Lining Fabric Overview

There are a lot of lining fabrics out there and it's kind of hard to figure out which lining is appropriate for which fabric. So, I'm going to talk about several of the different kinds of lining fabrics so that when you go to the fabric store and you look for lining fabrics this should probably help you so that you know more what you're looking for and for what garment it's appropriate. So, the first lining fabrics that I'm going to talk about are Hang Loose and Ambience. Hang Loose and Ambiance are going to be in the fabric section or the lining section of your fabric store. So, they are specific lining fabrics.

The Hang Loose is polyester and the benefits of that one are is it's really nice because it's anti-static. So it's not going to give you it's not going to stick to your skirt or dress or pants and give you kind of any static issues. Because that's really irritating. The next one is the Ambiance, which is a Bemberg rayon. And I really liked this one because it's got a really nice drape and it's kind of a little bit shinier than the Hang Loose.

This Hang Loose, it's got some sheen to it, but, it's not as kind of satiny, silky as the Ambiance is. So, these are specific lining fabrics that are made for that purpose. The next fabrics, I'm going to talk about are non-traditional lining fabrics and these fabrics are going to be in the garment section of your fabric store but you can definitely use them for lining fabrics. This one is a pongee or a crepe. And the nice thing about this one is that it's got a really nice drape.

It's pretty flowy. And it's not going to interfere at all with the garment that it's lining. It's going to be kind of like it's barely there. This comes in some really nice colors and it's washable. So, you can line a skirt or a dress or it's something that you're going to wash.

The next one we're going to talk about is a china silk and china silk is my very favorite because it comes in a lot of beautiful colors. Sometimes you can even find, if you're lucky, a china silk that's in a print. And this one is my favorite. The only bad thing about china silk is that it's not as washable. So, you're going to have to think about if your garment is, you're probably going to have to dry clean your garment.

If you're going to line it in a china silk. And it's usually for kind of more formal garments, too. So, you're not going to line like a simple cotton skirt in a china silk. The next one I'm going to talk about is a taffeta and taffeta is really fun to work with because it's got a lot of body. It's got that good crisp sound, and you would line something in a taffeta if you want it to be, have some body.

And like if you have a skirt or like a bridal gown and you want the skirt to kind of stand out this is going to help to give it some body, because taffeta itself has a lot of body. This comes in some really good colors. They also comes in, This happens to be a polyester taffeta, but they also have silk taffetas, which come in some really beautiful colors and some beautiful sheens. This will definitely be in your bridal section of your fabric store. The next one I'm going to talk about is satin.

And this happens to be a polyester satin, but again, this also will come in silk and in some really beautiful colors. satin is nice because it's not going to interfere with your outer garment. It's not going to stick to it. Also, sometimes I really like to flip the satin over so that the shiny, satiny, silkier side is towards my skin, because then that's just kind of gives you a little element of a little luxury and it's really comfortable and kind of makes you feel like you're wearing something really special. The next fabric is a voile and this is a cotton voile.

Usually, they're going to be cotton. This cotton voile or also a cotton batiste is another fabric that's pretty similar to a voile. These are really beautiful, great fabrics. They remind me of kind of some old fashionedy fabrics. They are nice for lining.

The only thing you need to think about is that they don't have that silky, slippery element that the other lining fabrics do. So, they're going to stick. So, if you're wearing nylons or tights or something I would not recommend lining something in a voile, because it's going to stick and that's just going to be really uncomfortable. I would actually use some of the more slippery linings but if it's just a simple cotton skirt that you're making for the summer, then voile is wonderful. The next fabric I'm going to talk about is a tricot.

And this is a nylon tricot. You'll see a lot of lingerie lined in tricot. It's got a really nice kind of drapey effect. It's kind of slinky. I think a lot of, like old-fashioned dresses are lined in tricot.

It's got, it serves its purpose. It usually doesn't come in very many colors because they want kind of a nude element to that. And lastly, the fabric that I'm going to talk about is a Hang Loose polyester, again. The reason why I'm bringing this one up is because it's kind of nice to have something that's a little unexpected as a lining, like a contrast color or in this case a stripe and sometimes some really beautiful lining fabrics come in really beautiful prints, too. So, those are all the lining fabrics that I'm going to talk about.

And, so when you line a garment, you want to really keep in mind two things, is that you want to make sure that your lining is 1" to 3/4" shorter than your garment, just so it's not peaking out. And then the other thing that's really important is to think about the care compatibility. So, if you're going to wash your garment you want to make sure that your lining is washable as well. And, in the same way, if you're going to dry clean your garment, you want to make sure that your lining is dry cleanable.