Wednesday, June 10, 2009

elastic waistband trick

Here's a little trick that will prevent an elastic waistband from turning and getting twisted.


Leave a little extra space in the width of the casing, and edgestitch the top edge of the waistband before you feed the elastic through. For some reason, that top row of stitching will prevent the elastic from folding over on itself when the elastic is added.


You can use this little trick in any elastic waistband, but it seems to be more of an issue in waistbands that have elastic all the way around; back-only elastic waistbands have less of a tendancy to twist and turn.

Try this little tip in the Lazy Days Skirt, the Bedtime Story Pajamas, and the Puppet Show Shorts and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the results!

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15 Comments:

Blogger April said...
It looks more professional, too. You say leave a little extra room, does this mean fold a little bit more to the inside? or choose a narrower elastic?

Great tip! Can't wait to try it.
June 10, 2009 10:55 PM  
Anonymous Dara said...
That's a fantastic tip - can't wait to try it!
June 10, 2009 11:23 PM  
Blogger Liesl said...
April, you can do either one: use a thinner elastic or make the fold deeper. I tend to make the fold deeper because it's a small adjustment to the casing, and wider elastic is stronger than a narrow elastic. Cheers!
June 10, 2009 11:40 PM  
OpenID bakeandsew said...
Wow - thanks. I was thinking it was the cheap elastic I used and that maybe everyone else had better stuff. I can't wait to try it out. Thanks so much!!
June 11, 2009 1:09 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Thank you. This does look more professional - crisper, cleaner. I have been stitching in the ditch at the side seams and center back.
Also, the fabric you used in the example it very pretty. Is it something current that we can find or is it from your stash? Thank you.
June 11, 2009 8:06 AM  
Blogger Cate said...
thank you! i cannot wait to try that out the next time i sew a waistband. love your patterns and love your blog.
June 11, 2009 8:20 PM  
Anonymous ljmonchik said...
on the other pant patterns-- the sandbox pants for example- will it work if instead of a drawstring you just leave front of waistband empty. So you've got an elastic in back and flat front? My daughter is starting to use the toilet and can't undo the drawstring herself yet.
June 12, 2009 7:30 AM  
Blogger Liesl said...
For the Sandbox pants, you could easily make the entire waistand elastic and eliminate the drawstring. Otherwise, either eliminate the drawstring altogether or make it decorative only, and tighten the elastic in the back a bit so the pants can be pulled up and down. Cheers!
June 12, 2009 9:10 AM  
Blogger Lindsay said...
Like anonymous, I'm also smitten with the fabric. Is it from a current line?
June 12, 2009 11:10 AM  
Blogger Morning Glory said...
Thanks for the tip...love your patterns!
June 12, 2009 11:24 AM  
Blogger Liesl said...
Ok, I just looked up the fabric info. It's a year or two old, but it's a Quilt Gate print from the Mary Rose Collection: MR1202-14. I made a dress from it: http://disdressed.blogspot.com/2007/07/besides-i-grew-up-in-americas-dairyland.html
June 12, 2009 2:10 PM  
Blogger Jessica said...
wow, thanks so much for answering my question from the lazy days skirt! ok, so maybe i wasnt the only person with that question... but i appreciate it!
June 13, 2009 1:30 AM  
Blogger It's The Little Tings said...
I randomly decided to do this once (I think I may have made my waistband too spacious) and I actually found that I like the look of it so much better too. I'm glad to know that it also serves a useful purpose! Thanks...
June 22, 2009 11:29 AM  
Blogger kjansma said...
Thank you so much for that! Even with the non-roll elastic, my four-year old manages to twist her elastic. She just pulls skirts up and down a little too aggressively. I'm going to try that on her next skirt. It looks really great, too.
June 30, 2009 3:53 PM  
Blogger Maisydaisy*Boutique said...
Wow, I have been sewing for 30 plus years and never thought of this one. But it makes sense when I think about the ones that I had done by accident this way. could have used this advice this morning as I was finishing up two customs twirl skirts this morning and was not liking the elastic that I was using. Good note to remember. Thanks
June 30, 2009 6:12 PM  
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