How to Put a Lining in a Dress

Sewing a lining in a dress serves a few purposes. The lining can help keep you warm during the cool months of the year or in the cool night air. It can protect the dress from perspiration when you sweat. It can allow you to wear the dress without having to wear a slip. Taking your time when you sew in the lining will make it almost impossible for anyone to tell that you added it to the dress yourself.

Things You'll Need

• Lining material
• Dress pattern or fabric
• Straight pins
• Chalk
• Scissors
• Sewing machine
• Thread
• Iron

Instructions

1. Lay the lining material out on a large, hard surface. A large table is ideal. You can do this on a clean floor if your table to too small or unavailable. The side of the lining that will touch the dress should be facing up.

2. Lay the dress fabric or pattern on top of the lining. Place the dress piece right side up. Pin the lining to the dress fabric using straight pins.

3. Trace the pattern of the dress onto the lining using chalk. Make sure that the fabric from the dress stays stationary while you are tracing the lining. If the pattern is crooked or just a little off, the lining won't fit properly. Make sure that you only mark the lining. Mark the lining pieces so you can keep them straight.

4. Cut along the lines you traced. Use the sharpest scissors possible because this will make your cuts smoother than if you use dull scissors.

5. Attach the lining to each piece of the dress fabric using the appropriate setting on your sewing machine for the fabric of the dress. The thread you use should match the dress fabric. You should use the smallest stitches possible and sew as close to the edge as possible.

6. Sew the dress together following the pattern directions. Make sure that the stitches from sewing the lining in the dress are on the inside of the dress when you sew it together.

7. Check the seams of the dress to make sure that they are smooth. If you find one that is bumpy, remove the stitches in that section of the dress and reattach the lining.

Tips & Warnings

• If you can iron the dress fabric and the lining material, you may want to do so after you sew the lining onto the individual fabric pieces. This will make the lining and the stitches lay flatter. Once you have sewn the dress together, iron the dress inside out then iron it right side out.