Nancy’s Most Popular Blog Posting—Absolute Easiest Way to Sew Elastic

Okay, the above picture doesn’t look like much. That’s the point! It’s the easiest way to sew elastic to a waistline without the telltale topstitching of an elastic waistline.

Over the years, I’ve tweaked and personalized sewing techniques.  My favorites are collated in my book, Nancy Zieman’s Sewing A to Z. Now I’ll share a bonus technique for the letter “E” for inserting Elastic in a waistline. I believe you’ll find this technique to be the absolute easiest way to sew elastic to a waistline.

Prepare the elastic.

Cut the elastic 2″–4″ smaller than your 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 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 woven fabric without overlapping the ends. (This tip eliminates the bulk that occurs when elastic is connected by overlapping its ends.)  Zigzag several times.
























Trim away the excess woven fabric.
Quarter mark the 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 the elastic to the garment at each quarter point, meeting the elastic to the wrong side of the garment. 












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

Fold under the elastic for a casing. Check to be sure the fabric is securely wrapped around the elastic.

Stitch through the elastic and garment at each seam. This holds the casing and elastic in position. Don’t stitch the elastic to the waistline along the lower edge. This is enough stitching!

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

This is a great Go-To Reference Book

I’ve gathered my favorite sewing and quilting tips in the book, Nancy Zieman’s Sewing A to Z. 

The Sewing With Nancy 3-part TV series of the same name is the available to watch online:

Click here to watch part 1 of the 3-part series, sewing techniques from A to G.
Click here to watch part 2 of the series, sewing techniques from I to P.
Click here to watch part 3 of the series for sewing techniques from S to Z.

Note: If you’re wondering about techniques H and Q, they’re the bonus techniques found only on the Sewing A to Z DVD!

Watch the newest 80 programs online, or on your iPad, iPod Touch, or iPhone. Have you downloaded the app?

And I hope you’ll give my elastic sewing tip a try!

Bye for now,

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