Laminette: What is it for and how to sew it?

There are sewing terms you come across in garment assembly instructions, tutorials... without really knowing what they mean? Today, I invite you to discover minette, aminette... no, of course, we are going to talk about laminette!

Together, we will discover what laminette is, its uses, and how to sew it. Let's go!

What is laminette?

Laminette is a thin ribbon of transparent or white/black rubber, about 0.5 cm to 1 cm wide depending on the use. This small ribbon is used in the making of knitwear, lingerie, and swimwear. This small strip helps maintain the fabric's elasticity while reinforcing it to prevent deformation caused by time and wear. It prevents the fabric from stretching out or puckering. It is therefore used in the making of garments like t-shirts, sweatshirts, or knit dresses but also, and especially, in the making of underwear and swimsuits.

The different types of laminette

There are two types of laminette.
The most well-known and most used is the transparent laminette. It is thin and very flexible. This is the one used for knit fabrics and for lingerie.

The other type of laminette is a bit thicker and less stretchy. It is mostly found in white or black. It is designed to resist sea salt, chlorine, and sun, unlike the transparent one. This type of laminette, as you might have guessed, is intended for swimwear.

For which garments is laminette used and where is it placed?

As you saw above, this small transparent, white/black rubber ribbon is used for stretch fabrics. It is essential in some cases and optional in others. Let's take a closer look!

For a t-shirt, sweatshirt, cardigan, or knit dress: it is placed in the shoulder seams and can also be added to the back neckline.

These are the stress points of this type of garment. All the weight of the fabric is supported by these seams, so to prevent your t-shirt from stretching out or the seams from giving way, laminette is used in these seams to reinforce them.
Note, for a knit dress, using laminette is essential because there is much more fabric weight than on a t-shirt.

For lingerie: Laminette is useful in the neckline of a wireless bra, a bralette, on the leg seams... Refer to the notes of the pattern you selected for your lingerie. Note that laminette supports but does not replace elastics in any way!

For swimwear: If you want your swimsuit to hold, and your bust not to escape from the neckline... use laminette! Indeed, if there is one garment where laminette is essential, it is the swimsuit! A swimsuit soaks up water, the fabric becomes heavy, it is subjected to tension... the fabric tends to stretch out at that moment... This is where laminette supports the seams and the shape of the swimsuit. So choose swimsuit patterns that include laminette placement or... don't go in the water at the risk of losing your swimsuit!

How to sew laminette?

For my part, I sew laminette directly with the serger at the same time as my seams (since we are working with stretch fabrics).

There are two ways to apply it properly:

in one step: baste the seams with basting thread so it doesn't move during serging
in two steps: stitch it with a zigzag stitch on one shoulder with a sewing machine, then sew the two shoulders together.