Nancy Zieman’s Absolute Easiest Way to Sew an Elastic Waistline

 

Okay, the above picture may not look like much. That’s the point! The photo shows Nancy Zieman’s Absolute Easiest Way to Sew an Elastic Waistline – without the telltale topstitching of an elastic waistband!

Over the years, Nancy fine-tuned and personalized traditional sewing techniques. We believe you’ll find this technique to be the absolute easiest way to sew elastic to the waistline of pants, skirts, and even shorts!

Prepare the elastic.

Cut elastic length 2″–4″ smaller than your actual waistline measurement, depending on what you feel is comfortable. (If your waist is quite a bit smaller than your hips, pin the elastic together without yet trimming off the excess.)
Try on the elastic, pulling it up over your hips. If the elastic is too tight to slide comfortably over your hips, readjust the elastic before sewing it together.
Zigzag the elastic ends to a square of woven fabric – without overlapping elastic ends. (This tip eliminates the bulky layers that occur when elastic is connected by overlapping the ends. Zigzag several times to secure elastic to fabric square.




Trim away excess woven fabric.
Quarter mark elastic. Fold it in half and then in half again, placing a pin at each quarter.
Also quarter mark the waistline.

Attach the elastic.

Pin elastic to wrong side of garment top edge, matching each quarter point.


Serge or zigzag elastic to the cut edge of the waistband, stretching the elastic to fit. (This is what real sewing looks like, many times it’s not perfect.)

 

Fold elastic to wrong side. Check to be sure fabric is securely wrapped around elastic.

Topstitch through elastic and garment at each seam. This holds the elastic in position with no need to stitch the elastic to the waistline along the lower elastic edge. This is it for stitching!

When wearing the skirt, pants, or shorts that telltale elastic stitching is nonexistent. The sewing is about as easy as it gets! How about that?

Celebrating 200 Years of Elastic!


Did you know that 80 years ago in the 1940s, elastic began replacing drawstring clothing closures?Explore our elastic selections – including our Friend Pamela’s Fantastic Elastic – that may be cut to width!  at ShopNZP.com.

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Celebrating 200 Years of Elastic! 

Did you know that 180 years ago in 1839, Charles Goodyear invented the vulcanization process that improved rubber’s elasticity? Explore our elastic selections – including our 1″ wide & 3″ wide Knit Elastics at  1/8″ Black Elastic Shock Cord –Now Back in Stock at

Her comment is: The straight line quilting makes everyone a machine quilter! You can finish the quilt all by yourself.

Happy Stitching!

Team Nancy Zieman

Nancy Zieman Productions. LLC.

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