From: V Fox To: Nursing Mothers Sewing List Sent: Monday, August 28, 2000 11:37 PM Subject: [NMSL] waistband casing This could be helpful in the 307 skirt, or whatever, so it kind of qualifies as nursing! :) On the pants & shorts I made DD this weekend, KwikSew has a great method for inserting the elastic into the waistband. Instead of sewing the casing and shoving the elastic through and then sewing it, they have you do the following: 1. Sew the elastic closed in a loop. 2. Press the waistband down the appropriate amount (about 1/4" deeper than the elastic you'll use). 3. Pin the waistband down around the elastic, but *don't* pin the elastic; it needs to be free-moving. 4. Sew in a loop around the lower edge of the waistband, catching the fabric but *not* the elastic. Keep moving the elastic so you're sewing on a flat surface. 5. When finished, evenly distribute the material around the waistband. You can tack down the sides and/or front & back to keep the elastic from rolling. This method was fantastic! I thought it was *much* easier than the way every other pattern has had me do it, and *much* faster. I'm converted! Valency foxv@vdftech.com "There are two natural ways to feed your baby: The left side ................................ and the right side." ===================================================================== Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2000 11:24:02 -0700 From: desiree@bronze.corp.sgi.com (Desiree Diverse-Diaz) To: nmsl@kjsl.com Subject: [NMSL] Re: Re: waistband casing I don't have 307, so I don't know if the waistband casing is a separate waistband or just foldover the skirt. If the waistband casing is a separate casing, this is what I do: Stich the elastic in a circle. I take a piece of interlock, zigzag one end of the elastic to it, ( the strech of the interloc going in the same direction as the strech of the elastic ), take the other end, butt together, zigzag accross one stich on one side and the other on the other side of elastic, then zigzag the side that I did not zigzag first. This allows the elastic to strech even at this seam point, something that the more standard 1/2 inch overlap does not do, plus it is much less bulky. Then I take the waistband, sew it into a circle, press the fold, and wrap the waistband around the elastic. I pin, then SERGE the waistband closed, making sure the elastic is out of the way. It should be easy using a 5/8 seam allowance for the waistband seam, since the serged part will use up only 1/4 inch of that. Now, you have something sort of like a scrunchie, and I pin that onto the top edge of the garment, and stich the seam. I use the edge joining foot on my sewing machine, it has a bar that pushes the elastic to one side and the stiching does not get to the elastic. You could use a zipper foot like you do when you are inserting piping, same principle. Desiree desiree@bronze.corp.sgi.com "...if you'll excuse me, but I'm in the middle of 15 things, all of them annoying. Thank you for coming by." Commander Susan Ivanova, Babylon 5: "Midnight on the Firing Line"