Lining & Binding Seam : 2 in 1 construction! «

Hi everyone, welcome to my first sewing tutorial ever! I’ve been wanting to add a tutorial section for a while now and only managed to start now. It’s better late than never I guess.

As a sewing enthusiast who can’t afford to buy a serger, I constantly try to find a way of making my seams neat and professional looking. I want my garment to last and be well constructed. What’s more I just think that those raveling seams are such an eyesore! I’ve come across a really neat and easy technique in one of my sewing books (The Dressmaker’s handbook of Couture Sewing Techniques by Lynda Maynard) and I thought I should share. So for this tutorial, I’ll show a very simple seam finish which binds lining to skirt panels (or trousers) to create a bound edge look without using any bias strip. It is a two-in-one construction where the end result is that you have a lined garment and well finished seams with minimal effort. This technique gives your garment a very professional couture look and yet it is so easy to do. What a great design detail for garment concealment!

Take note; this technique only works well with fairly straight seams which have minimal curves, like skirt panels, trousers and unstructured rectangular shaped jacket.

I hope the tutorial is clear and if you have any questions, don’t forget to ask! So, here we go.

Step 1: Cutting out your lining

Cut your fashion fabric pieces as per your pattern instruction. Cut your lining pieces 5/8″ (or 1.5cm) wider than the pattern where the seams are to be bound. The dimension provided here is based on the pattern with 5/8″ seam allowance.

Step 2: Sewing fashion fabric & lining together

With right sides together (and to be bound raw edges aligned), stitch 1/4″ (6mm) seams. Press to embed the stitch and press the lining seam away from the garment. Turn panel the right side out and press again as shown.

Step 3: Secure Seam Binding

Stitch the fashion fabric and lining together. Here, because I use a fairly slippery lining fabric, I choose to stitch in the ditch and I think it also looks much neater that way.