What Lining Fabric Should You Use When Sewing A Knit Jacket?

Lining knits

Hi Sewing Friends:

Do you want to sew a lining in a knit jacket?
Wondering what lining fabric to use when sewing knits?

Here is a sewing technique that will help you achieve sewing success in lining knits.

When you want to fully line a knit jacket to give it a better quality look, try using a woven rayon lining fabric called Ambiance Bemberg Rayon or you might use a light weight polyester fabric.

"Ambiance", one of my favorite lining fabrics. It is 45 inches wide, breathable and washable and is available in lots of colors at Denver Fabrics or Fabric.com

The trick to make it work with the knit is to cut the woven lining fabric entirely on the bias to allow the lining to give with the knit.

You should allow about an extra 1/2 yard of additional lining fabric to be able to cut it on the bias.

Sewing Tip: Cut the lining with 1" seam allowances and let the lining hang for about 24 hours before you put it into the jacket.

The lining may grow in length and get more narrow in width.

Before your sew it, recheck it with the pattern and recut the lining to fit inside the jacket before you stitch it. You don't want the lining drooping below the knit jacket when you wear it.

The extra 1" you allowed for seam allowances in the original cut should be enough to allow for the possible narrowing of the lining.

When you recut the lining, cut it as the sewing pattern with 5/8" seam allowances this time.

Then, construct the lining the same way as you would if it were cut on the lengthwise grain.

Lining knits with bias woven fabric allows both fabrics to stretch together and provide more comfort for you while providing you a top quality garment.

It just makes sense!

Enjoy sewing and lining knit fabrics.

To Your Sewing Success,

Marian


Lining knits

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A Little Girl With Big Ideas And A Christmas Gift Of Love

Hi Sewing Friends:

Everyone is in high gear trying to accomplish everything this busy time of year. We have a neighborhood block Christmas Party today. So, I must be off to make an appetizer.

I wanted to share what happened here earlier today. It is a true Christmas story. Hope you enjoy it. If you have true Christmas stories to tell, please share them with us.

Continue reading the story here:

http://sewingprojecttips.com/2006/12/16/a-little-girl-with-big-ideas-and-a-christmas-gift-of-love/#more-42

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What Is The Difference Between Piping And Cording And How Do I Sew It?

Sewing Tips

Hi Sewing Friends:

What is the difference between piping and cording and how do I sew it? That question was recently submitted to me. So, here is the answer along with some sewing tips that might help you enjoy more sewing success.

To continue reading the answer to this sewing question on Sewing Project Tips, click the following link:

http://sewingprojecttips.com/2006/12/13/what-is-the-difference-between-piping-and-cording-and-how-do-i-sew-it/

To Your Sewing Success,

Marian


Sewing Tips

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Sewing Technique - Discover An Easy Way To Gather Fabric Or Sew Ruffles

Sewing Techniques

Sewing Friends:

Sewing gathers into a flat piece of fabric, especially if it is a long piece like a gathered skirt or a ruffle can sometimes be a challenge. Find out how you can make it easier with just a few minor changes in the way you sew the gathers.

To learn some great techniques on how to gather fabric or make pretty ruffles the easy way, check out this article on Sewing Project Tips.

To Your Sewing Success,

Marian

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Sewing A Formal Tuxedo Vest

Sewing Friends:

My son needs a new formal vest to go with his tuxedo. I thought I would surprise him and give him a vest as a Christmas gift. He is 6'4" tall and needs extra long length. He is also about 220 lbs., so he is a big guy.

My husband and I went all over town looking and came back empty handed. No one carried extra long vests. I even checked online, but what little I found was not acceptable in color or quality. I was frustrated and exhausted.

So, today, I went to my sewing room, rumaged through my stash and found some fabric that I used for some of my grandson's skating vests when he was ice dancing competively. I found a perfect blue with sort of a burnished silver swirl. This will look great with his red hair! O boy, I found another piece of coordinating fabric, a solid gun metal metallic. Great! Now, I could make the vest reversible.

I even had an old sewing pattern from the 60's that I used to make my husband a vest back then. They really haven't changed over the years. If I make it a little longer than Dad's, that should do it. I dug around some more and found enough button molds to cover. I was all set.

Don't you just love finding these treasures? I have everything I need right here and it is FREE . . .well, sort of.

Once I got started, I didn't want to stop. I was excited to see my creation! The vest is together and is ready for the buttons and button holes. I love it! Hope my son likes it.

I have to stop for the day. My back is aching and it's time to get dinner ready. Tomorrow is another day. I will finish the buttons and button holes by applying some of the sewing tips I shared with you in other articles.

The sewing technique that I used to sew the reversible vest is the turned one that I published in an article in April, 2006. If you want to see how to sew a reversible vest, go here:

http://1ststeptosewingsuccess.blogspot.com/2006/04/two-sewing-techniques-on-how-to-sew.html

Find out how to sew some reversible vests for your loved ones, young and old, male and female. Vests are fun and easy sewing projects. You can sew them out of almost anything. Use some of your embroidery or special stitches on them. You are the designer. Have fun!

To Your Sewing Success,

Marian

PS: Just a thought for those of you sewing formals for weddings or proms. How about sewing vests for the guys to match the girls dresses? That would be a nice gift for them.

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Sewing Pants That Don't Fit!

Hi Sewing Friends:

I am on a pants fitting rampage today. I can't stand to see you continue to suffer from fitting frustration.

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"Finally! Pants That Really Fit"

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How many times have you seen the headline, "Finally, Pants That Really Fit"? Well, I know I've seen it many times over the years. And, I can tell you, too, that I was suckered into believing I had found the magic key to pants fitting success. But the results were always the same, "Pants That Don't Fit".

Every "expert" I found basically laid out the same plan to achieve good fit. . .take your full hip measurement, yada, yada, yada, and make muslins and more muslins and tweak it, tweak it, tweak it until you finally give up totally frustrated, or. . .maybe you got a decent fit, but you have no idea how you got it and can't do it again! It makes you feel like you need to call one of those "Extreme Makeover" Shows for help to redo your body!

I'm sorry to rant on like this, but I just read another article about fitting pants in a well-known sewing magazine and it drives me crazy! No wonder you quit sewing for yourself. These articles are not what you need. It is the same old song, so you will get the same result. . .more pants that don't fit in the UFO pile.

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Whose fault is it?

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It isn't your fault. It is the instruction and information that you've been given over the years that is basically a guessing game about what you need and where you need it to achieve good fitting pants.

It probably isn't the "experts" fault either. They can get good fit if they work at it, but they have years of "tweaking" experience. They can start out with a pattern that fits no one, put it on you, and pin and tuck until it comes close to fitting. Then, they send you home and tell you to continue doing the "trial and error" method til you get what you want.

I actually paid a lot of money to have someone do that for me. I still didn't get what I needed. Who knew I was lopsided? I had to find that out for myself.

A balanced sewing pattern can't possibly work on an unbalanced body. The "experts" don't want to deal with unbalanced figures in their classes. It just takes too much time. One of the major problems is that so many people are lopsided, but they don't even know it and many of the instructors don't recognize it or know how to deal with it. You don't know either; you just know that your pants don't fit.

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What do we want?

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I know that most of us who sew are not pattern drafters, nor do we want to be. That is not our forte or interest. We simply want to sew something, put it on and enjoy the fruit of our labor.

We like to use sewing patterns to help us do that. We can read and follow instructions, but the sewing pattern instructions are vague and fitting all the different types of figure deviations can't be addressed in an envelope.

Sewing pattern companies are in the business to sell patterns, not to actually help you get a good fit. They want you to continue to buy more patterns! So, you keep trying different ones.

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So, what am I promoting?

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Now, I can hear you asking, so, what am I promoting? Yes, I have developed a fitting method for pants that works a heck of a lot better than anything I've ever tried in my 50 years of teaching sewing before. Yes, I do sell it. But, I don't really care if you buy it or not. It is up to you. If you want to try it, fine. If you don't, that's OK, too. It isn't a big investment in money, but it is a tremendous investment in achieving the fit you are so desperately seeking.

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How is it different than all the other pants fitting methods out there?

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It is based on common sense! It is not a "trial and error" or a "tweak it" method.

I hate "muslins"! I don't even have it in my house. I want to wear what I spend my time sewing. If you know how to measure accurately, you should be able to wear what you sew.

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How do you achieve good fitting pants?

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Basically, to achieve good fit, you must have the right amount of fabric where you need it. . .not too much or too little. To do that, you need to know how much you need. You achieve that by measuring each section of your body, not the whole body. You need to know how to do that and most methods gloss over this, but don't address it. Then, you need to know how to apply that knowledge to a commercial sewing pattern. That's the tricky part that usually isn't covered either. Sewing the pants is the easy part.

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Does this make any sense to you?

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If I have made some sense to you and you want to know more about my common sense skirt and pants fitting method, "Common Sense Fitting Method For Hard-To-Fit Sewing Folks Who Want Great Fitting Pants And Skirts", check out my website, 1st Step To Sewing Success, at: http://www.1ststeptosewingsuccess.com

To Your Sewing Success,

Marian


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Keywords: sewing, sewing patterns, pants fitting, fit pants, how to sew, sew

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Sewing Tips - Wax And Iron Your Hand Sewing Thread

Sewing Friends,

Many of you are familiar with using beeswax to strengthen your sewing thread and help keep it from tangling when you hand sew.

If you are new to sewing, you want to wax all your hand sewing thread. It's a great idea.

The problem is that the beeswax leaves a waxy residue behind on the fabric that can just be ugly especially on fine silk fabrics or dark colors.

To eliminate this problem, after you cut a length of thread and pass it through your needle, run the thread through the beeswax. Then, simply pass the thread under a warm iron to melt the wax into the thread. No more residue. Problem solved.

And, the best part is that the waxed thread slides through the fabric slick as a whistle and doesn't tangle. Sure saves a lot of frustration when hand sewing.

You can find beeswax at your local fabric store in the sewing notions department.

Here are a couple more sewing tips for you.

Have your sewing thread be about 18-20 inches long when you sew. Also, pass the end of the thread that comes off the spool first through the eye of the needle. It doesn't twist and tangle as much.

Enjoy hand sewing by waxing and ironing your sewing thread. It just makes sense.

To Your Sewing Success,

Marian

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