Friday, October 12, 2012

Leather Jacket Lining: Peplum and Prepping

We're coming down the home stretch with my leather jacket!  I've decided to tackle lining the jacket in a few posts, both for clarity and because I've divided the process into a few distinct parts in my head. (Oh, and also because I'm not done yet.)

BurdaStyle's instructions for lining the leather jacket are not terrible for Burda, but nothing special either.  And there are a few problems, like the lining is left hanging free in the back. Free hanging lining is fine for trousers or skirts or a long coat with a deep hem, perhaps. But I can't really see how a free hanging lining would sit well at the curved pleated peplum on this jacket.

Really, Burda? How's that supposed to work?


Thankfully the two helpful reviews of this pattern on PR addressed the peplum and lining it. The peplum piece is very curved, which makes a deep hem - in leather - a bit unrealistic. So, at the start of this project I decided that the best solution would be to use the lining as a hem facing before doing anything else to the peplum.

I stitched leather and lining together at the hem (ws facing), trimmed the seam, flipped the lining to the inside, and then pressed to create a narrow seam.

Narrow hem using my lining as a facing
 
I basted the lining to the side seam allowances of the peplum and from that point on, treated it (leather and lining) as one, pressing in the pleats and sewing it to the other back pieces.This was done - but not blogged - quite some time ago. So, when it comes to lining, I'm going to have some hand stitching to do around the peplum. Also, this gives me an enormous hole to turn the lining thru - an unintended benefit!

Peplum sewn into the unlined jacket, raw lining edges showing

As I get ready to line, I also tidied up and prepped the insides of the leather. I found that the sleeve seam allowances kept flipping back into the sleeves rather than facing the body of the jacket.  Therefore, I ended up catch stitching them down to the back stay on the back side and to the hair canvas on the front, being careful not to stitch through the leather shell. I also tacked in shoulder pads.


SA catch stitched to hair canvas


The next step is basically a bagged lining, but there are some definite challenges because I made the mistake of following a few of Burda's instructions (oops!). Anyway, more to come.

7 comments:

puu said...

great idea on lining the peplum, i really could have used that tip myself. :-)

T. Sedai said...

The lining for the peplum looks great! I can't wait to see the rest of it - it is going to look so fabulous!

Clio said...

Oh! Yeah, the back of that jacket isn't so different from a construction standpoint, is it? It is fabulous though.

Karin said...

The lining is so pretty! I love a wild floral print. You are doing such a careful job of this jacket, it is bound to look fantastic.

Meg @ Mood said...

Cannot wait to see this jacket

Ginger said...

Ooh, love that lining! It's going to be so great!

AllisonC said...

Excellent timing, I am about to start a jacket with a peplum and I am going to use your rather brilliant lining method.