Sewing Skills: How to Line a Skirt With a Zipper & Pockets

Tools and materials:

• Skirt piece (outer fabric) 
• Lining (rayon fabric)
• Sewing machine
• Pins
• Matching thread
• Needle
• Scissors
• Iron
• Zipper

1. Cut out the lining

Essentially, you want to cut and sew the same skirt pattern as your exterior piece, just in lining fabric.

My skirt also has pockets, and if you're wondering how to line a skirt with pockets, all you need to do is sew straight seams on the sides of the lining instead of pockets.  

Tip: Be careful of fabrics that might stick to tights. I used rayon fabric for this tutorial.

Also, have your waistband with facing ready (if applicable).  

2. Line up the top edge

Line up the skirt and lining (wrong sides together) at the top edge. My skirt has pleats, so it was pretty easy for me to line up the darts as they acted like notches. 

Now, stitch it along with a 1cm (0.39 inches) seam allowance. If you have a waistband, the seam allowance should sit within the range (mine was 1.5cm or 0.59 inches).

Do not sew all the way to the edge; you’ll need to access the lining to tuck under for the zipper. So sew until about an inch away from either end.

You can use a machine tack or basting stitch for this step. 

Tuck the lining under and fold it back on itself, leaving around 1.5cm (0.59 inches) seam allowance. 

3. Add the waistband

If your pattern calls for a waistband, now’s a good time to attach it to the wrong side. Then sew your skirt with the lining as you go.

Once the waistband’s edge is sewn on, fold the waistband over and tuck the edges. You should hide the seam allowance of the lining and skirt. 

Fold the edge of the waistband inward and pin it in place. Then, sew with a slip stitch (or topstitch) to secure. 

You may need to pull the lining out, so it comes round and lines up with the fold. 

4. Finish the center back

This step is really important for those who want to know how to line a skirt with a zipper.

Sew the zipper on, then mark where the bottom comes to. Make sure that both ends and fabric layers are aligned. 

Then, notch just above that point. 

Place the lining right sides together and line the notches up, 

Then sew down from that notch with the seam allowance as the center back of the skirt. 

Press the seam open and press the top open area with a 1.5cm (0.59) fold (same as seam allowance). 

Pin the lining to the back of the zipper, making sure you don’t catch the fabric on the zipper’s teeth. 

Now, slip stitch around the zipper area to attach the last bit of the lining. 

Just to explain about the pockets, the pockets are sitting in between the fabric and lining, so they are still open. You don’t need to worry about having the pockets fitted into the lining. 

Now, all that’s left to do is hem your skirt. I recommend hemming your lining and fabric separately; otherwise it may distort and pull on your outer fabric.

The only exception would be if you’re sewing a pencil skirt or something fitted. 

Tip: Hem your lining shorter than the outer fabric so that it doesn’t peek through. 

How to line a skirt

That’s how to line a skirt! I hope you found this tutorial useful with some tips for an easy way to line a skirt. Thanks for joining me, and good luck!