The following pictures are of the rayon Bemberg / Ambiance lining for my current project. Not a friendly fabric, I tell you what. Made quite a few mistakes and learned some lessons that I'm sharing here:
1) Do not scrunch, wring, or stomp on the fabric to get the water out, and leave it to air dry. NO. It results in what seems to be PERMANENT wrinkles. Wash-and-dry in delicate cycle, or just dry-clean it.
2) Rayon Bemberg is slippery as hell! It is difficult to sew straight! Look at this hella crooked topstitching job! Try "taut sewing" where you pull the fabric from the front and back of the feet. Of course, cut the pieces on-grain in the first place!
3) Getting a nice pinking is even harder with slippery fabric! Look at this one! It looks like it's been gnawed by a mouse! I don't have a "lesson learned" on this issue, other than "don't pink it!"
4) Use a sharp, small needle! Otherwise you get stripe-y pulls across the grain like the above.
5) Nobody other than you needs to see the lining. So if you have a bad lining, do not show it to the world like what I just did!
Bitching aside, I'm looking for ideas for alternate lining fabrics that are more user-friendly. Some folks prefer poly, others mention silk. What's your preference, and why?
I have a love/hate relationship with Ambiance fabric (nice fabric, pain to sew.) Have you tried starching it first? I add a little cornstarch to a spray bottle with water, shake vigorously, then spray and iron away. It may leave some residue on your iron, but the fabric becomes much easier to handle. This probably isn't the "right" way to handle it, but it works!
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