Skip to main content

Reader's Pick Sew Along #5 - Attaching Skirt and Bodice; Inserting Elastic

In today's step, I will focus on inserting the elastic. Before you do this, be sure to attach the bodice to the skirt pieces, matching side seams and other markings. Use the waistline marking as your seam allowance. Then sew a second seam line 1/4 or so from the edge of the fabric, leaving an opening for you to insert the elastic. You've now created the elastic casing! 





When first looking at this pattern, I didn't realize it had an elastic waistline. It actually made me happy because then any size adjustments can be altered with the elastic! 

I had someone ask me in a previous step what elastic to use. There are a variety of different elastics out there, but two of the most common are woven and knit. Woven elastic is sturdy and knit elastic is softer. I used a woven elastic because that is what I had in my stash. (I keep a variety of different elastics on hand.) But if I had the option, I would probably pick a knit elastic because the knit I made the dress with is a lightweight knit. So I would say it is personal preference. When you start using wider elastics, you will notice a big difference between knit and woven. Then I would say that you should select one over the other depending on your project.

If you're new to sewing, maybe you've never inserted elastic into a garment. I use a safety pin to fish it through the casing. I have the safety pin "stitched" through the elastic so that the elastic does not bunch up on the pin as you fish it through. As I was fishing the elastic through, I couldn't get it through the pocket area very easily. Because of all the thicknesses of fabric, it was hard to pick the right slot. (It's hard to explain it until it happens, so I'm sure you will find this problem when you do it too!) I had to keep moving the safety pin backwards a few inches and then trying to guide it into another opening until finally the safety pin went through. So just watch for that as you go. 



 Once you have the elastic inserted, attach the safety pin to the other end of your elastic and try the dress on. Adjust to your liking. I sew the elastic ends together by machine.  This ensures that it's not going to come apart in wearing!





Now that you have the bodice and skirt sewn together and the elastic inserted, press the casing toward the bodice and top-stitch the casing to the bodice section. If you have a hard time doing this, no worries, you can cover it up with a belt!

That's it for today, pretty easy right? Next time we will work on the sleeves. 

I know some of you have asked how long the sew-along will be and when the finished garment will be due to be entered to win a $50 gift certificate. I'm thinking we will wrap up with the sew-along late next week. Then I will be giving everyone two weeks from the last post date to finish the dress and submit it to be entered to win a gift certificate!

Comments

  1. I didn't top stitch the casing to the bodice section. Mine seems to be staying in place pretty well. So far this dress has been pretty easy. I'm glad I lengthened the bodice, It fits just right.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad things argali things are working well for you ! It is an easy pattern! I could make a few in a weekend! My top stitching was sort of bunchy, so I felt like I should.,

      Delete
  2. I too use a safety pin to thread elastic through the casing. I make a mark on each end of the elastic so if it gets twisted while I am threading it through, I can match up the marks, before I sew it together.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment! All comments are reviewed before posting to help us eliminate spam. Your comment will be posted within 24 hours.

Popular Posts You Might Like

Made By A Fabricista: Why Sew A Muslin

Here it is, my September blog post featuring Newlook N6692 and this pretty rayon challis from Fabric Mart! This pattern style is so in right now. The square neckline, cute puff sleeves and the tiered skirt are all exactly what I was looking for in a summer dress. As always I started with making a muslin first!  Let’s get into why it’s important to start with a muslin.  A muslin is basically a practice garment. It prevents you from cutting into your good fabric prematurely.  I usually use a muslin fabric (natural cotton) but you should also consider using a fabric that is the same weight as your fashion fabric. This will give you a truer gauge of how the garment is going to lay in the final fabric. Anytime I try out a new pattern company I make a muslin. This was my first time using a Newlook pattern so I need to know what the ease would be like for this pattern. Also I need to see how the bust would fit me and where I would need to make adjustments. Plus there were some new techniques

Made By A Fabricista: The Love of Sewing - Basic Pieces for a Beginner

Happy Friday All! It has been a while since I made myself a dress. I am excited to sew after not making anything since my last post (whew) and finally sharing some photos.  This past summer has been a roller coaster journey with plans to release a small collection and then deciding that right before the launch to postpone. Sewing has brought me joy over the past 8 years and the mere fact to sew daily for orders had me in a panic mode. I really don’t want to walk away from my craft due to burn out  and decided that if I do sew for others, it would be only for local clients. Moreover, If next year I decide to launch, it would be seasonal and not year round. I really want to share my talent and love for sewing with others but don’t want it to be a full time job and lose the passion in me.  After a bit of soul searching, teaching and sharing my talent with my community will always be my first love. For the past 2 summers, I was blessed to partner with two nonprofit organizations’ local sum

Made By A Fabricista: End of Summer

Summer is nearing to an end but here where I am in Texas the heat isn’t letting up any time soon!  I still have plenty of time to get a few more summer looks out of the way.  In this blog I will be sharing two separate projects. The first project is this denim set; I had the inspiration saved on my list of makes to make.  For this project I got this gorgeous denim and matching thread to start my project. Yes, Fabric Mart will match the thread to your fabric perfectly and with my favorite thread brand Gutermann.  The denim had a very great weight and wasn’t too stiff.  It was very starchy when it arrived, so I did a prewash before working with it.  I’m so glad I did because it had a lot of dye saturated in which would not have been great for the skin and other clothes. For the first part of the set, I drafted a corset with the scallop edge cups, such a cute detail!   To start I used my bodice sloper to make the corset, I was not worried about the design details and focused more on