What is the difference between lining and interlining?

Often a blog is inspired by a project and tutorial, However this blog, much like my facing and interfacing blog last month was inspired by a question asked in the shop. A customer had heard of lining and interlining and wasn't sure which she needed. Fortunately she asked the right people, but for those of you unlucky enough not to live near an awesome fabric shop I present this brief summary.

Last month we looked at the differences between facing and interfacing.  Facings and interfacing are quit different, however lining and interlining have a lot more in common.

We find both lining and interlining in clothing and furniture like curtains.

In clothes a lining is simply a copy of the garment made in a lighter fabric. There are many good reasons to line a garment ;
Lining a garment reduces wear and tear
It can be a lot easier to put clothes on if they have a silky smooth lining
Lining looks neater and more professional
Lining hides a multitude of sins!

An interlining in clothing is a layer of often fluffy fabric like wadding to make the clothes warmer, think of the old parka coats. Interlining is more common in colder climates and in the UK you rarely come across it in clothing except in winter coats.

In curtain  making we find a few different sorts of lining and interning. Again we always recommend lining your curtains to make them last longer and to help them block out light and the cold.
Check out our blog "How to line your curtains" for details.

Interlining however is more of a personal preference. If you interline your curtains any pleats, tucks and folds become MUCH more pronounced. Curtains that have been interlined also tend to be far more insulating and have a much nicer draping quality.

So which to use? Well regular curtain  interlining works very well, however if you don't want to go through the bother of measuring and cutting out another lot of fabric for your curtains you can simply use bonded interlining, this is effectively a lining and interlining in one!

So there you have it, a quick run down of what the difference is between lining and interlining.

 Many readers of the blog may find all this elementary, but remember we were all beginners once and sometimes the smallest bit of knowledge can make the difference between success and failure of a project (or even worse, not starting a project).,

 I'll do a cool new tutorial next time, honest :)
Keep sewing, keep having fun!