Anyway, this post isn't about the weird terms I have for all the craft-circumstances, but to tell you how sewing a garment with a lining is like having two kids.
I'm so amazed by people who say that lining a garment is a quick additional step and, truly, I fear for their sanity as (when I do the math) it's like a zillion extra steps:
- Chances are you have to draft the fucking thing - thanks modern era and short attention spans
- Then you have to cut it
- Then you have to finish the edges and work any relevant tucks or darts into it
- Then you have to sew it up
- Oh, and then you get to figure out how it goes into the shell garment which (when you're working with increasingly complicated construction like vents, bagging, using petersham as facing etc.) is not necessarily clear.
But back to the likeness between children and linings: Think of the shell garment as your first, that cute little baby who enriches your urban, bohemian lifestyle even as you struggle through hallucinogenic exhaustion and a crisis of identity.
Oh, you could stop there. I mean, it's hard enough to find time to pee when you're nurturing this little bud. But the lure of more calls to you. If only I had a lining to go into this (insert garment here), everything would be complete.
So, you consider how you're going to find more resources, to expend additional energy, and you go for it - you make the lining.
And, fucking hell, it's like making 3 garments. There's no time for dinner. No time for sex. How will you insert that lining? How will you cohere it to the shell??
Sure, when all is said and done, the lined (insert garment here) is rather complete (well, by the standards of most). And, it's apt to take you into your old age, what with its shockingly good construction, and to see you through retirement.
I suppose it's not the optimal time to remind you that I have but one kid.
Though most of a lined, high-waisted pencil skirt with a vent.
It's important to have your
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Just for the record, I've never been one of those people who might claim that there's nothing to whipping up and inserting a lining for any garment. Never. You get full props from me for achieving that. Which you will, I have no doubt.
ReplyDelete:-) But then you've got 4 kids!
DeleteHaving my priorities right is why when I looked around the house and suddenly realized I needed to do some serious cleaning! It looks clean mind you, but deep down maybe not so much.
ReplyDeleteCleaning really loses out when the sewing starts.
DeleteI feel the same about lining. I'm working on a skirt and a matching (unfitted and so simple) jacket. I would already be done, but for the lining... and to top it off, linings are slippery as get all which makes them 10x as obnoxious. Good luck finishing your skirt.
ReplyDeleteOh, I know! I forgot to mention the slippery! Good luck on your project too.
Deletehahaha! loved this, it totally cracked me up! i'm one of those people who obsessively (almost to a fault) lines garments and find it rather awesome. please note, i have four kids. so... all the evidence points toward me being a bit crazy. ;-)
ReplyDeleteYou see - you ARE crazy! I can't believe you ever have time to pee, much less sew.
DeleteI don't know what you mean, since I've only lined simple skirts and dresses so far. I like unlined jackets and I find them a more fashion-forward alternative to a cardigan.
ReplyDeleteHowever, since I would someday like to try the V8333 (or any other proper tailoring project for that matter...) I would be grateful if you could please write some tips for lining. How do you cut your fabric? (I was trying to understand your post about inserting the sleeves on the jacket but couldn't...)
Hi Roni: I tend to post to links of other bloggers who are more technical in their discussions of sewing - and who actually produce tutorials (as opposed to my crazy ramblings). Let me see if I can put together a bunch of lining links in one post which might be of use.
DeleteBTW, I cut my fabric (all fabric) with a rotary cutter. When I work with silk or slippery fabrics, I simply pay more attention and use weights on top of the fabric. Lots of people like to starch the fabric before cutting, or to use tissue paper between the layers (and then to sew through the tissue and the fabric together, peeling the tissue off afterwards. I live on the edge :-) It's really the fraying that's the biggest challenge but I don't like to serge lining pieces as it tends to pull them out of shape if you're not super careful. (Not everyone has access to a serger, I realize.)
This sewing thing is also detrimental to my diet as well. It seems like it take too much time to get up and fix a decent snack. Can't tell you how many times I've almost fainted from hunger in here - it's so hard to turn it off when you are on a roll. Attaching linings to a skirt vent can be rather trying. I've got some that no one else besides the dry cleaner will ever see.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't we have people to bring us snacks?? :-)
DeleteAm I the only one who takes a plate of munchies and a drink to my sewing room? Er... Is that why nothing fits after I am finished sewing.... Because the measurements have changed! Gosh! I just discovered a fitting trick.
DeleteSeriously I dread lining clothes! Can't wait to see your skirt when it's all done.. And yes a tutorial with helpful links will be very helpful for us, beginners!
That's very smart! But I'm afraid to get food on the fabric and then I get sucked into a problem and the next thing I know 3 hours have gone by. Links to come, I promise!
DeleteI love your comparison! Though I must say it scares me a little: I'm only pregnant with my first child and have already sweated over the process of inserting a lining when the pattern doesn't say so. So if your comparison is correct, my daughter might be an only child ;-)
ReplyDeleteApart from basic skirts, inserting a lining seams to be twisting my brain..
Oh, don't be scared! But only children are good :-)
DeleteI love this post! I have this problem with pretty much every hobby--I get so immersed that I forget about everything else!
ReplyDeleteIt's problematic. At least, with knitting, you can put a snack beside you and nibble :-)
Delete*Nodding my head in agreement.* I think I've been enjoying sewing knits (ie unlined garments) because I haven't had a lot of time in the last 3 months. Oh, and I am all to familiar with sew blood sugar crashes and sewing reality treatments... ;-)
ReplyDeleteI have a new sewing series coming up and, let me tell you, there is no fucking lining to be seen :-)
DeleteYou totally crack me up.
ReplyDeleteHappy to oblige :-)
DeleteLol, you're too funny!
ReplyDelete