Step 7: Join Fabric Panel to Lining
JOIN FABRIC TO LINING & MITRE CORNERS
- Lay the face fabric out wrong side up.
- Clamp to the table along the bottom or use weights to hold the curtain in place.
- Lay the lining panel on top (wrong side down).
- Position the lining, so the bottom of the lining is 2cm up from the bottom of the fabric.
- Pin in place just above hems.
- Trim the lining so it sits 5cm in from each side of the fabric (sometimes you may need to trim the fabric). Note if you rounded up the number of fabric widths in STEP 3 and decided you are goining to trim the fabric panel down to a fullness ratio of 2.5, now is the time to do it.
- Fold the fabric side edges in 5cm and pin. (the fabric panel will now be aligned on the edges with the lining panel)
- Fold the lining in (turning under) 2cm on each side. Tip
- Neaten the ends of the fabric hem by folding them up and under to form a mock mitre on the fabric corner.
- Ladder stitch along the mock mitre.
- Slip stitch the lining to the face fabric down each side and 10cm along the bottom of the lining at each corner.
This video shows you
- How to trim down your lining/fabric
- How to fold in your side turns
- How to make a tidy mock mitre
- How to ladder stitch a mock mitre
Make sure you leave the pins in just above the hem so when you work on the heading in the next step the lining doesn't shift up.
This video shows you
- How to slip stitch in detail
- Where and how to start/finish your stitches
- How to trim down your lining/fabric
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Questions & Comments
Hi, I'm making really big curtains with a 2.4m drop and 3 widths in each panel which makes them tricky to handle because even though I can fit the drop on the table, I can't get anywhere near the width to lay flat anywhere . Do you have any tips for managing so much fabric.
Also, my fabric panel is wider than my lining panel by 15cm. Should I cut off this excess and, if so, should I hem or oversew the raw edge?
Handling curtains that are so large is a problem and makes the process a lot trickier so here are a few hints that may help…..
1) Once you have sewn the hem, with right side facing up, measure the finished length, fold over and press in place (fabric dependant). This makes putting in the buckram easier.
2). When you are at the stage for laying on the lining, you can also lay on the buckram at the same time (moving the curtain panel as little as possible). You will not be able to fold the buckram in a this stage but you can tack it in place to keep all the layers stable.
3). Re cutting down the lining…. it depends on your fullness ratio. If you need the extra fabric then you will have to add more lining on to you lining panel. If you don’t need it, then trim it down.
Good Luck
Thank you! Can I just check, would you measure the length and press both the facing fabric and the lining?
I think that your video is excellent.
When it comes to sewing the lining onto the curtain fabric why do you hand sew it? Would it be ok to machine it? I have 4 2.25m length curtains to sew and am not much looking forward to all that hand stitching!
We have shown hand sewn because that is the way we make them for customers in the workshop.
There are other methods of making curtains and you can machine the lining and fabric together. It's called the bag method, you will need to make sure the lining is narrower than the fabric, place the fabric and lining right sides together and start your machine stitching from the bottom. In our experience it is just as quick and easy to hand stitch.
What type and size of needle are you using to hand stitch? Especially when stitching the buckram in?
Love your videos by the way. My first pair of curtains came out beautifully.
We use a size 7 John James Long darner.
Hi
As a general dressmaker I really enjoyed reading your excellent comprehensive tutorials and wondered whether there is there any reason (other than aesthetic preference) as to why you don't loosely lock stitch the centre seams of the fabric and lining and secure the lining under a double fabric side seam so that they can be more quickly machined with blind hem stitch.
There is more than one way of doing things.
We don't lock stitch on a lined curtain only on an interlined curtain where we lock stitch every half width. As for the side seams and the bottom hem we prefer hand stitching to bling hemming.
The tutorial videos do demonstrate the differences between machining, blind hemming and hand stitching the hem.
Machining is quicker but we think we get a better finish from hand stitching.
When you fold in the selvedge side do you include the plain edge before the pattern starts in your calculation of 5cm or is it 5 cms of patterned fabric?
Yes you include the plain edge.
Can I ask why you don't sew the lining hem to the fabric panel for 10cm across the bottom each side and not all the way across?
I think some people may do that (particlarly if they are trying to hid messy hems etc.)
We dont, the hems should be very neat and tidy and making the way we do the lining and fabric can hang freely and independent of each other. With all fabrics (particularly natural ones) you can get some movement and shrinkage/expansion as temperature and humidity change. By letting them hang freely you wont get puckering if one moves more than the other. See our Blog item about shrinkage and you will see an extreme example of how the fabric can move.
So, once the face fabric has 5cm turned in each side, the lining will be hemmed 2cm narrower and "gathered" eg.if laid flat once sewn the lining won't lie flat on the fabric?
No
The lining is turned in and under 2cm at the sides making the lining panel narrower than the fabric panel. There is no gathering when laid flat.
Have you watched the videos?