbreathing unbreathable polyester it's like especially it's something that's tightly woven like a lot of polyester linings you know the air doesn't circulate through like it does with Cotton's and silks and so all that hot air being stuck in your armpit close to your body will make you sweat faster than other fibers you will likely want very light linings for spring/summer garments but just be careful that the linings aren't too shear because if the lines are too sheared you're just gonna see all the unfinished construction under the sheer fabric and that kind of defeats the purpose right when you pick a lining always think about how you wash the whole garment let's say the shell of your dress is machine washable you're not gonna want to put in a dry clean only fabric in for the lining who's gonna dry clean a dress because the lining needs dry cleaning that's gonna be pretty freaking rare so you know think about how you're going to take care of your garments and when you all when you think about your care label for your garments always think about the shell and the lining one of the most common linings is member Brown also called kubrow sometimes rayon and silk are popular linings because they look nice and they don't have as much static cling as other fabrics okay clingy linings static cling linings are a new you can use lighter weight cotton fabrics as lining but they are not slippery enough firstly most of them okay when you are testing the slip of a lining don't rub it on your skin rub it on a matte fabric like a like a t-shirt cotton okay and if you're gonna feel that friction and if you feel like it's pulling too much don't use it cotton linings work really well for things that are gonna sit right next to this skin you know things you don't want to move you know for sleep windings Cotton's not gonna work as you want it to move you wanted to pull your arm through but if you're wearing like a summer dress that has a really fitted bodice then yeah a cotton lining would be great cotton breeze and it's gonna sit right close to your skin you don't need it to move it doesn't need to be slippery okay so in that way cotton linings can work let's talk about mix and stretchy linings okay when you choose a stretch lining for a stretch shell like bathing suit bra cups cardigans all kinds of stuff the lining must stretch as much or more than the show okay the lining cannot stretch less than the shell unless you really want to restrict that movement okay because that's what's gonna happen if the lighting doesn't stretch as much as the shell then you're gonna lose the stretchy quality of the outside fabric chances are you don't like that chances are you chose the outside shell fabric because of how much it can stretch chances are you did the fitting thinking about that much stretch and so always you know whether or not you want the inside lining to stretch as much or not always test the stretch of your lining fabric compared to the stretch of your shell fabric just cut to pieces that are the same size and put it right next to a ruler and just check how much it stretches and you will see some good stretchy linings are tricot mesh even doubling up on the self fabric if it's thin enough and you know not all knits stretch a lot interlock is a type of knit that doesn't stretch much at all and what I'm saying about stretch and knits are also true for woven fabrics that have just a little bit of Spanish you know if you use like a skirt bottom week that's about like 2% spandex so just like have some give around your but you know you also have to pick a landing that also has a little bit of give otherwise you lose that kind of like that little bit of roominess where when people sit down and then what was the point of having the stretchy outer like outer shell right so always think about lighting and shell fabric compatibility in appearance in a performance and in how you care for the garment pocketing okay this is an industry term pocketing is a fabric expressly used for pocket bags and you can actually use lots of different kinds of fabrics for pockets you can use the self fabric okay you can use the same fabric as the rest of your lining or you can use a specific pocketing this is most commonly seen in jeans you see you know denim companies will just buy bajillion yards of a very simple soft cotton in a neutral color to do all the pockets of their jeans for their brand alright so let's talk about some general rules of lining construction and this was difficult for me because I wanted to give you some guiding principles and some basics but obviously I can't pattern draft and so every single kind of lining out there but I'm gonna give you some basics to help you get started so there is a very very basic order of operations in making a lining pattern number one you start with a complete shell pattern okay this must be complete it must be fitted because if you make pattern Corrections on the shell then you have to go back and revise the lining as well and that's a big waste of time so have a complete and fitted shell okay and then you're going to trace out your shell pattern onto a fresh sheet of paper and then you're going to also transfer your green lines and your notches after that you must make your facing patterns first number three then you're gonna make some fit adjustments to the lining okay I'm gonna go over more of this in a minute but with jackets you're gonna want to make the jacket a little bit roomier and with a very tight very fitted garment like the bustier the lining it can be the same size or you can like shave off like a millimeter here 1/16 of an inch there things like that and number four you're gonna go over the whole pattern and make sure you have the correct seam allowances everywhere after you've made your adjustments let's add a lining to a woman's blazer with princess seams you know the center front will be copied for the facing and the side front piece will be the lining piece a lot of jackets also have a back facing this seam must match it should flow the front facing should flow into the back facing if you use a back facing in the back generally it's smoother and easier to remove the princess seams and add fish eye darts you want to add some wiggle room in the armpit and bust so we're gonna add quarter inch out quarter inch up okay so you're adding a little bit more lining it's gonna that lining fabric is gonna sit over the curve that they have to make over like this and you want to add that corresponding quarter quarter to the sleeve and the back and always remember to taper out to zero like just pass the waist into the hip you do not want to add wiggle room to the hem the lining hem and the self hem should be the same length anytime you make adjustments to your pattern you want to walk your pattern all over again what is walking a pattern it's when you line up your pattern pieces where they will get sewn together and you kind of pretend you're sewing the fabric and make sure the sole lines are the same length on a men's three panel blazer or even a women's three panel blazer whatever you can add about an eighth of an inch to each vertical seen that's about three millimeters yeah this is your wiggle room across the chest waist armpits and no matter again how much you add you distribute tiny amounts across several scenes and zero out to the hem and when addressing the armhole you want to make adjustments for any shoulder pads you use in a jacket or coat on jackets and coats for both men and women you will you will see a centre back pleat to give that roominess I was talking about especially to accommodate our movement or you know you'll really stress out your sleeve lining and armhole seems too much and yes I know I'm adding to the hem but this is you know this will get folded the pleat will get folded at the hem so you're not adding links to the head in my garment construction FAQ video I talked about lining the overhang at the hem of a jacket or dress this is necessary again for the wiggle room and also it looks nice okay there are things like this when you look and if you're stooping stingy with the fabric it looks chic so having this nice fat half inch lip with a nice center back pleat in a nice fabric that looks nice that looks good quality with trousers and skirts with back darts you can turn those darts into Tufts in the lining and that will give you that little lining wiggle room around your buttons so again different styles work will require different tweaks but these are some basics that can get you started now there are some areas where you want the lining to finish just at the edge no wiggle room you know bra cups for bathing suits and lingerie they're so fitted in such small pieces you don't want or need the room and you don't want to see the lining from the outside in these cases you kind of want the lining to finish a hair away from the edge and you're gonna get that by edge stitching you want to sew the seam attaching the lining to the show and then you push the seam allowance underneath the lining fabric you top stitch on the lining attaching it to the seam allowance a hair away from the edge that's why it's called edge stitching and that also helps it fold back and you can fold it back and press really nicely and you create this nice edge with the lining securely tucked in on the inside and yes in some garments there will be parts where you can't edge stitch you just can't reach and in those places you just make sure you press it clean as if there was edge stitching there another example where the lining can be smaller than the shell is a very drapey garment or any kind of garment that has a lot of folds and tugs and drapes on the outside let's say you have a skirt that's pleated all the way around you do not want a lining that mimics all those pleats okay it will get bulky and unnecessarily difficult to sew and waste a ton of fabric so you do aligning in a simplified shape so if you're doing a pleated skirt I would draft a simple a-line skirt you know make it wide enough so the person can still move their legs as much as they want but it keeps the shape it supports the drink from the inside and it doesn't add too much bulk okay one last bit of info if you want more info on how to sew linings into garments here's a book that I recommend professional sewing techniques for designers and it was written by two fashion school teachers and I'll put the info in the description box it's also in my Amazon book recommendation page which I'll link in the description box as well there is a new word this book with a different cover but the reviews aren't as good for some reason I haven't seen the newer edition so I put this older one on my recommendations list you know other pattern books like the Connie Crawford one the hell of Joseph Armstrong one you know they do give instructions on how to sew in a jacket but this book this professional sewing takes techniques for designers this is a really good sewing book and it goes over a lot of lining styles so this is the one I recommend for them all right and that is a lot of words about whining I hope this video gave you a good foundation of knowledge on linings please give this video a thumbs up if you learned something new today share subscribe hit that notification about all that good stuff and I'll see you in my next videohey party people let's talk li-ming's if you're excited about more carbon construction videos on my channel hit the thumbs up button and leave me a comment below seeing so so this video is going to cover what mining zarg when we use linings what materials to use different styles of linings design considerations for linings a general construction rules for linings all the things so pause this video grab something to take notes with and let's do this just as a reminder I come from a fashion design background I was a fashion designer in the industry for a long time before I transitioned to university teaching and then eventually to youtube so my point of view comes from that working in the fashion industry thinking about designing clothes to be mass produced and sold but that being said I do hope that this video is helpful for anyone who wants to make clothes first up what is lining lining is the fabric that covers the inside of a garment and one of the ways that we inspect clothes the quality of clothes is to open it up and see if you know the seams are finished nicely if the overlock is messy if the lining is sewn in properly and in a nice material okay all those things aren't really important and you know I'm gonna go over a lot of things and you might be thinking who cares that much about linings but it's really important to think these things it is it can be the difference between a sale and a miss really quick when I say self fabric self fabric using the industry means the outside fabric that's being used the most and the term contrast fabric is something that's also used on the outside but not the most used so if I let's say I have a baseball jacket and the front in the back body are one color and the sleeves are a different fabric the body the front and back body is the self fabric and the sleeves are the contrast fabric now when I say she'll that's kind of a term that means like the whole outside most self and one two three seventeen contrasts that are used on the outside the whole outside as opposed to the lining which is on the inside so those are the terms I'm going to be using a lot in this video okay and I want to talk about facings for a hot second because facings also are part of the inside of the garment okay so facings are a separate piece of fabric used to finish the garment from the inside and face things are made out of self or contrast fabric not lining fabric some garments are just finished with facings and no whiney but just your strategically placed facings to finish armholes finished necklines and the seams are all finished on the inside etc okay and other garments are finished with a combination of facings and linings a very few garments are finished with lining only the whole piece inside okay that folds out to create the lapel of a jacket this is actually the facing piece most of it sits on the inside and it's sewn to the lining here this piece to reinforce the pocket opening because it's such a high stress point it is called the pocket facing and you know this whole edge is stronger because this facing is attached here to the pocket bag next when and why do we use lining when you're trying to decide whether to use lining or just facing okay let's think about the following things hey we use linings when we want some warmth our lining fabrics can actually be even thicker than our shell fabrics for example those denim or corduroy jackets with the shearling on the inside the lining and it kind of sticks out and you know I've designed like leather bombers varsity jackets with like a fat quilt lining on the inside I'll add a thick flannel for extra warmth too we want more structure a little bit more strength a long more durability you know and lightnings can really help the garment retain its shape prevent stretching and really prolong the lifetime of your garment number three we want to cover all the seams and interfacing and pads and support structures inside the garment okay when you are a garment geek like I am you tend to think all of that stuff looks really interesting I love looking at tailored jackets with all the feather stitching and all the details and stuff I love looking at that stuff but your average person wants a nice clean finish for another reason can be it is easier faster or and or cheaper than doing all the scene finishing you know all the scenes on the inside everywhere especially if you have a complex garment with a ton of scenes and five we want to slip the garment on easily off and on which is why linings are often slippery materials especially the sleeves and reason number 316 is linings protect the skin from scratchy shell fabrics like a lot of woolens people do not like to seal the underside of leather against their skin hey sometimes the backs of fabrics have a lot of loose threads and loops and you want to cover all of that from being itchy or just like snagging every time someone wears it let's talk about designing lining first of all there are several styles of lining the first and most common kind is a full attached lining it covers the whole inside of the garment and is attached at all the edges neck sleeve has all of it second unattached lining so unattached lining is with the lining is sewn in the garment in one part and then loose in the areas loose in other areas so for example the lining of a skirt it can be attached at the waist and then just not attached at the hem so it kind of moves on its own and when you have an unattached lining you do have to finish the seams somewhat on the inside because people will see all of that you can also do sleeve lining only yay and when would you do that exactly most often let's take for example a summer jacket and you don't want to add too many layers because it'll get hot and sweaty but it's in a matte fabric you know something not slippery so that it'll be hard to pull on over a t-shirt and then your sleeves will bunch up into the sleep of the jacket not comfortable not great right so you want something slippery for the person to slide over their tee shirt sleeves so you put in a very nice light slippery lining just in the sleeves and into the body no lining so that it still stays like that nice summery jacket a half lining is a lining that stops about midway down the length of the garment so it's in the sleeves it's all across the back and in the front but it stops of course unattached and you most often see these in long spring coats like a trench where you want the lining for support and strength around the shoulders but you don't want the extra heaviness and warmth all the way down under lining this is when you cut the shell pieces of your garments all the outside pieces and then you cut the same powder pieces out of the lining fabric and you saw those two layers together as if it were one piece of fabric and this is great when you have something where you love the surface pattern or the texture of a fabric but you want the overall fabric to be thicker and stronger and so you get the strength of having that lining being sewn into the same scenes or you know if you have something that's worth a little bit sheer a little bit flimsy you want that whole thing underlined or you love the effect of the - of the sheer on top of another fabric you know that color that gets created at the two layers you want to underline those and there are actually a lot more design considerations when it comes to lining first up pockets you knew this was coming right if you don't know about my love of pockets then you must be new here welcome to the channel I literally buy men's jackets and men's jeans sometimes so I can get some proper size pockets and there are many kinds of pockets patch pockets and different shapes single well pockets double wall pockets wall pockets with a button wall pockets with a button and a button Luke wall pockets with the zipper pockets done in a contrast fabric pockets done and self fabric pockets pockets pockets number two facings you have some flexibility in the shapes of facings you know pockets can cut you know you can have the facing cut through in the middle of the pockets face things can go around the pockets you can add a little bit of piping along that seam attaching the facing to the lining and the pot the piping can be in a wide tape it can be regular round piping it could be in a contrast fabric all these things and number three of course with linings you can choose all kinds of different colors and patterns it does not have to be a color that's close to the shell it really depends on your brand and customer pay is your customer someone who would really enjoy you know a beautiful dressy great blazer but have like a really fun zippy lining like a blue polka-dot or something or is your customer more conservative or maybe they want more of an investment piece that's not super trendy so they want like the gray blazer with maybe a charcoal lining less trendy more investment basic so you can decide when you decide on a lining quality from your fabric mill or a distributor you will get a color card or you buy a color card some people give them up free not everyone and the best color cards look like this so you can pop these little babies out and test the colors next to the sell fabric number four the lining does not have to be all one fabric you know I've seen coke linings where they're one color on the top and another on the bottom this jacket has the inside panels a different fabric a lot of different combinations can be made and you know you just create a secret for your customers to enjoy you know on the out on the inside v you can get rid of your facings and make your garment reversible of course you can't do this with every garment but if your garment is in a rather simple shape go for it and six once you understand the basics of whining and how it helps the garment feel free to have some fun you can layer fabrics on the inside like if you have like a beautiful soft lace that's not gonna scratch against the skin you can layer that on top of like a sin but crisp silk that has the structure and support okay so interesting layering up like a sheer print a sheer mesh something like that or you know you can have the lining longer than the shell on purpose and you can create like a peplum with like layers and layers of ruffles cascading down from underneath a jacket and it can be structured on the inside like a lining like a an unattached lining let's talk lighting materials Hey we design linings so that they look great but we choose linings of based on what can enhance and complement the performance of our shell fabrics and really this is all the more reason to study fabrics and how different qualities can complement each other my number one pet peeve about linings is why the silk garments have a man-made lining a polyester lining on the inside because all the beautiful qualities of silk are lost you know that gorgeous soft slinky drape the breathable warms you know there are inexpensive silks you can use like habit ID that you can use for the lining like Timmy hematite is too thin and flimsy to often be used as a self fabric but it makes for a great lining some people call it China silk I prefer habit I whatever silk Georgette's are another good option they are semi sheer you know so you have to think about that in the particular design decision but honestly there are a lot of silk fabrics that work you know you can choose heavier silks or heavier fall winter coats all those good things but you know what I have a whole all about silks video I'll link that in the description box where I do a lot of close-ups with different silk watches so you can learn more about silks and that being said always always match the weight and warmth of the lining to your garments purpose ok don't use a flimsy tissue wait have a tie if you're doing a winter coat always think about the warmth of the garment with the shell and lining combined your spring jacket will be too hot if you use a light outer fabric and then a really stuffy unbreathing polyester okay I use that term a lot unbreathing unbreathable polyester it's like especially it's something that's tightly woven like a lot of polyester linings you know the air doesn't circulate through like it does with Cotton's and silks and so all that hot air being stuck in your armpit close to your body will make you sweat faster than other fibers you will likely want very light linings for spring/summer garments but just be careful that the linings aren't too shear because if the lines are too sheared you're just gonna see all the unfinished construction under the sheer fabric and that kind of defeats the purpose right when you pick a lining always think about how you wash the whole garment let's say the shell of your dress is machine washable you're not gonna want to put in a dry clean only fabric in for the lining who's gonna dry clean a dress because the lining needs dry cleaning that's gonna be pretty freaking rare so you know think about how you're going to take care of your garments and when you all when you think about your care label for your garments always think about the shell and the lining one of the most common linings is member Brown also called kubrow sometimes rayon and silk are popular linings because they look nice and they don't have as much static cling as other fabrics okay clingy linings static cling linings are a new you can use lighter weight cotton fabrics as lining but they are not slippery enough firstly most of them okay when you are testing the slip of a lining don't rub it on your skin rub it on a matte fabric like a like a t-shirt cotton okay and if you're gonna feel that friction and if you feel like it's pulling too much don't use it cotton linings work really well for things that are gonna sit right next to this skin you know things you don't want to move you know for sleep windings Cotton's not gonna work as you want it to move you wanted to pull your arm through but if you're wearing like a summer dress that has a really fitted bodice then yeah a cotton lining would be great cotton breeze and it's gonna sit right close to your skin you don't need it to move it doesn't need to be slippery okay so in that way cotton linings can work let's talk about mix and stretchy linings okay when you choose a stretch lining for a stretch shell like bathing suit bra cups cardigans all kinds of stuff the lining must stretch as much or more than the show okay the lining cannot stretch less than the shell unless you really want to restrict that movement okay because that's what's gonna happen if the lighting doesn't stretch as much as the shell then you're gonna lose the stretchy quality of the outside fabric chances are you don't like that chances are you chose the outside shell fabric because of how much it can stretch chances are you did the fitting thinking about that much stretch and so always you know whether or not you want the inside lining to stretch as much or not always test the stretch of your lining fabric compared to the stretch of your shell fabric just cut to pieces that are the same size and put it right next to a ruler and just check how much it stretches and you will see some good stretchy linings are tricot mesh even doubling up on the self fabric if it's thin enough and you know not all knits stretch a lot interlock is a type of knit that doesn't stretch much at all and what I'm saying about stretch and knits are also true for woven fabrics that have just a little bit of Spanish you know if you use like a skirt bottom week that's about like 2% spandex so just like have some give around your but you know you also have to pick a landing that also has a little bit of give otherwise you lose that kind of like that little bit of roominess where when people sit down and then what was the point of having the stretchy outer like outer shell right so always think about lighting and shell fabric compatibility in appearance in a performance and in how you care for the garment pocketing okay this is an industry term pocketing is a fabric expressly used for pocket bags and you can actually use lots of different kinds of fabrics for pockets you can use the self fabric okay you can use the same fabric as the rest of your lining or you can use a specific pocketing this is most commonly seen in jeans you see you know denim companies will just buy bajillion yards of a very simple soft cotton in a neutral color to do all the pockets of their jeans for their brand alright so let's talk about some general rules of lining construction and this was difficult for me because I wanted to give you some guiding principles and some basics but obviously I can't pattern draft and so every single kind of lining out there but I'm gonna give you some basics to help you get started so there is a very very basic order of operations in making a lining pattern number one you start with a complete shell pattern okay this must be complete it must be fitted because if you make pattern Corrections on the shell then you have to go back and revise the lining as well and that's a big waste of time so have a complete and fitted shell okay and then you're going to trace out your shell pattern onto a fresh sheet of paper and then you're going to also transfer your green lines and your notches after that you must make your facing patterns first number three then you're gonna make some fit adjustments to the lining okay I'm gonna go over more of this in a minute but with jackets you're gonna want to make the jacket a little bit roomier and with a very tight very fitted garment like the bustier the lining it can be the same size or you can like shave off like a millimeter here 1/16 of an inch there things like that and number four you're gonna go over the whole pattern and make sure you have the correct seam allowances everywhere after you've made your adjustments let's add a lining to a woman's blazer with princess seams you know the center front will be copied for the facing and the side front piece will be the lining piece a lot of jackets also have a back facing this seam must match it should flow the front facing should flow into the back facing if you use a back facing in the back generally it's smoother and easier to remove the princess seams and add fish eye darts you want to add some wiggle room in the armpit and bust so we're gonna add quarter inch out quarter inch up okay so you're adding a little bit more lining it's gonna that lining fabric is gonna sit over the curve that they have to make over like this and you want to add that corresponding quarter quarter to the sleeve and the back and always remember to taper out to zero like just pass the waist into the hip you do not want to add wiggle room to the hem the lining hem and the self hem should be the same length anytime you make adjustments to your pattern you want to walk your pattern all over again what is walking a pattern it's when you line up your pattern pieces where they will get sewn together and you kind of pretend you're sewing the fabric and make sure the sole lines are the same length on a men's three panel blazer or even a women's three panel blazer whatever you can add about an eighth of an inch to each vertical seen that's about three millimeters yeah this is your wiggle room across the chest waist armpits and no matter again how much you add you distribute tiny amounts across several scenes and zero out to the hem and when addressing the armhole you want to make adjustments for any shoulder pads you use in a jacket or coat on jackets and coats for both men and women you will you will see a centre back pleat to give that roominess I was talking about especially to accommodate our movement or you know you'll really stress out your sleeve lining and armhole seems too much and yes I know I'm adding to the hem but this is you know this will get folded the pleat will get folded at the hem so you're not adding links to the head in my garment construction FAQ video I talked about lining the overhang at the hem of a jacket or dress this is necessary again for the wiggle room and also it looks nice okay there are things like this when you look and if you're stooping stingy with the fabric it looks chic so having this nice fat half inch lip with a nice center back pleat in a nice fabric that looks nice that looks good quality with trousers and skirts with back darts you can turn those darts into Tufts in the lining and that will give you that little lining wiggle room around your buttons so again different styles work will require different tweaks but these are some basics that can get you started now there are some areas where you want the lining to finish just at the edge no wiggle room you know bra cups for bathing suits and lingerie they're so fitted in such small pieces you don't want or need the room and you don't want to see the lining from the outside in these cases you kind of want the lining to finish a hair away from the edge and you're gonna get that by edge stitching you want to sew the seam attaching the lining to the show and then you push the seam allowance underneath the lining fabric you top stitch on the lining attaching it to the seam allowance a hair away from the edge that's why it's called edge stitching and that also helps it fold back and you can fold it back and press really nicely and you create this nice edge with the lining securely tucked in on the inside and yes in some garments there will be parts where you can't edge stitch you just can't reach and in those places you just make sure you press it clean as if there was edge stitching there another example where the lining can be smaller than the shell is a very drapey garment or any kind of garment that has a lot of folds and tugs and drapes on the outside let's say you have a skirt that's pleated all the way around you do not want a lining that mimics all those pleats okay it will get bulky and unnecessarily difficult to sew and waste a ton of fabric so you do aligning in a simplified shape so if you're doing a pleated skirt I would draft a simple a-line skirt you know make it wide enough so the person can still move their legs as much as they want but it keeps the shape it supports the drink from the inside and it doesn't add too much bulk okay one last bit of info if you want more info on how to sew linings into garments here's a book that I recommend professional sewing techniques for designers and it was written by two fashion school teachers and I'll put the info in the description box it's also in my Amazon book recommendation page which I'll link in the description box as well there is a new word this book with a different cover but the reviews aren't as good for some reason I haven't seen the newer edition so I put this older one on my recommendations list you know other pattern books like the Connie Crawford one the hell of Joseph Armstrong one you know they do give instructions on how to sew in a jacket but this book this professional sewing takes techniques for designers this is a really good sewing book and it goes over a lot of lining styles so this is the one I recommend for them all right and that is a lot of words about whining I hope this video gave you a good foundation of knowledge on linings please give this video a thumbs up if you learned something new today share subscribe hit that notification about all that good stuff and I'll see you in my next video\n"