When sewing a lined garment, there's one important step that can have a big impact on the finished result, and doing it requires nothing but time and patience: letting the fabric drop. This step allows the the exterior and lining fabrics to relax and stretch, and is especially important when sewing long garments like coats, capes, and cloaks.
Here are some tips for avoiding unexpected surprises when sewing a lined garment. We recommend planning a pause to let your garment hang when sewing the Twig + Tale Flourish Dress Coat (fully lined version), the Overland Cloak, and the Cascades Cloak.
What is fabric drop?
Fabric drop is simply letting the exterior and lining of a garment hang separately, off the floor, so gravity can do its work. Fabric, especially anything cut on or near the bias, relaxes and stretches under its own weight. If you sew the lining to the exterior before that has happened, then the stretching will happen after the garment is constructed, which is something we want to avoid.
Why does fabric drop matter?
Different fabrics stretch at different rates. Some are quite stable, while some have a surprising amount of stretch, especially on the bias. The exterior and lining fabrics of a garment will often behave differently, and this is amplified the longer and heavier the garment is. With a long garment like the Flourish Dress Coat or the Cascades Cloak, there's plenty of length and weight that can cause the fabric to stretch.
If the layers weren't allowed to relax first, the problems will often show up at the hem:
- If the exterior stretches more than the lining, the exterior fabric can puff out around the hem, giving a sloppy look rather than a crisp, neat hem.
- If the lining stretches more than the exterior, it can droop and peek out below the hem.
Allowing the fabric to stretch and relax before sewing the lining into the exterior will save a time-consuming fix once everything is sewn together.
How to let fabric drop
- Construct the exterior and lining separately, leaving the hems unfinished.
- Hang both on hangers (or a dress form, if you have one), up above the floor, and leave them to hang for 24 to 48 hours. Try to hang them so that the weight is supported evenly on the hanger.
- After hanging is complete, examine the exterior and lining to see if the hems have shifted. The hems may have to be trued up again (if they have stretched more where cut on the bias, for example), and they may have to be trimmed to length.
- After the fabric has dropped, proceed with sewing the lining into the garment as instructed in the pattern tutorial.
Taking the time to let the fabric drop requires no extra skill, but can have a big impact on the outcome of a project. A bit of time and patience is worth it for a beautiful result. Hang it, walk away, and let gravity do its work!
Read more Twig + Tale sewing tutorials here:
- How to sew a toile/muslin - what it is and why it's important
- What is interfacing? Types, uses, and how to choose
-
Finishing seams: an overview of techniques
- How to take your measurements
~Cover image by Annie Furman~
