Monday, November 17, 2008

Tany's coat: setting in the lining sleeves

Well, these are the last images before showing you the finished coat; at this point I still have to finish hand sewing the lining to the facings, sew the french tacks to the hem and stitch the buttons in place (besides cleaning the lint out of the coat!)

The lining was applied following the instructions in the Reader’s Digest “Complete Guide to Sewing” book so you may need to refer to that book to see additional details and diagrams of the process (I own both the vintage 70’s edition and the newer one and both books explain the process in great detail).

The tailored lining is constructed separately (the sleeves are constructed but not set at this point), leaving the shoulder seams open, and it’s entirely hand sewn to the coat; besides slipstitching the lining to the facings, the lining’s side seam allowances are also tacked to the coat’s side SAs using short running stitches (these stitches should not be visible on the right side of the coat; the needle catches only the SAs). I started by performing this operation on the side seams and then I hand basted the lining to the facings, neckline and shoulders. The lining should also be attached around the armholes using short running stitches on the SAs side. The body of the lining becomes attached and well secured this way. Only at this point we are ready to set in the lining sleeves and that’s what I’ll be illustrating next.

As we did for the coat side seams, the lining and coat back sleeve seams should also be tacked together. To do this the sleeve and the lining sleeve should be wrong side out with the back seams facing each other. The two SAs are basted together by short running stitches, ending 10cm from the sleeve cuff edge:

To turn the lining sleeve over the coat sleeve, I must insert my arm through the lining sleeve and hold to the coat’s cuff, passing the lining through the arm over to the coat’s sleeve:


Before stitching the lining sleeve to the lining, here’s how the armhole looks with the shoulder pad and the “moustache” sleeve already set in place:

Here’s a better view of the shoulder pad before attaching the lining to the facing and shoulder:

The sleeve SAs are turned in (the sleeve cap should be eased and the bottom armhole stay stitched and clipped) and slipstitched using a double strand of thread on the needle for reinforcement:

Now I have to slip stitch the lining to the facings, shoulder and neckline and sleeve hem, remove the bastings, hem the lining, make the French tacks and sew the buttons in place. I will try to get the coat finished by tomorrow. See you soon!

4 comments:

Marji said...

Your facility with taking such great process pictures as well as describing what you're doing is wonderful. Can't wait to see your finished coat.

Digs said...

I'm curious, what's the advantage of doing it this way, rather than constructing a complete lining and attaching it at facings & sleeves, the way it's more typically done with jackets?

Tany said...

Digs: This is the way custom tailors do it; it's more labor intensive and the difference is that the lining will be better secured to the coat, without shifting out of place; as you may have observed, on the custom tailored method everything is tacked down in place (for example the facings are tacked down to the coat, which makes it impossible to machine sew the lining to the facings or to bag the coat). The end result will be sturdier and more robust, and the coat will last longer, it will keep its shape even with many trips to the dry cleaners. That's one of the reasons why some people pay thousands of Euros/dollars for a tailored coat.
Even if you bag the coat making the lining with the sleeves included and then stitch it to the facings/neckline, etc., there is still the need of tacking down the lining to the armhole area. I usually make some running stitches, stitching the lining armhole seam to the coat's armhole SA, around the bottom of the armhole.

Marji: Thanks! I can't wait to finish it! I got home very late today and I will work on my coat before going to bed later. I don't think I'll be able to finish it today, but I will try!

Ann Made Studio said...

Tany such lovely work as always. Your coat will merit a haute couture label :)