Goldstream Sew-Along: Facing and Lining

Today's a big day! We will be sewing the entire facing and lining for the Goldstream Peacoat. I positioned this process ahead of sewing the outer jacket so that we have the opportunity to practice on more affordable fabric before sewing similar steps with our wool.

Lining

If you chose to add darts to your coat front, add darts to the lining fronts in the very same manner. Press the darts towards the side seam. If your lining material is bulky you can instead press them towards center front so that they are pointed the opposite direction of your outer darts.

The back of the lining features a pleat to prevent any strain across the shoulders (a common spot for jacket linings to rip is where the sleeve joins the back due to strain across the back from full arm movement...a pleat helps to reduce this strain).

Form the pleat by bringing the two notches to meet. There are notches at the neckline and hem. Press the pleats slightly and pin them in place before basting them closed.

The details on the front and back lining pieces are finished so now we can attach them at the shoulder and side seams! Note that I refer to the 'side' seams as 'side-back' seams in the instruction booklet because the Peacoat front actually wraps around the side of the body and the seam where front and back attach is set towards the back on an angle.

Place the front and backs with right sides together. Pin and stitch along each seam and then press the seam open.

Facings

We can now prepare our facings to add to the Peacoat lining.  This is where things get fun! I like to get fancy with my facings by adding a label on a decorative backing to the curved back neck facing.  This gives the finished Peacoat huge hanger appeal!  You can use a contrast scrap of fabric from your stash, a patch of leather or use a square of your lining fabric to create a backing for your garment tag.

If you don't have a garment tag, the contrast square looks beautiful on its own! For a hang loop you could make a narrow tube of wool or lining fabric, use a metal chain or some ribbon or other trim from your stash. Of course, a true tailored coat should be hung on a shaped hanger when stored but it is handy to have a loop to use when taking off the coat at dinner parties and the like.

Place the prepared back neck facing and front facings with right sides together and sew across the shoulder seam. Press the seams open.

Assembling Lining and Facings

Okay, let's add all our lining and facing pieces together! Before we proceed I want to share an idea with you to further customize your Goldstream. At this point you could add piping or bias binding made from your lining as a decorative feature along this seam.  I will be adding bias binding (which I made using this tutorial) and you can see the look created with storebought piping in the photo below.

To prepare my binding I've pressed it in half with right sides together.

The binding measures 1 3/4" wide so that when I fold it in half it is 7/8". This way, when I sandwich it between my lining and facing pieces and then stitch using a 5/8" seam allowance, 1/4" of folded fabric is left peeking out.

If you are adding a trim like those mentioned above, you could baste it to your facings right now so that you don't have to worry about it shifting during the next step.

Place the facing and lining with right sides together. Take your time as you pin and align the shoulder seams and the center of the back neck facing with the center for the back lining.

Stitch the layers together - instead of beginning at the lining hem, begin at the notch near the hem.  The facing will extend 5/8" beyond the notch.

Clip and grade the seam allowances as necessary depending on the bulk of your lining material and then press the seam allowances towards the lining.

Take a moment to stand back and admire how polished your Peacoat interior looks already!

Now is a good time to staystitch along the neckline, around the armholes and along the hem to prevent them from stretching out as we continue along with the construction process.

Okay, now we continue on with our long chunk of sewing by tackling the interior patch pocket and the lining sleeves!

Interior Patch Pocket

Bring out your interior patch pocket and interior pocket lining pieces. Place them right sides together with the tops aligned. Stitch across but leave a 2” opening to flip it right side out later. Press the seam allowance towards the lining.

Now we must pull down the smaller lining to match the pocket bottom. This forms a facing just as it did for the pockets we sewed for the exterior of the coat. Press at the notched fold line. Stitch around the pocket and then trim the seam allowances and clip the corners to reduce bulk.

It’s time to flip the pocket right side out through the hole! Press it thoroughly and hand sew the hole closed. Now it’s just a matter of applying it to the coat interior!

The pocket will go on the wearer’s left which is the right side of the finished facing/lining combo when it is laid on your work surface right side up. Align the pocket with the placement markings.

Stitch the pocket to the lining in the same manner that you applied the exterior pockets (topstitched and edgestitched or topstitched and handsewn).

Lining Sleeves

Now we need to dig out our upper and under sleeve lining pieces.

Place them right sides together and pin and stitch both long seams. Press the allowances open.

The sleeve must be eased into the armhole. To prepare for this, it helps to sew long basting stitches along the steepest part of the curve. Two rows will create even gathers. Pull these slightly.

I find it easiest to add the sleeve to the lining by placing the sleeve inside the lining with right sides together. There are quite a few notches to line up to make sure we don’t sew our sleeves in crooked. It’s nice to have these as a guide because the side-back seam is a bit unusual!

The top notch on the upper sleeve lines up with the shoulder seam. The other notch on the upper sleeve lines up with the notch on the coat front. The under sleeve have double notches: The top one lines up with the side-back seam, the lower one lines up with the corresponding double notch on the coat front.

Place the sleeve on the bed of your sewing machine and sew while looking at the coat body. This allows your feed dogs to help with easing. I like to do one loop around with a basting stitch, check for any pinched fathers, and then trace my basting stitches with a regular length stitch.

Trim the seam allowances to 1/4” and then press towards the sleeve.

Phew! That was a lot! We gave another fairly big day on Monday because we will be repeating many of these steps while we sew the coat exterior. Practice makes perfect!