Goldilocks and the Three Linings

Friends, you may recall that a few days before Coatmas, I was in the process of putting the finishing touches on my donegal tweed peacoat. 

I had just purchased lining material -- a rich-looking, heavy polyester satin.



I'd bought it to replace my original lining fabric, a luscious silk twill of a similar color.



Sadly, the silk proved very difficult to handle, especially when I tried to create an inside breast pocket.  The results were less than favorable.



But the poly had its own problems: it was so heavy that it would only hold a crease after considerable pressing, and I quickly realized it was too thick and spongy for this coat.  Not to mention, it wouldn't breathe.  One of the lovely properties of wool is that it does breathe, so why suffocate myself in poly?

In my stash I had a light brown rayon lining, but it was too thin for a coarse wool tweed; you would have been able to see the haircloth interfacing through it.  I needed something else.



I decided to return once more to Mood, where I purchased lining #3, a brown Bemberg rayon lining of suitable weight (below).



While the Bemberg frays a bit more than the heavy poly satin, it drapes beautifully and it is much easier to work with than the shifty silk.



The inside double-welt pocket turned out nicely.





I inserted the lining by hand, which in the scheme of things isn't all that much work and will make the lining easier to remove should I ever need to.  I used a simple slip stitch, except at the vent, which called for some felling stitches.





The Bemberg was neither too thin nor too thick.  It was just right.  Don't you love a happy ending?



And now a rare product endorsement.  As you know, my close vision has deteriorated a bit these last few years, necessitating the use of readers when I hand sew.  Threading needles -- a chore in the best of times -- requires one of those little metal foil threaders.

Then I discovered self-threading needles.  Instead of having to thread a hole, you snap the thread into a little dip at the top of the eye.  This still requires me to wear readers, but it's much faster than the old way.  These are especially useful for pulling a thread through the back of your sewing, something I had to do a lot on this tweed project (particularly when I was attaching my buttons by machine but needed to create a thread shank).  Mine are by Clover but there are other brands out there as well.





Do you ever use self-threading needles?

Friends, I hope you had a lovely Coatmas on Thursday, and thank you for all your lovely comments, both here and on the Mood Sewing Network. 

Have a great day, everybody!

PS - If you're traveling this holiday season, don't forget to travel light....