I’m sorry it took me so long to get back to this but several readers have reminded me that I owe everyone the completion on this. So, back to basics.
1) You’ve got lining, scissors, pins, a measuring tape and something long with a straight edge – yard stick, that sort of thing.
2) You’ve measured the length of the coat and the width of the coat. Lay the coat down on the floor or a big table.
3) Turn the coat inside out, pulling out the sleeves.
4) On the straight grain of the fabric (that is, with the woven selvages going vertically as you face them), cut a piece that is at least 10 inches longer than the length of the coat.
5) Fold the collar or neck edge in half and mark that spot with a pin. Fold down 1-2 inches of the left selvage edge and put that folded edge 1″ to the left of the pin and start pinning the lining along the neck edge. You will have a curve there, so gentle curve your edge with your scissors as you go. fold down 1/2 inch at that edge and pin that down.
6) Go back to the center where you pinned that folded edge. Put your straight edge vertically from the neck to the bottom of your coat and line up the folded selvage edge along that. Don’t pull the fabric really tight – give it about an inch of play, but pin down along that straight edge.
7) Go back to the neck and start pinning it down from the neck every inch or so between that center pin and the shoulder seam. When you get there, give it a little bit of play, but pin the lining to the shoulder seam and then cut to the right of the pins, about 1″ away.
Go back to the center and start pinning out along the back toward the back of the sleeves – again, don’t make it too tight. leave some play. Do this until you have pinned out the back from the top of the sleeves (the shoulder seam) around the back seam of the sleeves, to the under arm. Cut along the sleeve seam, about an inch away all the way around the back to the spot where the side seam of the coat is. you will want as you cut that 1″ away, to do little cuts in – this will help give you a smooth seam in a round area like this.
9) Go back to the center and pin out the rest of the back, going from the center to the front facing (see photo). Go to the under arm and, following the curve of the front of the sleeve, pin the lining fabric up the front of the sleeve hole, leaving yourself an inch for a seam. You’ll have to do little cuts there to smooth out the curve. You should have enough fabric to get you back up to the top of the shoulder. If you do not, you can take lining fabric and piece out that spot.
10) make sure you have plenty of play in the lining along the body in the front and pin to the facing all the way down. At the bottom, fold over a hem to cover the old lining and part of the hem of the coat and pin down all the way back to the center.
11) Take another piece of fabric as big as the first and this time, fold under the right hand selvage and pin 1″ to the right of the pin at the neck. Repeat the process as before, but reversing to go to the left this time instead of the right.
12) Hand sew the lining around the edges, starting at the center neck and going in one direction all the way down to the bottom of the front facing of the coat, then starting at the center neck and going in the other direction all the way down to the bottom of the other front facing of the coat. Then hand tack the facing along the bottom hem of the coat.
Notes: let’s say you run out of fabric at the shoulders (or other area – you might run out of fabric before you can get to the front facings). Take your tape and measure the length and width of the area that needs coverage and cut a piece to fit, taking care to allow yourself at least an inch on all sides for folding. Pin it so that the folded edges cover the raw edges of the other lining piece and using a hand needle and matching thread, sew the two pieces of lining together so that they are flat.
