Sewing Techniques With Burda: How to Line a Skirt?
Ready to elevate your sewing skills to the next level? When it comes to creating elegant and sophisticated pieces, knowing how to line a skirt is an essential technique to master. With Burda's guidance, learn how to line a skirt like a pro and discover how to add a touch of sophistication to your creations for a consistently impeccable style.
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Cutting Out the Lining
As a rule, the skirt lining is cut out from the same pattern pieces as the fabric skirt, with 1.5 to 2 cm (5/8 to ¾ in) wide seam and hem allowances. Exceptions are:
Skirts with French pockets
When cutting out the lining, the pattern pieces of the front skirt panel and side hip yoke are pinned or taped together so that the pocket opening on the side seam matches the placement line of the hip yoke. At the top edge, there is a small dart (1).
Draw this dart on the lining and stitch or make a pleat with it.
Skirts with groups of pleats
For a skirt with groups of pleats, cut the lining without pleats: on the paper pattern, form and pin the pleats in the direction of the arrow.
At the top edge, there will be small darts (2) when making the pleats, but they do not need to be added when making the lining. Simply ease their minimal additional width when stitching the lining to the fabric. Kick pleats at the side seams supply the required freedom of movement.
If your skirt is fully pleated, cut the lining according to the pattern of a straight or slightly flared skirt. Make ease slits of approx. 15 cm in the side seams.
Pleated skirt
The lining can be cut out as wide as the fabric skirt or the width can be reduced on the pattern.
To do so, slash the pattern piece from the hem edge right up to the top edge at several places and overlap the slashed edges at the hem edge (3). Make sure that at hip height (approx. 20 cm, or 7 7/8 in, below the waist), the pattern is still at least as wide as the hip measurement plus a 4 cm (1 5/8 in) comfort allowance.
The pattern for a different flared skirt can also be used for the lining.
Skirts with a lapped placket
The lining is cut out depending on how the placket is made. If the pattern also has a facing for the underlap (4), the lining is cut out without a facing or underlap on both placket edges.
If the pattern does not have a facing for the underlap, the lining is cut out with an underlap or facing at the placket edges.
How to sew the lining?
For all types of skirts, sew the lining to the skirt before attaching the waistband. Stitch the darts or fold the pleats and pin. Stitch the seams, leaving the zip fastener placket open.
Important: If the zip fastener is in the left side seam of the skirt, leave the zip closure slit open at the right side seam of the lining skirt. After all, the lining is stitched to the fabric so that the right lining side faces the body.
For skirts without a placket, skirts with groups of pleats, and pleated skirts, leave kick pleats in the side seams of the lining skirt (= approx. 15 to 20 cm, or 6 to 7 7/8 in, long). For skirts with plackets in the lining, leave the relevant seam open (= placket length).
1. Neaten the seam allowances on the lining and press apart. Press the darts to the center front or back.
Pin the lining to the skirt with the wrong sides together. Make sure the seams match. Baste the lining to the top skirt edge, fold under, and sew to the zip fastener tapes (6).
After finishing the waistband and the skirt hem, make the lining hem. The lining will be 2 cm (¾ in) shorter than the skirt. Fold the lining hem under twice (= finished width approx. 2 cm, or ¾ in) and stitch close to the edge.
2. To prevent the kick pleats in the side seams from tearing, small triangles made from the lining are attached under the placket ends. Cut out the lining pieces, approx. 5 cm x 5 cm (2 x 2 in) (7).
3. Fold these square to make triangles, and neaten the open edges together (8).
4. Pin the triangles under the opened placket edges. Topstitch the placket corners close to the edge, catching the triangles as you do so (9).
And there you have it! You now know how to line a skirt like a sewing pro!
