Readers, pardon me if I am treating you like objects that I exploit for my own benefit, but right now you look like one giant collective sewing brain. And I want to pick you.
Remember this skirt? I don’t wear it often. But I put it on today (with a brown fitted v-neck sweater that hit at the high hip and disguised the high-waistedness, and those orange shoes) and it was looking pretty good and I was feeling pretty good.
Until I walked out the door, that is. I hadn’t been out of the house for more than two minutes when I felt the lining riding up. By the time I got to my stop, the whole lining was bunched up around my hips! Fortunately the wool is fairly thick so it wasn’t showing any lumps, and it’s not itchy either. But still, I felt pretty ridiculous.
So tell me, my vast font of sewing knowledge, is there a way to make a fitted lined skirt such that this doesn’t happen? (Corollary: how do you make a pencil skirt that doesn’t twist around your waist when you walk in such a way that when you look down after five minutes, you realize that the side seam is running straight down your middle?) This is a problem for me when a lot of RTW skirts as well, but it miffs me more when something I made myself acts annoying. Is there a trick to getting the lining to just stay put and not bunch up?
Tell me, oh mighty collective sewing brain!
The Selfish Seamstress 
54 comments
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May 18, 2010 at 9:56 pm
Tasia
I don’t know.. but I sure would like the answer, too! To both the bunchy-bunchy question and the twist-around-the-waist question. I’ll be sure to check back for the answers of the collective sewing brain :)
You could always tack the lining to the skirt hem, using those long thread-tail tacks – maybe they are called French tacks? That way it wouldn’t work its way up too far.
May 18, 2010 at 10:01 pm
selfishseamstress
Ooh, I thought of this solution, but my fear was that it would actually pull the skirt up with it! Whatever forces pull that lining up seem very powerful. I guess I’d have to experiment to find out :)
May 19, 2010 at 12:29 pm
Nikole
use a thread chain/french tack to secure the lining to the skirt
http://books.google.com.jm/books?id=5awy0UBymYUC&pg=PA33&lpg=PA33&dq=sew+a+chain+tack&source=bl&ots=4UgYIfszVk&sig=cw7AY07mRgOSNRcN9Y9Z86UlLI0&hl=en&ei=szr0S6zhDIKclgfwmf2TDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false
May 18, 2010 at 10:01 pm
edwardianhostess
Why don’t you treat the fabric and the lining as one, so as to sew both layers together at the side seams? It can’t ride up after that! My mother does that in all skirts, which is not nice for airy breezy light flowing skirts, but excellent for pencil skirts. Gives them alittle body as well. But only a little!
May 18, 2010 at 10:03 pm
Katie
stitch it to the hem
May 18, 2010 at 10:13 pm
Stephanie
I like to tack the selvedges of the lining to those of the skirt. It works really well on wool skirts as they have enough weight to stay put & not ride up. You might still have problems with light silks (I have silk skirt with the lining hem attached & I’m always have to pull at it to make it sit right).
As for the twisting thing, I’m not sure what you can do for that…
May 18, 2010 at 11:08 pm
arnysews
Were you wearing stockings or tights? (It doesn’t look like it in the photo – but I thought I’d ask) Perhaps it’s static? I use an acetate anti-static lining – more expensive, but worth it.
May 18, 2010 at 11:13 pm
Plummy
I would try safety-pinning it to the hem and seeing if that works, and if so then slip-stitching it to the hem seam allowance. If that just causes the skirt to act weird…good grief, I don’t know.
May 18, 2010 at 11:46 pm
cape owner
Lined RTW pencil skirts usually have a floating thread chain that anchors the lining hem to the skirt hem at the side seam.
http://sewing.about.com/od/techniques/ss/threadchain.htm
As far as the skirt twisting and the side seam moving, hmmm… sounds like you’ve got a supermodel’s strut (not a bad thing!).
May 18, 2010 at 11:48 pm
Lily
Just sew the lining to the hem! The whole thing won’t ride up, i promise!
May 18, 2010 at 11:51 pm
Jacqui
Linings are often tacked to the side seams at the bottom with those long tacks, that way it moves but doesn’t bunch up (what a hideous sensation that is! Right up with something falling down ever so gradually). I hesitate to say it, but I often find that things that are slightly tight are more prone to riding up.
I don’t know why things twist like that, shirts do too. And always in the same direction!
May 18, 2010 at 11:56 pm
Susan
I have some skirts where the lining is sewn into the side seams, and it works pretty well.
But the bunching around is a problem for me as well. One possibility is adding a stretchy belt at the waistband. They’ve got these cheap ones nowadays that have elastic in the back and leather/pleather in the front. (http://www.kohls.com/upgrade/webstore/product_page.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524882125491&pfx=pfx_shopcompare&cid=shopping3&mr:trackingCode=61246FB2-76B7-DE11-93DB-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA) (Kohls did not pay me to say that. In fact, they don’t have any where I live.)
If I may, that combo of a the skirt and the shoes are pretty rad.
May 19, 2010 at 12:29 am
violet
Maybe you need slipperier underpants!
May 19, 2010 at 1:01 am
Dora
Oh my. That is such a hot skirt. I can’t believe you want to hide the waist. It looks amazing on you.
1. In my experience, pencil skirts ride up if they’re too tight across the thighs/hips, like they’re trying to reach a spot where the circumference is just right. (But stretchy skirts sometimes ride up if they’re too loose. Humanity has yet to work out the physics of pencil skirts in detail.) Is your lining tighter than your skirt, by any chance? Less stretchy perhaps? Loosening the sides by a half-inch could do the trick. Are you sure you need the lining, by the way?
2. Skirts twist around if they’re not tight enough at the waist. I always thought high-waisted ones are much better with staying in place and not twisting around, though! So again: mystery.
May 20, 2010 at 11:09 pm
Maria
I totaly agree with humanity having to work out the physics of pencil skirts! If and when I find or make one that fits properly and I don’t look ridiculous (due to strange body type) it rises up and up. They start knee high and end up hot mini skirts! I hate that. And they do that rinkles all around the hips ggrrrrrrr.
To avoid the going- round -and -round I usually use a safety pin, to pin the lining or interfacing of the skirt to ….my underpants! Ridiculus I know.. but it works! (Be sure to unpin the skirt when you use the bathroom!) Oh and if it’s a winter skirt and I’m wearing panty hoses, I just stuck those two strings, on the sides seams, that you use to hang the skirt from a hanger (sorry I don’t know the proper name.. which is it?) in the panty hoses. That keeps the skirt in place too!
May 19, 2010 at 1:08 am
Lucy
My theory with twisting skirts has always been that most people naturally carry their hips/ pelvis slightly unevenly, so with repeated movement in a given direction, the skirt gets nudged round – either if they’re too loose or contoured to your body closely. The fact that this phenomenon reduces for me when I’ve just been to the chiropractor seems to back this up. Then again, as a ballet dancer I’d imagine that you have pretty good alignment posture…
May 19, 2010 at 1:40 am
Karin
I think others have mentioned swing tacks. I saw a you tube video where Trudy (of Hotpatterns fame) put a swing tack in a skirt that had a little button on it so that you could unbutton the swing tack and iron the skirt more easily. Genius!
As for pencil skirts twisting. I have noticed that my skirts only twist when I have made them too tight. I don’t know if there is a way to have a skin tight pencil skirt that doesn’t ride around.
May 20, 2010 at 11:12 pm
Maria
Can you please add the link of that youtube video?
May 19, 2010 at 3:32 am
Joanie
I agree–tack the lining to the skirt. As far as the twisting issue, maybe the skirt was twisting *because the lining had ridden up and was no longer keeping the skirt from clinging to your legs*? Don’t know, just a thought.
May 19, 2010 at 3:37 am
Colleen P.
Tacks at the hem of the lining attached to the side seams and centers of the skirt hem ought to do the trick. Some types of linings just do that, unfortunately, and you cannot always count on getting the color you want in the type of lining you want. Sometimes it’s just a matter of conflict between the skirt fabric and lining fabric.
I wonder if body shape may play into the problem with twist-from the ribcage south I’m absolutely straight up and down, with very little waist definition and no hips, and my straight skirts tend to twist. My mom, who does have wide hips and a proportionally small waist, has never had a problem with her skirts doing this.
Furthermore….I would absolutely kill for those orange shoes. I adore orange shoes, they’re a surprisingly versatile accessory!
May 20, 2010 at 11:16 pm
Maria
Oh I do have a difined waist and big hips, but skirts almost never stay in place, especially if the fabric is soft… so I guess it doesn’t have to do with figure.
Oh I remember that it doesnt happen with a certain skirt that has cotton for lining and not a slippery fabric, but it could be a coincidence and you can’t have cotton lining in every garment, let alone wool skirts.
May 19, 2010 at 4:30 am
Hatty
Yes, my Singer sewing guide says “First, just above the hemline of the skirt, take a small stitch and then another small stitch into the hem of the lining leaving 2 to 2.5 cm length of thread between them. Do this 5 or 6 times. Then starting from one end work a small blanket stitch over the threads. Catch the fabric in this first stitch. Then continue working blanket stitches over the long threads that join the lining and skirt. When you reach the other end, catch a little fabric in the last stitch again and tie of the end of the thread you are using.”
Well, I think it’s what it says, since here in Istanbul, I am working from the Turkish version and my Turkish is not that great…. Perhaps someone out there has the English-language original?
Anyway, I am just about to do this myself on a skirt i have just (are you sitting down, dear seamstress?) made for a friend. So I’ll let you know how it works for me. :)
May 19, 2010 at 4:40 am
Lauriana
I would also recommend tacks to keep the lining in place, although it doesn’t always work perfectly. I have to say I have the most problems with lining bunching up in those skirts where the lining is a bit tight (made way back when I didn’t add extra ease to linings in wool skirts). Wearing stockings instead of thights also helps, with both problems. Apperently the hip section of a pair of thights causes a LOT of clinging. I would love to know a real solution for twisting pencil skirts though, although in my case ‘not walking around with a large-ish shoulder bag’ would probably work miracles already…
May 19, 2010 at 4:49 am
Mz. Whitney
Well, obviously everyone has already thought of swing tacks, so I won’t even mention those. I have this problem constantly, and always attributed it to a loose waist and a tight hip in RTW, but since I’ve made skirts based on my actual measurements (even an a-line skirt) I have had the same problem.
I saw an article in a Threads magazine a while back (a check to my handy archive says it’s issue #87, p.57) that suggests adding boning on the side seams to keep things in place. I quote: “the fabric of a fitted skirt with a high yoked waistband tends to ride up at the hips, choosing the path of least resistance, and moving toward the smaller waist circumference and away from the hips” (of course, you knew that already).
I haven’t tried this trick yet, but I’m curious to know if it works.
May 19, 2010 at 4:54 am
Nancy Karpen
Swing tacks are my answer too. Thread chains at the side seams will have some give, but will keep the skirt down.
May 19, 2010 at 5:22 am
Shona
I would second all of the answers you already have. I thought you might like a little funny in regards to linings in wool skirts.
Once I had a reasonably long wool skirt – straight ish with a lovely silky smooth lining. On my first day wearing it to work, I sat down on my chair. The wool of the seat and the wool of the skirt stuck together like velcro, and with the little momentum of me sitting forward, the slippery lining slid me out of the skirt and sent me skidding to the floor! The skirt ended up hitched around my waist, but still on the chair, while I was sat on the floor wondering if I had decent underwear on!
May 19, 2010 at 9:11 am
Darci
OMG! That’s hilarious! Unintentional wardrobe malfunction. Thanks for sharing it!
May 19, 2010 at 5:29 am
Melissa
There may be an issue with the amount of ease in your garment. I would very carefully use a tack about 3/4 down the hem on either side. But, very important…. make sure that it is not tacked directly to the seam. Give the tack a 3/4 – 1 inch lenghth of 2ply thread between the garment and the lining. This way the lining has free movement as you walk, sit, etc.
May 19, 2010 at 5:30 am
Melissa
I should have explained better. 3/4 of the way down the side seam…
May 19, 2010 at 6:08 am
Claudine
Tacking to the side seams, as so many others have recommended, will definitely help with the riding up. You could also try to rub the lining with a dryer sheet before you put the skirt on to prevent static.
Another thing you could do is underline rather than line your next skirt.
As for twisting, carrying a shoulder bag that hits at the hip can cause your skirt to twist. It might twist less if you make it a bit more snug at the waist and a bit roomier at the hips.
May 19, 2010 at 6:09 am
Laurie
I have no idea how to correct this problem, but I had to express how much this pi$$es me off when it happens, makes me in a powerful bad mood for a whole day. So I too am looking forward to the results.
And for Shona, I believe I would pay to see you on the floor with your skirt on the chair! I am grateful I didn’t have a mouthful of coffee when I read it or I would be now trying to clean my laptop.
May 19, 2010 at 6:30 am
Elizabeth
You probably did this, but just in case…. did you cut the lining a tiny bit larger than the skirt? about an 1/8 inch for each pattern piece? i do that to give more ease for the lining. it sounds wrong, but it works.
May 19, 2010 at 7:03 am
Azadeh
I had a fantastic instructor from the industry who said that skirts twist because one hip is larger than the other. I have no idea if it is true, but it makes sense to me. Her only solution was to allow more ease for the larger hip.
May 19, 2010 at 8:12 am
Ariana
When I used to work in the notions department of a large fabric store we carried an elastic that mostly men used to keep their shirts from coming untucked. You would apply the elastic to the inside of the waistband and the side facing out was coated with a rubbery glue that would cling to your shirt fabric preventing it from slipping around and coming untucked.
I know a few women who used it to keep their skirts from twisting, however having never used it for this purpose myself I’m not sure how effective it it.
May 19, 2010 at 8:16 am
HollyS
You could blindstitch the hem with a pleat for ease as done with the McCall’s Trench sleeve. You could use thread chains, or thread tacks, although I have never sewn them, I have seen them in some of my skirts…
May 19, 2010 at 8:46 am
June
I may be echoing what everyone else has said, but I think the riding up issue is one of ease. The fabric is trying to find a circumference of less resistance, if that make sense. This is the same reason knee socks without calf shaping fall down.
As for twisting, it is probably your figure – not much difference between waist and hip measurements, no padded behind to keep a buttock-hugging piece in place. A well-placed safety pin binding the shirt to each skirt side seam may help, or it may twist your shirt! Do you carry a bag on one shoulder? Try holding it in your hand, switching shoulders occasionally (awkward feeling), or using a cute backpack. For skirts with waistbands hidden under shirt hems, perhaps an invisible belt? (Or figure out a way to attach an invisible belt to the inside of the skirt?)
May 19, 2010 at 8:59 am
daiyami
contra to @June and @Colleen P, I’ve got a big difference between waist and hip and plenty of padding, and every skirt I own twists on me, including elastic waist ones.
I have also heard uneven hips as the reason why skirts twist. A hand casually gripping the side seam while walking can help.
May 19, 2010 at 11:03 am
Julie
Just safety pin the waistband of your skirt to your undies on the side. No more twisting. If you’ve got your shirt tucked in, you can pin the shirt to the skirt (and even through to the undies). It’s a little more difficult to maneuver the pin, but it works!
May 19, 2010 at 11:23 am
Andrea
I love that skirt. What about tacking the seam of the slip down to the seam of the skirt like how you see in some of the ready to wear garments.
May 19, 2010 at 11:36 am
Colleen P.
daiyami-well that’s my hypothesis blown out of the water! LOL!
Though I think you’re definitely onto something with the uneven hips-I DO have that problem, as well as uneven padding on the front. Hmmm…
I’m also going to try Ariana’s gummy elastic idea on my next skirt, I think I actually have some of that type.
I love this blog, it really gets ideas out there.
May 19, 2010 at 11:47 am
katikando
I hand sew the lining to the skirt along the side seam every inch or so apart.
May 19, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Anonymous
I’ve always found that skirts twist when there is not enough ease in the hips, combined with a waistband that is not tight enough (in my case dosen’t nip in enough in the back waist) or is too slippery or light to hold its position.
Also (just speculation) there might not be enough room for the movement of your legs when you walk, maybe a little more ease in the front of the skirt could help? It could be that the extra room allowed by the slit/dart in the back is trying to twist its way to the front.
May 19, 2010 at 4:16 pm
adelaide b
French tacks work like a dream! Gives the lining room to move, but not too much.
May 19, 2010 at 9:54 pm
Angela
Hmm.. I have the same problem. I’m glad you asked so I can read others’ comments, too. :) In my RTW, the tacks have broken… I guess I’m really hard on my skirts or something.
May 20, 2010 at 5:29 am
Colleen P.
Angela-I usually use several lengths of thread, such as I’d use to sew on a heavy duty button, and then “crochet” a chain-cape owners post above has a link to how to do it. It’s really strong and it’s easy to re-do it on RTW garments.
May 21, 2010 at 3:45 am
Rowena Cross-Najafi
Rayon lining, and hand-stitch it to the top of the hem. I’ve never had a problem with rayon skirt lining, with or without stockings.
May 21, 2010 at 4:40 am
Hatty
Well, I did the “chain tack” that I found in my sewing manual and it was really easy and looks very nice. How it’s holding up I don’t know yet as my “victim” hasn’t made any comment….
May 22, 2010 at 2:02 pm
threadsquare
I have the same problem (rotating of skirt, always in a clockwise fashion, mind you) on just about every skirt I own. Except for the two pencil skirts I made myself. In fact, this was just happening to me the other day – hubby & I took the dog out for a walk directly after work, and every 10 paces I was adjusting my skirt, which looks so damn hot when I don’t move! The two pencil skirts I made myself don’t do this. It’s because they are perfectly fitted to my waist, but have just enough ease around the hips (in RTW, I’m always a size or two smaller in the waist than hips, so there’s a bit of room for play). That said, I’ve never been 100% satisfied that my pencils aren’t as tight in the hip as RTW, but they NEVER rotate on me.
May 22, 2010 at 2:42 pm
Teasippa
I enjoy your blog immensly. Try making your lining slightly larger than your skirt. To accomplish this, simply take smaller seams on the vertical seams of the lining. This method will result in a lining which “floats” between you and your garment. Thread chain anchors from lining seams to garment seams at the hem are also a good idea. You should also leave enough wearing ease so that the seams are not pulling. I cannot tell from your photos if the latter is a problem. Your fitting skills are obviously superb, so please do not take offense at the last suggestion.
May 22, 2010 at 4:44 pm
elizabethe
So, this is not helpful to you for this skirt, but maybe future skirts will benefit.
All of my skirts, A-line, pencil, everything, have twisted on me except one. The last skirt I made I did an adjustment for a forward waist tilt. In other words, I figured out that my waist is higher in the back than in the front, or lower in the front than in the back. This was like the rosetta stone of fitting for me. I’m so excited to make a million skirts now that actually fit at the waist. It is a dream to wear, I almost forget I have it on.
To make the adjustment, I figured out how much higher my back waist is than my front waist, then on the back pattern piece, I slashed from the back seam to the sideseam about an inch from the top, (my skirt pattern had a waistband, I left that pattern piece alone, I made the adjustment only to the actual skirt pattern piece), leaving a hinge at the side seam. then I raised the back seam it the amount of difference between my front and back waist. Then I redrew the new back seam with the highly precise system of eyeballing it and trying to make it match my back curve. This adjustment worked really well.
Alternatively, I’ve read you can slash the front waist pattern piece, leaving a hinge at the side seam, and lower it by the difference, and then make a new edge the amount out from the old edge. I’m going to try that on my next skirt.
Anyhoo. What I’m saying is the waist-twisting thing is probably some fitting issue, even if it’s not a waist tilt. Although, since I figured out this issue on me, I’ve noticed that almost every woman has a waist tilt.
May 24, 2010 at 6:32 am
Gina
I’ve noticed that the twisting of my skirts only happens when the waist is too loose, and the twisting will get worse if the lining is really silky smooth, or I’m carrying a handbag that bumps as I walk. I avoid it by not walking too far, hahaha!
Not really – if I do have to walk, and I’m worried about arriving at my destination looking like I actually put my skirt on backwards I’ll add a belt.
Actually, I just had a thought…why can’t we wear suspenders to fix this problem? Or would that just cause the suspenders to twist as well?
Anyways, I’d suggest running the waist to be slightly narrower, or as some other clever people have suggested, some of that “sticky” elastic would probably do the trick. It certainly is excellent at keeping boob-tubes and the like in place.
If your skirts aren’t easily able to be run in, you could always add an in-built buckle and tabs at centre-back or sides as a feature detail like here (sorry it’s hard to see, but I can’t find any other images right now that even come close to what I’m trying to explain!)
http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing?.out=jpg&size=l&tid=5076877
That way you don’t have to un-pick stuff to re-do seams, and we all know how much that sucks!
May 30, 2010 at 7:00 am
Helen
Swing tacks are the “right” way to hold the lining down, but the easy cheater way is to sew the side seams together by machine – just sew the seam allowances together for partway down the seam. An you only need to do seam allowances on one side of each seam – you’re just tacking it down after all.
May 31, 2010 at 7:35 am
Sammi
Flat lining
October 8, 2010 at 12:10 pm
Amanda
Pencil skirts are my favourite skirt style and after making and wearing dozens of them I now have an understanding of the physics of this tricky skirt style.
Forget about tacking the lining to the skirt, that will only make it difficult to iron. The basic problem is that the skirt is too tight. A straight skirt should always hang from the waistband and not the hips. A simple test for this is to stand with your legs together and get hold of the skirt at the side seams, hitch it up, then let it go. The skirt should slip back down and hang perfectly, if it doesn’t then its too tight. Pencil skirts that are too tight ride up when you sit down and stay ridden up when you get up again.
When I make a straight skirt, I make sure that it has 2″ of ease on the hips and that the lining is wider then the skirt, you don’t want the skirt gripping your thighs! Straight skirts that ride up and swivel, do so because they grip your thighs.
A long back vent exaggerates this problem as it causes the skirt to pull on the thighs instead of lower down your legs. I don’t use open vents at the back of my skirts now, I prefer a closed knife pleat as it pulls tight at the hemline and not half-way up the skirt, causing it to ride up, the extra weight of the pleat also helps the skirt to hang better. Straight skirts that are below the knee hang better than one’s which are above it.
If the skirt has plenty of ease, I dispense with the pleat altogether, you soon get used to walking with smaller steps.
Finally use a good slippery lining fabric, I always use acetate lining material. If your skirt lining sticks to your legs because of static, then try washing the skirt in a good fabric conditioner or use an anti-static spray.
Getting the right fit and using the right lining material is the key to solving this problem,