Friday, August 27, 2010

Friday Confession


As I mentioned on Wednesday, I've only underlined one garment in my entire life - the wedding dress that I made for my dear friend, Susan. The picture above shows another special woman, Barbara, helping me hand stitch the cut pieces of silk organza onto the uncut silk dress fabric.

So, how about you? Do you underline any of your garments? If not, any particular reason why not? If so, how often and when do you underline - what types of garments and what types of fabrics? What fabric(s) do you use to underline? Why do you do it? Do you have any special tricks or hints to help beginners? I'm looking forward to hearing what everyone has to say! :)

14 comments:

BConky said...

I've underlined several formal dresses and both of my daughters wedding dresses. I'll be making my youngest daughters wedding dress soon so I'll be underlining it for sure.

wendy said...

i've underlined a few winter coats with flannel to make them warmer. :)

Julia said...

I underline lots of the little dresses that I make. It just seems to give them more body. Of course, it depends on the fabric and style as to whether I do or not.

Unknown said...

I've underlined a few garments, for different reasons. Skirt made of loosely woven wool need more structure underneath to not lose their shape. I also underlined a silk dress because the fabric was a little too sheer and needed more weight to drape correctly. I used silk organza both times, placing the fashion fabric pieces on the the organza, and hand basting the layers wrong side together, then treating each pattern piece as one. I always have black and flesh toned silk organzy in my stash for those reasons!

Summerset said...

I underline mostly woven garments that need it for either structure or sheerness reasons. It mostly depends on the fabric. Garments that I want to wear a long time that I've put extra time and effort into get underlined, too.

Shannon said...

I always underline formal dresses (3 as of now). I also underlined a costume I made because the top needed a lot of structure, and the dress I made for my rehearsal dinner, because the fabric was thin with a loose weave. I've also made a couple of corsets and those have a lot of underlining and interlining and whatnot.
I make the decision based on the project and the fabric I'm using. Underlining can make silk fun to work with instead of a chore.

Faye Lewis said...

I've only underlined two things: a skirt and a jacket. I used the technique on both garments to minimize wrinkling and to give the fabric a little more body. Also I was intrigued when learning about the technique and wanted to give it a try.

Cathy said...

I underline bodice tops for my daughter's dresses!

Anonymous said...

I'm underlining a dress right now. I'm doing this one for structure - the fabric is a little more drapey than I want. I've underlined with silk organza several times, and I find that it gives body to limp cottons and stops linens from wrinkling as badly.

I baste the fashion fabric to the underlining before cutting the underlining, to make sure they match up. With organza I find it easier than trying to get the pieces the same size. I'm using silk this time, so I'm doing the more traditional way.

mamafitz said...

i underline formal dresses, and i've used batiste, muslin, silk organza, or just extra lining. i've also underlined jackets, using either batiste or fusible (texture weft). i've underlined fitted skirts, to help prevent wrinkling, and i ALWAYS underline silk duppioni, unless it's a blouse, then i don't.

as far as how, usually i hand baste, though if it's something bit more on the sturdy side, i'll use my machine with a long basting stitch and reduced presser foot pressure. i baste on the edges and up the center of darts.

lynne said...

I love to underline garments, and love the results. Enjoy the process Gwen, its worth all the effort. Make sure your pattern fits perfectly before you begin though.

katherine h said...

I don't underline often. Recently I underlined a skirt because the fashion fabric was too lightweight for a pencil skirt but I loved the print. I have also underlined a skirt when I wanted unusual pleats and needed a "framework" to hold them in place. I made one dress using couture methods which I underlined with organza. That's it. 3 garments out of about a billion trillion.

CarlaF-in Atlanta said...

I've never underlined. I'm considering it for a summer skirt.

Anonymous said...

It depends on the style and the fabric.

Since I don't pay attention to the fabric choices, I sometimes have to underline to make it work for a garment I want.

I underline skirts from waist to hip because it helps control the area a little better and I have issues with panty lines (as in my backside is too big an area and I dislike the lines), and it's the same reason I do it on pants.