Ann Steeves: Underlining Coating Fabrics

Hi folks! It is so inspiring to see what people are doing. I've been AWOL on this list because it's so busy right now, but I think I'm going to join in and sew myself a coat.

Marji asked me to talk a bit about underlining coatings. Forgive me if you know this already.

What is underlining?
Underlining is a layer of fabric that is attached to your coating shell fabric. It's cut from the same pattern piece and attached to the wrong side of your fabric. Those two pieces of fabric are then treated as one. Underlining provides support to your coating fabric, eliminating stretching, bagging and pulling. It also adds a layer of warmth. And if you have a loosely woven fabric like a bouclé, it reinforces that fabric at stress points. It also acts to conceal seam allowance show-through in certain fabrics.

Fabrics used for underlining
You can use lots and lots of different fabrics for underlining, depending on your desired result. The underlining can either match the hand and drape of your fabric, or you can choose an underlining that will alter the characteristics of your fabric. In the majority of cases, I recommend matching your underlining to the drape, weight and hand of your shell fabric.

I've used many different underlining fabrics in coats. One of my favorite underlining choices is a plain, firmly woven cotton batiste. I've found that it supports your garment without adding any weight. It doesn't change the hand of your fabric, and it doesn't grab your shell fabric. Another great choice for underlining is silk organza. Unlike batiste, it can change the hand of certain fabrics, though with coating it is not as much of an issue. I have had problems with organza and certain types of wools. Organza and crepey and "hairy" wools and fur fabrics tend to grab at eachother's fibers and cause some weird pulling. But it's a great underlining for many bouclés, silks and blends.

I live in Boston, which can get mighty cold and raw in the winter. I made a bouclé coat several years ago. You can see a review of it Here. This fabric, while luxurious and beautiful, does a bad job of cutting the Northeast winds that whip in off the ocean here. To shore it up, both structurally and from an insulating standpoint, I underlined it with a cotton flannel. The flannel makes the coat toasty warm, but not bulky.

Attaching the underlining
First - pretreat your underlining. Shrink it before you cut into it, so you don't have a disaster later. Also make sure you cut your underlining on the same grain as the fabric. For precision, use a single layer cutting layout for your underlining. After all, if you're taking the time to do an underlining, you might as well take the few extra minutes to get it perfect, right?

Once it's cut, I attach the underlining to the fabric by hand basting it to the body of the fabric. My basting stitches run parallel to the grain of the fabric. They are 1 to 1 1/2 inches long, and I catch just a thread or two of my shell fabric at each stitch, as you can see here:


This takes time, but it's far superior to basting only at the seamlines, because it structurally reinforces the shell fabric. This is critical for areas that will receive a lot of stress from being bent and sat on, like elbows and rumps. It helps your fabric retain its shape. It's really, really important if you're using a cashmere or fur fabric, which has a tendency to bag out.

Do I always have to underline?
Like I said above, certain fabrics really do need underlining to hold up to the stress the average coat takes. Bouclés, cashmeres, fur fabrics and blends? You bet. You'll be far happier with the results if you underline. Boiled wools, flannels and meltons? It's not a requirement. Here's how I determine whether I should underline a coating. Take an 8 inch square of fabric. Mess around with it. Drape it over a ham or other rounded object (your bent knee is good for this exercise). Pull it in all directions. Try to approximate things like the bend of your elbow. Give it a good workout, then see how it recovers. Press it and see if it retains its shape or not. That will give you a good idea of whether you need to underline. Also, think about the use your coat will get. Is it going to be THE COAT for winter? Underline it. If it's only going to get occasional use, and it's a very tightly woven melton, then you can get away without underlining. It's your call.

I hope this helps answer some questions you might have. I'm really enjoying watching the process. I hope I'll be able to join in!

Ann Steeves

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From the comments:

Marji said...

Thanks Ann,
Can you comment specifically on the cashmere blend (you have it in orange and fuschia at $18/yd) coating wool - is the cashmere content high enough on that coating to warrant an underlining?

Gorgeous Things said...

Hi Marji,

It's a pretty tight weave, and it should hold up without an underlining. If you want to underline a cashmere blend or cashmere like that, I'd use a cotton batiste.

HTH!
Ann