Serger Elastic Waistband Tutorial

This is my very first tutorial!  For starters, tutorials are hard to make.  I kept forgetting to take pictures.  I think making the tutorial was harder than actually making the pants.

Materials Needed:

something that needs a waistband
pins
serger
elastic (cut to the right length) sewed together in a circle

Step One:  Pin the Elastic

Start by pinning the back of the pants to the seam in your elastic circle. 

 Then pin the front of the elastic to the front of the pants, and the sides of the elastic to the sides of the pants.  You should now have the elastic pinned into four equal parts.

Then stretch the elastic to fit the fabric, and pin.  I always leave the front of the pants flat, and stretch the elastic only on the sides and back.  It makes for a more 'professional' finish, but certainly unnecessary. 

It will look something like this.

Step Two:  Serge the Waistband

 If you left the front panel flat, that's a good place to start serging.  Otherwise, it doesn't matter where you start.  Make sure you are catching both the fabric and the elastic.

Make sure you pull the elastic tight as you go.

When you're done, it will look something like this.

Mine are always flat in the front, and gathered in the back.  This also makes it easy for children (and dads) to know which is the front.

Step Three:  Stitch Down

Next, just iron your elastic down and then stitch with a sewing machine.  You'll obviously want to pull the elastic tight as you sew. 

Ta da!  A super simple, awesome-looking waistband.  It does take some practice, but eventually it gets much easier than screwing around with a casing for the elastic.  If your serger is as ridiculous as mind, I've found it helps to loosen the tension on the top threads.

Happy Sewing!