Thayer Sew-Along: Lining the Jacket

The time has come to line our Thayer Jackets! I think this is the most exciting part of the process, and one of the most magical! There's a small amount of trust involved in this process, so just know we would never lead you astray. If you've bagged a jacket lining this will look pretty familiar though there are one or two points that differ due to the fact that there's no front facing. Let's get to it!

Begin by laying your jacket out face up and your lining down on top of it face down. Align the bottom hems matching the ends and seams, then stitch across the bottom as shown, using a 1" seam allowance.

Press the seam allowance towards the shell of the jacket.

Now flip your jacket right side out, placing the sleeve linings inside of the sleeves of the shell and aligning the neckline edges. Fold the hem edge up 1" along the seam line notches at center front and press.

Lay your jacket out in the configuration shown here, this is prep for sewing the sleeve cuff seams. While you technically don't need to do this it helps to make sure your sleeves don't end up twisted or attached to the wrong thing in the next few steps.

Bring one set of sleeves (one lining and the corresponding shell sleeve) together, and fold up approximately 2" of the sleeve lining as shown. 

Insert the sleeve lining into the sleeve shell taking care to make sure the underarm and sleeve seams are matched properly and the sleeves aren't twisted.

Pin around the cuff.

Sew around the cuff, stitching the two layers together using a 1" seam allowance. Straighten the sleeve lining and press the seam allowance towards the shell.

Flip the jacket so that the right sides face together. Starting at the notch at the neck edge align the center fronts of the shell and lining, pinning down towards the hem. The center front lining notch will align with the yoke seam on the shell. Continue pinning the two layers together evenly down to the hem.

The shell is longer than the lining and will fold up on itself at the notch as shown in the image.

Sew from the neckline notch down to the hem. Clip to the seam allowance at the neckline notch and clip the corners. 

Clip the neckline notch to, but not through, the point where you started stitching. Don't forget this step or the next part will be difficult!

Now you'll need to flip your jacket right side out. This part seems insane and every picture we took made it look incomprehensible so this is where your trust comes in. Start pulling through the neck and your two jacket halves will turn into a fully lined single jacket! Magic!!

Press along the center front and hem edges. Starting where you clipped at the neck, topstitch ⅛" from the neckline edge pivoting down the center front, ending at the hem. Repeat this for the other side.

Place another line of topstitching ¼" away from the first line, however this time you will pivot at the hem 1" from the bottom edge of the jacket. Sew to the other side and pivot up ¼" away from the center front topstitching and continue up to the neck edge. As mentioned in previous posts, we topstitch with the right side of the jacket facing up, so mark anything you might need to before you get started. Most sewing machines will have a mark at 1" on the throat plate though.

Press the sleeve hem so that 1" of the shell is turned to the inside and the sleeve lays flush with the seam allowance. Topstitch both sleeves 1" from the hem edge to anchor the sleeve hem and lining in place. 

Lastly you'll need to stitch the neckline of the lining and shell together, matching seam lines. You can baste along the seam line, or what we like to do is just sew within the seam allowance.

That's it for lining your Thayer! If you have questions let us know in the comments below and we'll help you out!