A few weeks ago Paul took me into a shop on Swanston Street in Melbourne that I had no idea existed, and almost wish I didn’t: Retrostar Vintage. It’s huge, apparently ‘the largest vintage clothing store in Australia’.

I tried on a few things, including a velvet jacket since I’d seen on Pinterest that velvet was making a comeback and I’ve always liked a bit of velvety elegance. It was one of the fashions of the 90s I really loved. The jacket fit perfectly so I bought it:

I have to say, though. The 90s are ‘retro’. They’re not long enough ago to qualify as ‘vintage’. I’m not THAT old.

The jacket had one big down side: the lining was literally falling apart. I decided I’d have it re-lined. I chose a beautiful royal blue satin in my much-culled fabric stash.

After making the two costumes I felt a bit bolder in my sewing ambitions, so I decided to try lining it myself. I removed the old lining – which more a matter of cutting around the seams than unpicking as it had deteriorated so much it was practically evaporating before my eyes. I used it to make a pattern:

Then I noticed something a bit strange about the pockets:

One was a bit distorted, so I removed them both. After washing and brushing the coat, the old seam indentation lines on the jacket aren’t too obvious. They look like seam lines that are meant to be there. I’ve decided to leave the pockets off.

I cut out the new lining pieces:

Sewed them together:

Sewed the lining onto the jacked at the bottom and sides, then hand stitched the collar and wrists. The hand stitching was much easier done on the old dress form:

And got Paul to take the usual headless model shots:

New lining!