Sewing question...

[Zorba]

I have a two skirts that need new elastic in the waistband. They both are the kind where there's about 4 horizontal seams stitched all the way around the waistband through the elastic. (WHY?). Although tedious, can I just pick out all the seams and replace the elastic "the usual way" or is that a lost cause and I'd need to re-do the casing altogether?

 

[ElizabethArena]

What are the seams like? Simple stitches or a kind of double or overlocked stitch? My hunch is that you’d be able to unpick the stitches, remove the elastic and replace. Depends also on the fabric. And yes, makes no sense to stitch through elastic.
I suppose it’s one of those things where you have to try with one seam first and see how it goes.
(helps to have a little tool that unpicks stitches -not sure what it’s called.)

 

[Zorba]

(helps to have a little tool that unpicks stitches -not sure what it’s called.)

Called a "seam ripper", and its every sewer's friend.

 

[Tourbeau]

I have a two skirts that need new elastic in the waistband. They both are the kind where there's about 4 horizontal seams stitched all the way around the waistband through the elastic. (WHY?).

Stitching like that keeps the elastic from twisting and rolling on itself in the casing, and it guarantees that the elasticity is evenly distributed across the volume of fabric (as opposed to "curtain-rodding," where the gathered fabric slides freely on top of the elastic or drawstring when it isn't sewn through). This technique also apparently lends itself better to an assembly line, which is why it is more common in manufactured garments than home-sewn ones.

Although tedious, can I just pick out all the seams and replace the elastic "the usual way" or is that a lost cause and I'd need to re-do the casing altogether?

What does the bottom of the casing look like on the inside? Is the casing a separate strip of fabric? Some manufacturers and sewing patterns call for a separate casing, which means you could theoretically just remove the whole thing and make a new casing with new elastic. I'm not sure how much trouble it would be to match the fabric, or if it would even matter because you always wear some sort of belt or long top with the skirt. I suppose if you are adventurous and the skirt is a little long, you could just fools-rush-in here, cut the casing off, and decide that even if it wasn't designed as a skirt that had a separate casing, it's going to be one from now on.

If you're committed to keeping the old casing, the next question is "Is the elastic serged to the bottom of the casing on the inside?" This is common in manufactured clothes, and it makes for a lot more seam ripping, but it's still doable. You just have to undo the entire thing.

If the elastic isn't serged to the casing, you should be able to work it out without completely undoing the casing. If you rip out those "intermediate" horizontal seams, and the elastic is now free floating in the casing (check for vertical stitches in the ditches tacking the elastic down in spots), you can delicately open an interior vertical seam of the casing, reach in, and pull the old elastic out far enough to cut it, then remove it. It shouldn't be much trouble to run new elastic now, and hand sew the opening shut when you're done, AKA "the usual way." If it is too challenging to work the same width of elastic through the casing, (if it was sewn in one swoop, there may not be much clearance in the casing for unstretched elastic), you might need to go down a width, although this will make stitching in the ditch to keep everything stable and in place more important.

Finally, if bulk isn't a problem and the current elastic isn't very rigid (either because it's unusually soft and stretchy or it's dead and saggy), and these other ideas seem unworkable, you might be able to cheat. If the waistband has four "intermediate" horizontal seams, you could pretend it's five little casings, open one of the interior vertical seams for access (like above, for the whole width of the casing), and run five pieces of slightly-less-than-one-fifth-overall-width elastic in the new "fractional" casings. This is the dumb, quick, and dirty option, because you just leave the old elastic in there. Does it make the waistband twice as thick? Are you going to curse every time your bodkin/puller/safety pin gets caught on a gather, a seam, or a stitch in the ditch you didn't notice before? Will it be aggravating to get the tension right in all of these casings because each piece of elastic seems like it needs to be a slightly different length ? Yes, yes, and yes. But it is a possibility...

 

[Zorba]

Thanx Tourbeau - I'll have to check to see if the dead elastic is serged in place or not. Both skirts are just the usual "fold over" type casing. Running 5 little elastics is something I'd never thought of - sounds easier to cut the whole damn thing off and make another one rather than go through that! Sounds like it might be better/easier to do a replacement casing with a serged elastic as well.

Sigh...

 

[Shanazel]

If the casing/elastic combo isn't clumsily thick, you can leave everything intact, sew a lightweight bias strip to the back of the existing casing, and slide in a new piece of elastic between the old casing and new bias strips. If the old casing is too thick with the existing elastic, you can open the casing enough to remove the old elastic in pieces, stitch the casing closed, and then add the new bias strip. You can also bast the elastic into place in strategic places to keep it from twisting.

Alternative and what I'd probably do for my own costume: I dislike foldover casings and prefer to take the time and effort to make a separate waist/hip band to be used as a casing. In this case, I'd cut off the old casing and elastic and add a separate casing in a fabric color close to my skin color in case my covering belt slips and shows a bit of the skirt top. I'd add enough casing width to make up for whatever length I lost cutting off the casing. This is also a chance to lengthen or shorten a skirt.

 

[Tourbeau]

Running 5 little elastics is something I'd never thought of - sounds easier to cut the whole damn thing off and make another one rather than go through that!

Years ago when I was first starting to sew, I had a shorts/pants/skirt pattern that called for you to create a three-channel casing instead of making the horizontal stitching lines on wide elastic. I guess somebody at Simplicity (or whatever brand it was) thought this was a simpler way to do things. Admittedly, if you are a beginner, the business of easing elastic into a waistband by stretching while you sew is not a starter-project technique, but neither is sewing three precise, equidistant casing channels. And why do you think I added the bit about each piece of elastic feeling like it needed to be a slightly different length? It was not fun. I ended up recutting the casing and doing a single piece of wide elastic, because it was such an unnecessarily complicated design for an inexperienced person.

The part about using the sewing lines as casings was also partially inspired by my experience of misusing manufactured garment hems as casings. Everybody has their quirks, and one of mine is that I hate waking up to find my sleep pants have turned themselves into ruched bermuda shorts, so I open up a seam on each hem and run narrow elastic through the hem to convert straight legs into gathered ankles. So if you ever come across a pair of palazzo pants and wish you could convert them to dancewear, now you know the cheat code to make harem pants.

If the casing/elastic combo isn't clumsily thick, you can leave everything intact, sew a lightweight bias strip to the back of the existing casing, and slide in a new piece of elastic between the old casing and new bias strips. If the old casing is too thick with the existing elastic, you can open the casing enough to remove the old elastic in pieces, stitch the casing closed, and then add the new bias strip. You can also bast the elastic into place in strategic places to keep it from twisting.

I tried the bias-tape-as-rear-casing thing once on a pair of lightweight gabardine trousers that had fully sewn-in elastic and didn't lend themselves to convenient elastic removal. They had gotten too big after I lost some weight and they were close to the end of their lifetime, so it was not meant to be a long-term, quality alteration. The result was really bulky, stiff, and lumpy, but I was gathering something that was already gathered, so no surprise it wasn't a great success.

In my experience, any fixes where you leave the old elastic in place are for emergencies, lost causes, and other times where the quality of the result doesn't matter much. If you have access to a sewing machine and you can make a proper fix (rip apart and repair/replace), it is better to do that than frankensteining a new casing using some or all of a failing, old one. But I won't say there might not ever be a time when one of these ideas would be the best solution for a problem (for instance, if you were traveling and you absolutely had to wear a particular outfit and the waistband died on you unexpectedly).

 

[Zorba]

I used bias tape as a casing once - it actually worked out well. BUT - it was a new skirt I was finishing up and it needed a casing, not a redo over existing. Still wearing it to this day. Needed SUPER WIDE bias tape though. I generally use the anti-roll aka "bra strap" elastic, it just works better and lasts much longer. I measure it by holding one end on one hip, then looping it 3/4s the way around my torso to centerline (navel) front, and cut it there, When its stretched to be sewed together, its the perfect tension.

I don't worry too much about "curtain rodding" - a quick stretch of the waistband will fix that immediately.

 

[Shanazel]

The result was really bulky, stiff, and lumpy...

That's why I made the disclaimer, "If the casing/elastic combo isn't clumsily thick..." and suggested removing the elastic in sections if necessary. If the casing/elastic combo is clumsily thick, the results will be bulky, stiff, and lumpy.

Needed SUPER WIDE bias tape though.

Something else you might try is woven hem tape. It comes in different widths, is very lightweight, and is a single layer compared to the foldover structure of bias tape. It's usually not as tightly woven as bias tape, either, giving it some extra flex. In a pinch (usually financial back when I was making costumes) I've even used the wide lace-type hem tape for casings, though I didn't care for it much.

 

[Tourbeau]

I don't worry too much about "curtain rodding" - a quick stretch of the waistband will fix that immediately.

There are certain combinations that make bad things happen. When the casing is the wrong size for the elastic, or if you're gathering a lot of fabric on soft, stretchy elastic that can't support the weight, you can end up with elastic that twists or folds on itself, and you can't just easily stretch it back into place. If that happens, tacking the elastic in spots becomes necessary.

But "curtain rodding" in itself is not always bad. Those old-school circle shirts often floated on their gathering mechanism, so you could adjust whether you wanted one panel in the front with a lot of leg, or a full, more modest, even distribution of panels.

That's why I made the disclaimer, "If the casing/elastic combo isn't clumsily thick..." and suggested removing the elastic in sections if necessary. If the casing/elastic combo is clumsily thick, the results will be bulky, stiff, and lumpy.

Those trousers were literally on their last leg. They would not have been worth the effort of trying to surgically remove the elastic. The first iteration of the alteration was actually pleating with safety pins.

I suppose in a pinch, if someone was really trying to kludge a repair, they could try the lattice technique that some dancers do to tighten up belts and skirts, you know, where you take thin, sturdy cord or multiple strands of button/carpet thread, and sew X's from the top edge to the bottom of the desired channel to make an improvised "net" casing to hold the elastic. I've never personally tried this technique. To me, it sounds like a lot of hand sewing for a puckered mess waiting to happen, but there were dancers on Bhuz who swore by it.

Something else you might try is woven hem tape. It comes in different widths, is very lightweight, and is a single layer compared to the foldover structure of bias tape.

Perhaps he meant single-fold bias tape, not double? I had a nightgown pattern (the older New Look 6163) that used single-fold bias tape to make a casing partway up the sleeve to form a long, ruffled cuff.

 

[Shanazel]

Perhaps he meant single-fold bias tape, not double? I had a nightgown pattern (the older New Look 6163) that used single-fold bias tape to make a casing partway up the sleeve to form a long, ruffled cuff.

Probably, but even single fold bias tape is two layers of fabric. The hem tape is a single layer. It's also made of a lightweight synthetic almost thin enough to see through whereas purchased bias tape is solid stuff. Unless I'm in a hurry, I make bias tape to match or blend with the project. There's something very satisfying about turning scraps into usable material.

The lattice technique: I'd manage to catch the cord in at least one stitch, no matter how careful I was. Oh, wait- HANDSEWING the xes? I am trying to recall the gathering technique I used making a Kinssale cloak about a hundred years ago. The hood was two layers: heavy wool and feltback satin, and required an unsual method. It worked beautifully but was exacting and time consuming, if i remember correctly. Hmm. Maybe a double line of handsewn running stitches made with #5 pearl cotton? When I was done, I had a perfect set of tiny pleats that I was very, very proud of. Alas, I no longer have the cloak. The damned moths got it and there was no way to repair the extensive damage. I bought a small chest freezer after than in which to store my out of season wool clothing.

All this sewing talk combined with the cooling temperatures is making me long to dust off the sewing machine and make something pretty. I've needed a fanfront dress for a couple of years now for historical programs I do for the local college, but I've got a couple of projects I need to finish ahead of that one.

 

[Tourbeau]

The hem tape is a single layer. It's also made of a lightweight synthetic almost thin enough to see through whereas purchased bias tape is solid stuff.

Do you fuse your hem tape or sew it? It seems many places where I am prefer to stock the iron-on style instead of the sew-in, which means I've often had to switch to lace hem tape to match my project when I want to avoid the glue. It's the same problem with interfacing--apparently only the ancients want to sew with the non-fusible stuff anymore.

 

[Zorba]

"If you've sewn on elastic on a dance sister's costume in the back seat of a car going 65MPH to a performance - with her still IN the costume - you may be a Belly Dancer..."

 

[Shanazel]

Do you fuse your hem tape or sew it? It seems many places where I am prefer to stock the iron-on style instead of the sew-in, which means I've often had to switch to lace hem tape to match my project when I want to avoid the glue. It's the same problem with interfacing--apparently only the ancients want to sew with the non-fusible stuff anymore.

I am an ancient and use sew-on hem tape as well as sew-on interfacing. I do use the iron-on stuff in certain projects, but as a rule, glue on fabric strikes me as unaesthetic.

An exception: Years ago I bought reels of discontinued very narrow single layer iron-on bias tape that I use along the edge of circle skirts, which I find ridiculously difficult to hem. It stabilizes the raw fabric edge and enables me to turn up a perfect quarter inch hem which I then machine stitch into place. I found this tape in the quilting section of the store.