Burda Style For people who sew

Learn in a few simple steps how to sew an elastic!

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  Aug 10, 2010, 01.49 PMby zzzeve

  The simplest way to sew your elastic “through” is to “weave” it into the opening in your sewing foot from the top and let it feed as you sew. Make sure your zigzag width is wider that the elastic and it is a sure thing. You can also use this technique with a sewn elastic with a narrower width for your zigzag. In either case, make sure you leave a long enough tale under (between the foot and the fabric) to grab the elastic when you actually start sewing or it will get jammed into your sewing machine bed. I hope this helps!
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  Aug 7, 2010, 05.39 AMby India T.

  this tutorial could be more detailed for us/the less experienced. thanks.
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  Aug 6, 2010, 06.36 PMby mary40

  I use the zig zag stitch when I need to gather the skirt of a dress or something else. I use a piece of yarn and do the zig zag stitch and then when I am done I just push the material up on the yarn. When I sew the skirt to the blouse, I just simply pull out the yarn and the thread from the zig zag stitch and it’s done.
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  Aug 5, 2010, 03.38 AMby Sarah Holcomb

  I’m still lost. Are you zig zagging OVER the elastic or zig zagging on the flat piece of fabric? One photo of that step would have helped there. And if you are zig zagging the flat fabric, how are you supposed get the elastic to go through without pulling at the stitching? A photo of that step would have been helpful. And is the elastic called for cord or narrow, flat elastic?

  1 Reply

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    Aug 10, 2010, 12.48 PMby claudinka

    Yes, you zig zag OVER the elastic. If you don’t, I can’t imagine how it would work to pull the elastic through afterwards. What is misunderstanding in the description is, that you pull the elastic after you’ve stitched over it in order to gather the fabric (in that sense, you also pull it “through” the stitches).
    I did that once. And what was difficult for me was that if you have a rather thick elastic cord (like in the pictures), the presser foot won’t go over it so easily. So I had to change the pressure of the foot, and that was very annoying and caused problems after I had finished (put it back into the right position…).
    Another possibility of gathering fabric with elastic would be to use elastic thread as under thread (of course not such a big one they use here) and just sew like with a “normal” thread. But so far I haven’t tried that.

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  Jan 12, 2010, 10.36 PMby boobap

  This is great, but since I don’t have a sewing machine, can you tell me how to sew it by hand? Which stitch? How? :)

  2 Replies

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    Aug 4, 2010, 01.05 PMby bopippdo

    I think you should sew the zig zag line first by hands. I sew also by hands, because I don’t have a sewing machine. And after you sew the zig zag line you can put the elastic cord through in it with a bigger needle..

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    Aug 12, 2010, 10.17 AMby lisbethan

    I have done this by hand using herringbone stitch. I was using flat elastic and pinned this onto my fabric, then sewed over the elastic as I thought it would be a lot easier than trying to thread the elastic through afterwards.

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  Nov 25, 2009, 08.57 PMby jethro

  Clever. What a great idea. Thanks for the tip.
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  Jul 10, 2009, 07.17 AMby tcyl

  awesome How To! this is really clear, so thanks so much :D
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  Jan 25, 2009, 12.57 PMby firsthays

  Wonderful! I will try this with the 8$dress How to on here, as I hate tiny elastic! and this cord will feel better too! Thank-you for a clear How to!
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  Jan 15, 2009, 07.32 AMby queenvanilla

  Are you sure this tutorial has any relations to Celestina? The instructions doesn’t mention anything about elastics, even though it has creases under the insets.
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  Oct 29, 2007, 12.19 PMby magpie0816

  this is soooo helpful!
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  Aug 29, 2007, 06.46 AMby i-love-to-sew

  Thanks, Great Idea!
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  Jul 19, 2007, 07.42 PMby nikkishell

  Great tutorial! Simple and clear. I’d maybe draw a line where the elastic cord is to be sewn so i sew in a straight line.