Harry Potter Robe: Troubleshooting a lining that keeps rolling

Crimes of Grindlewald comes out this week and one of my most popular posts on this blog is the Harry Potter Gryffindor Robe. As I was sewing it, the biggest trouble I had was that the lining kept rolling! A seamstress named Denise helped me fix up this problem. I just wanted to share what worked for me and hopefully, it helps you.

1) To stop the bottom from rolling: sew it like an actual jacket

So when I sewed this piece, I thought that because it’s a robe and not a jacket, I didn’t need to sew it the same way. Well… I was WRONG! The bottom kept rolling, so I needed to fold the hem up like a normal jacket.

D582188C-BE76-4C7B-9484-B2E1CC86C550 — If you look at the bottom, I didn’t sew it like an actual jacket which made it roll

This was the right way to do it and it stopped it from rolling

2) To stop the sleeves from rolling: tuck in the excess fabric

Initially, the lining of the sleeves kept rolling out. What I did was measure how much was rolling out, tucked it in and sewed it in place. It’s on the inside so no-one can see it in the finished garment.

3) To stop the front from rolling: sew the underarm seams of the robe to the underarm seams of the lining

I felt that sewing the underarm seam of the robe to the underarms seam of the lining was the most effective to prevent this piece from rolling at the front. In the image below I marked the seam where I stitched. You don’t need to sew it all the way to the bottom, halfway will do to prevent the lining from moving and rolling around too much.

4) Understitch

This is where you sew the lining to the seam allowance. Because it’s only attached to the seam allowance, you shouldn’t be able to see it on the outside. Here’s a great instruction page which explains it better than I can. I found that I only needed to do it at the front at the robe opening.

My understitching. You can’t see it on the other side.

I’ve been using these exact same steps to fix up the lining in jackets and coats. So hopefully you found something here that’s useful! All the best with your Hogwarts sewing!