ellastic waistband troubles

You are not the only person to have this experience. Something happens when you stitch the elastic to the fabric. Magic? If you use the same elastic and put it in a casing instead of stitching it, it doesn't grow. But the act of stitching it down does. I've also found that the length given in a pattern is too long. If it's for a waist, I put the elastic around that part of the anatomy (mine or the person for whom the garment is intended) and find a snug but comfortable fit, then cut it a little bit shorter than that. I tend to prefer casings because I wash everything rather than dry cleaning, and the elastic eventually gets brittle and breaks. It's so much easier replacing it in a casing than ripping it out and resewing the whole thing.

Robb , Ping Sharon Hayes, she has a great method of putting in waistbands. She finishes off by saying give the band a lot of steam when your finished and it goes back to it intendexd size. Ask her for her method though it works ell. Juno

I think it may have been Sharon Hayes who gave me the method of putting in waistbands and it's super easy and works perfectly.

That said, don't forget that when you are sewing with elastic to make sure to always stretch it out a few times before you measure and sew. Just stretch it as far as you can and let it relax 2 or 3 times, it does help a lot no matter what sort of elastic or what kind of application you're using.

My latest favorite is fold over elastic (FOE) which is a sort of elastic binding, it's great for waistbands, crib sheets, diapers and diaper covers, and I'm sure many things I've yet to try. It comes in different widths, I've used the 5/8 inch, the 1 inch and the 2 inch so far. It's my new favorite notion.

Judie

Judie

Before giving up, stoke up the steam iron and hold it in the steam position just barely off the fabric... moving it along. Then check the size.

Personally, I would have used a longer stitch length than you did, but that shouldn't be causing that much trouble.

Kay

Now that I've had my coffee and been up all day I can think clearly. These are the directions I got from Sharon and sent to someone else. If you don't have a serger just use your zz where it says to use a serger.HTH Juno

These are the directions I got from Sharon Hayes. The only thing I do different is to divide my skirt and elastic into eighths. I do that when applying the elastic and when I sew the waist band down. I find I have better control that way. I made 2 skirts this afternoon in about 45 minutes from the time I cut until I did my final trimming of threads. I've done 4 skirts in the last 2 days. One other thing is that these girls don't like a real hem. They like their skirts to have a 3 thread hem done with woolly nylon. I use the same setting for the hem as for seams. HTH.

Here's what I do. I use 1" wide elastic. (I don't like any wider than that; uncomfortable to me.) I cut the elastic 2" less than the waist measurement. (However, if she has no hips and is an energetic little monkey, you might want to cut that 3" less.) Then overlap the cut ends about 1" and stitch (I use 3 step zig zag top and bottom of the lapped portions) to form a circle. Now, use the lapped portion as the CB. Fold the elastic to find the CF, and both sides. Mark those with pins.

I have used 3 threads and 4 threads to do this. Either seems to work fine so however you have the serger set up will do. Disengage the blades. You don't want to cut through the elastic. Also, you don't want the serger set for a rolled edge. Turn your differential feed to the highest setting. On mine, that's "2." I tend to think of that as "most scrunched" for the bottom fabric. ;)

Turn the skirt wrong side out. Find the CF, CB, and both side seams of the skirt. Line up the matching points from the elastic and slide the elastic ring over the skirt. Pin those points. Trust me, you won't serge over them, but you will need them to keep everything aligned. Pretty important to keep the cut edge of the skirt aligned with the edge of the elastic too.

You will be serging with the right side of the fabric against the feed dogs. Start at any one of your 4 points. Pull that pin, and slide that point under the presser foot of the serger. Drop the presser foot down (this is one of the few times I actually raise the presser foot before I start.) Then set your needle(s) all the way down. Now you are going to stretch the elastic taut between where you are starting and the next pinned point. Only the elastic, not the fabric. Usually once you pull the elastic taut, it stretches out to about the same as the fabric. Then just start serging. You should be overcasting the fabric and the elastic. The differential feed will scrunch the fabric down to the size of the elastic. When you get close to the next pin, stop, pull the pin, grab the elastic at the next pin, pull taut, start serging again. Keep going till you're back where you started. ;)

Then I carry it back to my sewing machine. I fold the elastic down so it's covered by the fabric on the inside of the waist. Then holding taut at those same 4 points, and working with the right side of the fabric against the feed dogs, I carefully stitch it down.

Now, here's the super sneaky tricky part that is essential. Go steam the elastic. And I do mean STEAM. That allows the elastic to really snap back to it's original length. But don't ever use old elastic that's been sitting around a long time. It won't recover it's original length. BTDT. :(

Once you get the hang of it, and it really is easy, this will go Fast! I like this method a lot. Much faster than feeding through a casing. If any of that doesn't make sense, let me know. Juno

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i guess i just need more practice. It is for some kids H. costumes and so i may save that for the winter wear.

thanks again robb

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Thanks for the tips Judie , I'll try the steam on my muslin / practice piece when i get to the iron and see if that shrinks it back some robb

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Thanks for help Kay, I have adjusted my stitch length to 5mm and it does give it a nicer fold/crinkle even if it is a costume i'll make a note for the day to day wear. thanks again robb

Why do you have trouble doing the casing? If you can do a hem you can do a casing for a simple elastic waist.

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serger.HTH

Thanks Juno, Many many thanks for the help and instructions. all understood.

I just happened to buy a vintage 5/4/3/2 thrd serger i salvaged over the summer. I find myself constantly looking to use it.

So, i used the (Sharon H.) instructions that you posted and it worked great.

I use the 4 thread super-stretch stitch with very long stitch length.

Thanks again for the help and reply, robb

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exactly, the trouble... lack of patience to make them properly. i am sure if i took the time and broke out the iron and fiddled with the pinning and sewed slow etc... i could make a nice even one when needed but this was just Halloween costume / dress up box wear and i was looking for quick/simple not to dirty

I avoided the hem part by using an old orange t-shirt for this costume pant/shorts. i cut the pattern so that the hem line fell on the t-shirt's hem to avoid making the hem :}

robb

Yay! Glad it worked. I just found the thread, obviously somewhat late. I've been in the kitchen a lot lately. Apple butter time of year, y'know. ;)

The two things to remember when you put in elastic this way. 1. don't use old elastic. It just won't snap back like it should and you end up with a saggy waist. 2. Steam it till your fingers prune. Well. OK that might be slight over exaggeration. But do steam it and steam it some more. And don't wait. Steam it as soon as you finish stitching down the waistband. The longer you wait, the less snap back you're going to get. Don't know why, but it's an honest observation.

Hope the costumes turn out marvelous.:)

Sharon

These are the instructions I've been using for a couple of years now, I have them printed and kept next to my sewing area. I'm pretty sure Juno sent them to me at one point when I was having waistband problems and was new to serging.

Judie