All-Machine Clean-Finish Sleeveless Bodice Lining Technique Tutorial

This has already been done several times, and unfortunately what it really needs is a video to demo how to turn it right side out as photos just cannot convey (done!), but redundancy never hurt anybody, right?

Back in the Olden Dayes, commercial pattern companies had you go to ridiculous contortions to line a sleeveless dress. You were to sew the fashion and lining fabrics together at the neckline and armscye to within a few inches of the shoulder. Then you were to try to roll out the fabric and hold it steady to put in a straight shoulder seam. Then you had to finish the shoulder by hand. Ridiculous!

There is a new, modern way to do this all by machine with no hand futzing at the end.

Requirements: Your pattern must have a center back or front seam and two side seams. Three open seams are required, otherwise the geometry of this won't work and you'll find yourself with an endless tube resembling a Mobius strip or a water weenie.

For a pattern not suitable for this technique, such as with both the front and back cut on the fold, see this alternative method that involves only a little bit of easy hand sewing.

First: Sew the shoulder seams of your fashion and lining fabrics. Finish and press. Do NOT sew the side seams. Your two side seams and front or back seam remain open.

Second: Trim 1/4" or 1/8" (or the skinniest you can go) from the neckline and armscye of your lining. This makes your lining smaller than your fashion fabric. The lining will automatically roll to the inside when the two pieces are sewn together, for a nicer look.



Third: Sew your fashion and lining fabrics right sides together at the neckline and armscyes. Trim close to stitching at curves (I use my serger). You may need to clip into the curves.



Fourth: Pull the bodice right sides out through the shoulder tunnels, as described in this video:


Here's a still photo representation and this is what it looks like when half turned right side out.

Fifth: You can see that even before pressing, the lining is pulling itself under to the inside (here's a view before it's turned). Press. Understitch if needed. Your trim job on the lining should eliminate the need for understitching, but it is not always enough.



Sixth: Hand tack at the underarm to ensure perfect matchup at the seam. I don't find it necessary to baste the whole seam, just that junction (and the waist seam and/or midriff junction, if there is one). Your hand tack will ensure that the underarm match point doesn't shift.




If you are inserting the zip into one of the sides, do the hand-tack at the back or front and one of the sides, sew one side seam and the back or front seam, and then insert the zip into the remaining open seam.

Seventh, sew the side seams "all at once"--one continuous stitching line from the lining to the fashion fabric.  Pin and stitch the side seams, from the lower edge of the lining to the lower edge of the fashion fabric.



And voila! A beautifully finished bodice with no* hand-sewing.

*Ok, you've got me. Almost no hand sewing. You can skip the hand tack at the underam if a perfectly precise matchup isn't important to you, but it takes about 15 seconds and it's worth it to me.

To clean-finish by machine at your zipper, visit this tutorial I posted previously.

And here it is once the zipper is installed, a thing of beauty to behold! The completed dress is here.




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Cap Sleeve Variation



This method can be used with a cap sleeve.  However, you must consider the bulk of your cap sleeve against the width of your shoulder strap.  The narrower the shoulder, the tighter the squeeze and the smaller the cap sleeve must be.  For the project pictured above, I had a hard time pulling the bulk of the sleeve through the strap tunnel--I used a large safety pin to give me some grip.

First, finish your sleeve's hem.  In my case, I lined the sleeve. Finishing the hem before attaching is the normal procedure for any cap sleeve that does not reach the armscye, so this will be in your pattern's instructions.

Second, stitch the cap sleeve into the armscye, again as directed by your instructions.  Do not serge off the seam allowances.  Remember, at this point the shoulder seams should be sewn but the side seams and front or back seam must be left open.

Third, fold the cap sleeve toward the bodice, right sides together, so the seam allowance extends.  This is what you did when you sewed the cap sleeve--sleeve right sides together against the bodice.  Pin and stitch your lining to the armscye and neckline seam allowances as described above, like normal, enclosing the cap sleeve  When you pull the fabric through the strap tunnel to the right side, your cap sleeve will pop out.


I am not aware of any way to use this method with a full sleeve.  For a full sleeve where the sleeve is not lined, if you want to enclose the seam allowances inside the lining, first stitch the fashion fabric and lining together at the neckline.   Clip the neckline and turn the lining to the inside.  Set in the sleeve.  Then at the armscye turn the lining's seam allowance under and stitch in place by hand to the armscye seam allowance.  It will be easier to do this if you set the sleeve in the flat.