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!
Labels: bedtime pjs, lazy days skirt, puppet show, sewing, tutorials
15 Comments:
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.
That's a fantastic tip – can't wait to try it!
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!
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!!
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.
thank you! i cannot wait to try that out the next time i sew a waistband. love your patterns and love your blog.
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.
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!
Like anonymous, I'm also smitten with the fabric. Is it from a current line?
Thanks for the tip…love your patterns!
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
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!
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…
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.
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
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