I need to line a hoodie with fabric, HELP!?

June 5, 2007 5:31 AM

I have an average, zip-up, grey marle hoodie. I need to line just the inside of the hood and about 5 inches or so inside the zip each side.

I'll be lining it with a paisley or bone china pattern. Like this.

I want to know how I can do this without having obvious stitching showing through, and what sort of shape I'll need to use for the hood (diagrams please?).

And yeah, I already have a grnappletree hoody. Trying to make my own now.

posted by taita_cakes to clothing, beauty, & fashion (11 comments total)

It looks like you should rip apart the seams of the hood, use the pieces as a guide for cutting the lining, then stitch it all back together so the lining is sewn into the original seams.

[not a seamstress]
posted by thirteenkiller at 5:41 AM on June 5, 2007

If you don't unstitch the original hood, it'll be hard to have the pieces of the lining match exactly, which will lead to the hood and the lining not meshing.

But if unstitching seems like too much effort, I would lay the hood flat (they're usually 2 symmetrical pieces sewn in the middle), trace that shape, then add 5/8" all around for sewing allowance. Stitch the two halves down the middle. I'm not quite sure how I'd attach the lining, probably clean finish all the remaining edges, then blind-stitch (machine or by hand) against the original hood seams, using the seam's thickness to hide the blind stitching even more.

Probably, though, you'd get a finer product from what thirteenkiller originally suggested.
posted by artifarce at 6:04 AM on June 5, 2007

Ah, just noticed your caveat about only needing to line about 5 inches or so. Though I think this would be apparent while not wearing the hood, I'd still lay the original hood flat and trace the whole shape. Then measure how far you want back. It'll be harder to blind stitch this, since you won't have a seam in the middle of the hood to hide stitches in, so I'd recommend using a fusible web to place the lining (you can get web that is sticky on one side while you iron it, and will fuse two fabrics together. It's usually used for temporary or difficult seams, though I'd try to find something more permanent). Then blind stitch on all the seams you do have, and along the front of the hood. You might be able to blind stitch along the far edge of your material, depending on how thick the hood's fabric is and how well the thread matches. Choosing a nice thread (silk potentially) will also help the stitches blend even more.
posted by artifarce at 6:15 AM on June 5, 2007

This is what I'd suggest for the iron-on adhesive. Avoid the wash-away stuff.
posted by artifarce at 6:19 AM on June 5, 2007

Preshrink the hoodie and the fabric with a warm wash and a run through the dryer before you start in with any of these methods.
posted by yohko at 6:31 AM on June 5, 2007 [1 favorite]

This sounds really cute- I may have to steal the idea.

I think artifarce misunderstands the 5-inches thing. As I read it, the OP wants to fully line the hood, and then also line 5 inches on either side of the center front zipper all down the front, so when the hoodie is worn partially unzipped, the lining is visible inside the zipper. Is this right?

If this is the case, artifarce's first post is probably your best bet for the hood. Tracing the hood laid flat will probably get you a shape close enough for your purposes, and unstitching the hood would be a huge pain. To attach the lining and original hood around the opening of the hood, a machine blind hem could work (I'd practice a bit on some scraps to make sure you've got it down). If it were me I'd do a hand slipstitch (decent instructions here and here) which can be nearly invisible. Again, depending on your experience level, you may want to practice.

As for the 5-inch panels on the front, just cut 5-inch strips and cut one of the short ends to a curve to match the neckline of the hoodie, turn under the edges and stitch it around the neckline seam, zipper edge, and hem. One hard part here might be the inside edge, because you can't really secure it without the stitches showing on the front of the hoodie. You could just clean-finish it in your preferred manner and leave it unattached, and it probably won't bother you too much since it's attached on 3 sides. Or you could stitch the lining and the hoodie together with a few tiny hand-tacks (little handstitches in one place) several inches apart along the edge, and that would probably not be too noticeable. If it were me I'd probably just line the whole front of the hoodie so I could hide the stitches attaching the lining in the side and shoulder seams. But that would require more fabric, and tracing the whole front of the hoodie for a pattern piece, which might be more complicated than you want to get.

I'd avoid iron-on adhesive, it tends to lose its stick and get gross after several washes.

Also, seconding yohko.

Sorry for the epic and probably unintelligible post. Let me know if I need to clarify anything I didn't explain well enough.
posted by doift at 9:58 AM on June 5, 2007 [1 favorite]

Agree with dolft's post, however, I would definitely make a mock-up out of some non-special but similar material first. Baste it into the hoody with some easy to snip stitches. That way you can really tweak the pattern and get it right without ruining your nice fabric.

I think the trickiest part will be doing the inside zipper placket- the only place to really stitch the contrast fabric without it showing on the outside is right along the zipper and along the bottom of the hood. If I were you, instead of just doing five inches down the zipper, I'd take the fabric all the way to the bottom where I could secure it invisibly along the waistband. I'd also use some fusible interfacing on the liner fabric to give it more body and prevent it from curling in on itself where there is no stitching to hold it in place. Keep in mind that there will be some issues if you are lining a stretch knit hoody with non- stretch fabric, particularly if you are not deconstructing the hoody to put in a proper lining. You may find your stitches breaking when the hoody stretches. I think it would be prudent to hand stitch a few tacks here and there at stress points.
posted by oneirodynia at 10:56 AM on June 5, 2007 [1 favorite]

I got carried away. Just read dolft's post.
posted by oneirodynia at 10:57 AM on June 5, 2007

Oops. Don't know what I was thinking second-guessing on the 5 inches. Thanks, doift.
posted by artifarce at 12:28 PM on June 5, 2007

Oops- looking at this at a different resolution, I realized I spelled doift's name wrong. Twice.

Sorry, doift!
posted by oneirodynia at 4:15 PM on June 6, 2007

Heh, no worries, it's not like it's a real word or anything.
posted by doift at 6:45 AM on June 8, 2007