waistband

Hello.... Let me explain my problem a bit more thoroughly. I am making one of those Circle skirts that you can buy at Jo-Ann on a panel. I would like to alter the directions because I am 3 months pregnant (my regular clothes are just starting to not fit) and would like to make an elastic waist instead of the waistband as given in the directions. ...so how do I make that work? Can I attach a waistband and put elastic in it? I am not sure how to do that?

Also if anyone else has tips on how to make regular patterns into maternity patterns..that would be helpful. I have found a couple maternity patterns but they are slim pickin's.

You need to cut a MUCH bigger waist hole, for a start... Think 2 times your natural waist measurement at least. Then take a long 5" wide strip of fabric, fold it in half length ways and press. Unfold and sew the ends together from one cut edge to the fold. Fold in half along the crease and attach like a regular waist band. Sew several narrow channels in it, and thread the elastic through.

If you can find buttonhole elastic, you can do this with one or two wider channels and have an adjustable elastic as your tummy gets bigger rather than having to replace with bigger elastic. after the baby arrives, just replace the elastic with a smaller bit of fixed length. I have a couple of circular skirts I made loooooong before my baby arrived that I just put bigger elastic in when they needed it and replaced it with a shorter bit later. Then I cut another big chunk out of it when I lost a lot of weight! My baby is now almost 12, and one of these skirts is still going strong at 20+ years old!

These sites might help you:

Circle skirts that you can buy at Jo-Ann on a panel. I would like to alter the directions because I am 3 months pregnant (my regular clothes are just starting to not fit) and would like to make an elastic waist instead of the waistband as given in the directions. ...so how do I make that work? Can I attach a waistband and put elastic in it? I am not sure how to do that?

patterns..that would be helpful. I have found a couple maternity patterns but they are slim pickin's.

But be careful: I bought a rather nice pair of maternity pants with this sort of waist, but they didn't stay up very well. I had to keep pulling them up. They were comfortable though, apart from that.

Liz