Amy and Celine are tag-teaming this, so hi from both of us! When we were planning the Sienna Maker Jacket it was really important to us that it be an accessible project. After all the layers and tailoring involved in our Jasika Blazer, we wanted to create a relatively quick sew without too many steps to intimidate beginner or intermediate sewists. That said, as soon as we launched we got a lot of questions about adding a lining! While Sienna is specifically designed as a light layer without a lining, you can certainly add one, and we had a few ideas of our own. Amy wanted to make hers with a removable lining, Heather wanted to make a sherpa lined jean jacket, Alexis was planning a patchwork version. So with all these ideas percolating, we asked Celine to draft up some instructions for adding a classic lining to Sienna, and we’ll also show you how to make a removable lining as well as some other ideas! Ok, let’s jump in here.
ADDING A REMOVABLE LINING
For my version I wanted to make a jacket inspired by an army surplus jacket I have that has a removable lining. You can see the post I wrote here with lots more pictures. Essentially I made a shorter sleeveless version for the lining and it is held in place with snaps that are installed along the facing.
To execute this style you will draft your lining pieces as Celine demonstrates below. However, since you need the lining to underlap the facing you need to leave a large enough amount of fabric to make that happen. To create this spot for the snaps, I folded the edge of my lining piece twice on the outer edge to create a stable edge. The flannel I used is very thick, but if you are using lighter fabric or don’t want to leave such a large allowance I would recommend adding interfacing where your snaps will go. To figure out how much allowance to draft, I suggest measuring the snaps you plan on using (mine are 1/2″) and adding a few millimeters to each side. You will then triple this amount in order to fold it twice. Since the curve on the back neck was tricky to fold I ended up trimming it and finishing it to the shoulder seams with bias tape. I made View A (the longest length) but I wanted to have a lining that ended before the back slit. Also, since it’s not attached to the jacket at the bottom I didn’t want it flapping around and wrapping around my legs. I used the View B (mid length) line on the pattern piece to draft my pieces.
I assembled the lining and then finished the neck, bottom and armscyes in bias tape I made using our tutorial. I needed to make the belt vent opening in the lining as well as the jacket so the belt could pass through. I used the instructions for the outer jacket and just reversed the right side so the bulk is not visible. After I assembled the lining I just double checked the location so it lined up perfectly with the outer jacket.
The only modification I made to the instructions was after assembling the facing I serged the outside edge, turned it under and stitched the seam in place to the facing (not the jacket). Since the facing is already interfaced you don’t need to worry too much about where your snaps go. Once I had everything assembled and lined up I started with my first snap at the center back of the back facing and installed the cap of the snap. I used our Kelly Anorak snaps but any spring snap will work. I used a total of 15 snaps (coincidentally the same amount that are carried in our kits!) as I found after about 5 inches it started to separate and gape.
Once I had all my snaps installed I topstitched the facing in place as close to the snaps as my regular foot would get me.
From there all I had to finish was the hem of my coat. I snapped my lining in and it was off to the races! Well, I was off to work actually, but you get it.
(I had to laugh because this jacket got some actual use before I shot it and the road salt and pet hair really shows up beautifully in the photos. Sorry about that, but it’s real life people!)
ADDING A TRADITIONAL LINING TO SIENNA
There are many different ways of adding a lining to a coat or jacket. For the Sienna Maker Jacket, we brainstormed ideas to draft one that would be somewhat easy to replicate at home with your existing pattern pieces. Depending on the view you choose, some details may add some difficulty to the construction (back placket, back slit, sleeve pocket). You will have to do some drafting and problem solving here, so if all of this seems like too much work, you can also simply underline your jacket with a smooth fabric which we outline towards the bottom of this post.
DRAFT FRONT LINING
Superimpose the Front Facing piece on top of the Front and trace (with tracing wheel) the shape of the Facing on the stitch line (3/8” seam allowance here). Trace notches on Facing and Front to help match pieces when sewing. Add 1/4” to armhole opening at side seam. The front lining should end at the same level as your Facing. Draft exactly the same way for your medium length or long version.
DRAFT BACK LINING FOR VIEW A OR B
Traditional linings have a pleat in the back to add mobility, so I’m going to show you how to do that. Extend Center Back about 3/4″ and curve it to meet existing center back around the waist. Remember on Back pieces for view A & B, the seam allowance is 1”. Superimpose the Back Facing on top of the back and trace with tracing wheel on Facing stitch line (seam allowance here is 3/8″). Add 1/4” to armhole opening at side seam just like you did at the front. Back lining should end 1 1/2″ above the bottom of the pattern piece so that when the hem is folded twice it is encasing the lining.
If you are sewing the vent for View A or B, you should add a little step at the start of the back vent (about 1/4″ in). When you sew the jacket together you’ll have to clip to the circle (see above top right), fold the seam allowance in and then hand stitch to the vent.
DRAFT BACK LINING FOR VIEW C (WITH PLACKET)
For a placket the lining will have an asymmetrical right and left. You can duplicate and mirror the back pattern piece which will help drafting right and left side of lining. To make things easier, you can just skip the placket altogether and draft the back lining as indicated above. You may also decide to sew the vent but skip the facing; directions for that are a little bit further down.
Keeping the Back Facing:
Superpose the Back Facing on top of the back and trace with tracing wheel on facing stitch line. Superimpose as well the placket Facing on the wrong side of right Back. For right lining, extend Center Back seam straight down. For left lining, mirror the vent shape, so that when Left Back is folded, the Lining can be sewn to it or topstitched in place. Add 1/4” to armhole opening at side seam. Back lining should end about 1.5” above bottom of pattern piece so that when the hem is folded twice it is encasing the lining.
Without the back facing piece:
Superimpose the Back Facing on top of back and trace with tracing wheel on facing stitch line. For right lining, copy the same shape as main Back pattern piece. For left lining, mirror the vent shape, so that when Left Back is folded, the Lining can be sewn to it or topstitched in place. Add 1/4” to armhole opening at side seam. Back lining should end about 1.5” above bottom of pattern piece so that when the hem is folded twice it is encasing the lining.
DRAFTING LINING SLEEVES
Adjusting the pattern pieces to make a lining is pretty simple! Add 1/4” to the Under-sleeve to match the 1/4″ raised armhole you created on front and back lining.
SEWING THE LINING
If you make a traditional lining, it’s fairly straightforward to sew. Sew your center back pieces together, ensuring you baste the pleat you created in place along center back. If you are adding a vent or placket, stop sewing at the point where the vent or placket steps in, which should be marked with a circle. Sew front and back together at side and shoulder seams, and then sew to the facing at 3/8″ seam allowance. Press seam towards the facing and understitch in place. Assemble sleeves and sew to jacket body. Now sew the facing and undercollar into place on the jacket body as directed in the instructions. The lining is now mostly assembled. For jackets with a vent or placket, turn the lining edges under and handstitch in place along the vent/placket. Finish by turning the hems under as directed. Pin end of lining in place at the folded hem line of sleeves and bottom hem and topstitch hems in place. A “traditional” lining would also have a folded hem pleat at sleeve and bottom of jacket, but because this is a loose-fitting jacket you should be fine just stitching in place along the hem. If you would like to add those pleats to your jacket and sleeves, you should do that when you’re drafting your lining pieces.
OTHER LINING IDEAS…
Another option for this pattern is underlining. We wrote this tutorial on underlining our Kelly Anorak and Heather underlined her Oslo coat with Thinsulate here. Basically you would just cut your front, back and sleeves from a lighter fabric, baste to your jacket pieces and then sew it together treating the two layers as one. This will add a bit of bulk to your seams but it’s easier to do than drafting separate lining pieces. If you’re feeling very ambitious you could take inspiration from master tailor Duane MacLeod (@mainelymenswear) who has added all kinds of bells and whistles to the Sienna Jacket including this incredible quilted lining.
He added sleeve tabs in addition to the welt inside pocket (swoon). The lining is attached to the side seams with thread chains and the bottom hem is finished with a Hong Kong seam finish. There are rivets and snap closing pockets and the whole thing is an absolutely incredibly beautiful and warm chore jacket. My kind of chores!
I hope we gave you lots of ideas and resources to get you started on your lining journey. Please share what you end up trying using #siennamakerjacket hashtag!
