Cut the Lining First

Got XYZ pretty much done yesterday; my reward was to cut out the grey wool flannel Oxford pants for my SWAP and, since I used the grey lining for the pockets, I went ahead and cut out the lining for the jacket. Haven't got the fashion fabric cut yet, but it's nice to know part of the unexciting cutting is done. I don't mind cutting out the actual garment...it's kind of exciting to be starting a new project...but cutting the pattern again for the lining and again for the interfacing does get a little tedious.

Last March, a number of Sewing World members had a bit of a gab session Friday night at the Atlanta Sewing Expo, and Peggy Sagers dropped in and hung out with us. At some point we were talking about what causes UFOs (UnFinished Objects); one of the things mentioned was that it was easy to get a jacket (or skirt or any other lined thing, for that matter) done to the lining, only to have it languish, waiting for the lining to be cut out and made. I heard myself say 'Cut the lining first.' Peggy looked at me and said, 'That's a good idea!' It makes sense to put the cart before the horse here, so to speak, because once that fashion fabric is cut, every one of us wants to get at sewing it...but if we'd cut out the, um, boring parts (lining and interfacing) first, once the fashion fabric itself is cut and marked, we can be off to the races and there won't be any thing to throw a 'stop' switch. All that 'project starting' energy is still there until the fabric itself is cut.

I don't always do it that way, but when I suspect I'll be impatient to get sewing, that's what I do ;)