lining and underlining - demystified

Have you too been confused by lining and underlining?

Here's a great article by threads magazine explaining it.

In this post I'll show you a real life example dealing with lining and underlining.

I bought this really cool (may I say retro?) fabric to make this dress.

fabric - lightweight and sheer printed cotton

the dress I am making - Vogue 8645

The fabric is very sheer, very lightweight, will probably tear easily and won't hold its shape well. That's where underlining comes in. I will cut every fashion fabric pattern piece twice: Once from the (lightweight) fashion fabric, and again from the underlining fabric, which in my case is a medium weight sturdy white cotton plain weave. Then I will baste each underlining piece to its identical fashion fabric piece - and from this point on I treat these "double-fabric" pieces as one. This is called underlining.

see how sheer and weak it is on its own?

Why use underlining? 

Why not sew the outer dress from the fashion fabric alone, and rely on the lining (attached later) to cover up the see-through? Here's why:

• Working with the sheer lightweight fashion fabric on its own is very hard - it'll lose shape, maybe tear, fray, slip and wiggle.
• When seaming together two pieces of sheer fabric, the seam allowances show through. It's not pretty, unless you make really fancy seam allowance finishes.
• The dress has pockets made of the outer fabric, and if it is not underlined, the pockets will be made of the flimsy fashion fabric alone and won't function or hold their weight. They'll also show through - it just won't work.
• As a matter of preference, I wanted the dress to have more of a body and not be wimpy-wispy in the wind.

So in this case, underlining is a must. It hides my seam allowances, allows adding pockets easily, makes the dress sturdy, while retaining the outer appearance of the pretty fabric that I chose. Had I chosen a sturdier outer fabric, underlining would probably not have been necessary. 

So underlining allows you to get the best of both worlds - choose to work with a wider range of fashion fabrics, even very drape-y, see-through, fraying, weak, lace-y fabric - fortify it with underlining, and you're good to go! Without underlining, your chosen fashion fabric needs to be pretty and drape like you want it to, and also be sturdy and not sheer. That's a lot to ask of a fabric, sometimes!

So what about lining? Why line the dress?

I will line the dress with a soft silky cotton batiste. It will add a luxurious feel against the skin when wearing the dress, and hide all of the seam allowances from the inside. The pockets will not be felt against the body either - they will be trapped between the lining and the outer fabric. The zipper tape will also be hidden under the lining. Having this extra inner layer, which is connected to the outer dress only at the neckline and armholes (and zipper tape), obscures any lumps and bumps in my figure (such as those created by undergarment elastic bands). It looks better and sits better, is silkier to put on and take off, and is so pretty from the inside!

Lining finishes the raw edges of the neckline and armholes as well. If you don't line your dress, you'll need to finish these anyway using bias tape or facing. Which obviously isn't as pretty from the inside (and sometimes from the outside as well) as lining, and it may create a ridge that is visible from the outside, where the facing ends.

Yay! We get it now!

I hope that explains it! Now you know when to consider to add lining and/or underlining. I'm making a dress but obviously this applies to many garment types, such as blouses and skirts.

 

If you love learning about these classic sewing details, do read this book (available second-hand for a fair price on amazon or e-bay):

Linen and Cotton:
Classic Sewing Techniques for Great Results
by Susan Khalje