To clarify today’s earlier post, the above is what I’m curious about: when you’ve reached the bottom of attaching your lining to your zip placement and you have to bring the two back skirt seams together at the bottom. Do you just leave a gap in the handstitched sides and start the seam that continues down? Or is there something I’m missing? Something more … sophisticated? Maybe not. Who knows. I don’t!
‘Why are you holding a seam ripper, Karen?’ Well, I’ve been blogging about irons. That produce heat. Hot heat. Temperatures that burn things. I decided to gently press my inserted lining tonight. I looked at the iron – saw that it had last been used at full blast. Turn it down, I told myself. Duly did so. Then I GAVE THE IRON 0.5 SECONDS TO COOL. That’ll do, I thought. No, actually. I wasn’t thinking at all. Just picked the iron up and started using it. This happened:
Inserted Lining, Now Scorched
Thank the God of Sewing, this is a section that I can rip out. Plus, I have enough lining fabric to replace it. There’s a reason why we should always order an extra half a metre of fabric.
Because if a person sews when she has a cold, she’s a b****y idiot!
 
Err, Doh! Probably why I always use a pressing cloth as it helps mitigate things when I’ve done exactly the same thing. Not that this information is any help to you what so ever now.
And that bit at the bottom – I just bring my stitches as close to the side of the zipper as I can and then there’s just a teeny tiny gap. I also do my seam in the lining first, before attaching the lining to the zipper tape. Means a bit of fabric wrangling but it seems to work OK so far…
Oh no… Well, we all do things like that, I’m glad to hear you can make it right again. My last project I swear I did every seam twice.
Wish I could say that I haven’t done that too, but I have. I feel your pain. Hope you feel better!
Crappity b!!!!!ks…. Yep, you gotta use a pressing cloth.. I totally sympathise. Hope the dreaded autumn cold is clearing up.
Shame about the lining! Guess you really shouldn’t sew when you have a cold for company ð At least it’s fixable.
As far as attaching the lining to the zipper, I sew the lining seam before attaching the lining then I just stitch as close as possible so it doesn’t catch in the zip. If this is going to be a problem I will leave a tiny gap.
This is something I would do/have done. You have my sympathies.
As for the lining, I leave a gap to about 1 inch below the bottom of the zipper. Because I’m clumsy and I want that lining TOTALLY out of the way when I’m getting dressed in the morning.
Oh yes, half a yard extra is a great thing. And we could discuss a cold versus sleep deprivation here. Sewing way past midnight I once completely messed up a sleeve. So lucky to still have some fabric to recut it…….. only to find that I cut it out of the back pattern piece and was now definitely to low on fabric for anything, lol. (No need to mention that fabric had sold out about a year ago, right??)
Get well soon, it’s to early in the year for colds. Tell it to come back later, to someone else or not at all. There’s still this lot of winter ahead (hate to think of it)
Like others, I usually stitch lining back seam first, then slip stich lining to either side of the zipper by hand. I leave a longer opening in the lining back seam so that when I get to the bottom of the zipper, I can taper the opening in a v-shape below the zipper stop. So there’s usually hardly any gap left. If you’re someone with less patience maybe you can apply the same principle, but only hand-stitch the bottom bit below the zipper stop.
Reminds me of the time I installed pockets upside down in a jacket… twice.
Let’s hear it for the combination of sleep deprivation and cold medication!
Oh, bless you for making me laugh out loud! We all seem to have a horror story, don’t we?
I still half-groan about a t-shirt I made. Oh, it was a great looking t-shirt. The neckband was flat and just the right width and sewn, oh, so nicely – inside out. And yes, I did it twice!
I melted some faux leather off of a skirt I was working on a few weeks ago, so I definitely feel your pain!
Who hasn’t stopped work to clean the iron? I know we all have!
Thanks, guys! You’ve all made me feel a lot better.
I’m always afraid I will burn something so I’m guilty about not pressing hot enough. I’m so glad you have enough fabric to replace the lining. This is motivating me complete the coverstitching on the elastic of my bias skirt.
Yep, little gap. Same as Rtw. And pressing cloth, always, no matter what you are pressing. Three burns and you will always have a cloth to hand. Plus, with a pressing cloth, much less waiting. We don’t like waiting, do we? We established that with the iron on or off question!
Karen, this past week I have been spending a lot of time with linings, zippers and vents…and getting a headache out of it.
Here is a video a found on attaching the lining in the zipper area
http://youtu.be/s74ak8PSTnQ
Burda magazine instructions suggest to sew the lining 2 cm further down than the exterior, to give it extra room. I can try to scan some drawings from the book if you like.