Happy 4th of July ALL!!!
Can I say I am so excited as my birthday is 1 month away!!!! Yes, 4th of July is my official countdown to my birthday even though I have never planned a party or truly celebrated it. I always make big plans and at the last minute, change it, or cancel. Last year 2 weeks prior to my birthday I got so sick that I did NOT even celebrate the big “4 0”. This year, I plan to just HIDE away, disconnect from all social media and relax for the entire weekend.
Let’s get to the point!!
Last week I started to sew a few maxi skirts for a friend (long overdue) so I opted to make my life very easy. I decided to sew a few skirts with 1 seam try the elastic casing method and see how it worked. My first attempt at stitching the elastic down was a headache so I decided to try another method which is absolutely perfect. For this method, you can use a combination of elastic sizes. Here is my personal suggestion based on trial and error on what type of elastic to use based on your waist measurement. I PERSONALLY ONLY use NON-roll elastic as seen here.
Waist measurement between 25 to 29 inches about 1 yard of knit fabric or 1.5 times your hip measurement divided by 36 to determine the amount of fabric needed. 1 row of 5/8 inch elastic (TOP) 1 row of 1 inch elastic (BOTTOM) CUT ELASTIC 3-4 INCHES SMALLER THAN YOUR WAIST MEASUREMENT Waist measurement between 30 to 39 inches at least 1 yard to 1.5 yards or 1.5 times your hip measurement divided by 36 to determine the amount of fabric needed. 1 row of 1 inch elastic at top 1 row of 1.25 inch elastic at the bottom CUT THE ELASTIC 4-5 INCHES SMALLER THAN YOUR WAIST MEASUREMENT
Waist measurement greater than 39 inches 1.5 to 2 yards of fabric or 1.5 times your hip measurement divided by 36 to determine the amount of fabric needed. 1 row of 1.25 inches at the top 1 row of 1.5 inches at the bottom
CUT THE ELASTIC 5-6 INCHES SMALLER THAN YOUR WAIST MEASUREMENT. THIS CAN ALSO BE USED FOR ELASTIC WAIST PANTS AS WELL!
I personally feel that varying the sizes based on your waist measurement will give you a better support. For the most part, I have tried these variations on 4 different waist measurements and I have can attest that it works. Also if you are sewing with KNIT or a fabric with 4 way stretch, your casing can be about 1/4 inch smaller than the width of the elastic.
The fabric that I used was a rayon/lycra stretch PRE-CUT deal from Fabric Mart for $4.80 in March. Here are a few that I love as well available on Fabric Mart. There is a 50% sale today so do NOT miss out. 1. Black and white 2. Animal Print 3. Tie Dye
Here are some tips!!!
1. Create your casing based on the total amount of elastic (2 rows) for your waist measurement. For example, my waist is exactly 30 inches so my casing with KNIT fabric only was 2.25 inches. For both rows, the elastic casing was 1/4 inches smaller than the width of the elastic. Remember that certain knit fabric has 4-way stretch and the elastic will be tightly secured and will NOT roll of if it does, very minimal. 2. Stitch as close to the serger thread. Do NOT forget to leave an opening to run the elastic. 3. CUT both elastic 3 to 6 inches less than your waist measurement based on the above guide. 4. Stitch between both casing and DO NOT forget to leave the opening for both (DO NOT STITCH STRAIGHT THROUGH FOR THE TOP). 3. Insert the TOP row of elastic casing first, then do the bottom row.
4 OVERLAP by 1/2 inch using a flat method and stitch the elastic together after you run it through. ENSURE the elastic is NOT TWISTED and lays flat all around! 5. Close off the casing for both the TOP and BOTTOM.
USED A ZIG ZAG stitch!
Here is a tutorial that I found so useful when I made my first elastic waist skirt. Be sure to share any feedback or photos with your make. Thank you so much for stopping by and hope this helps a lot!! Questions? Feel free to send a direct message via Instagram!
Be safe and have a wonderful 4th of July with your family and friends!
Comment below if you would like for me to share my paper bag method using woven fabric.
ONE LOVE!! Marica