A couple of tips for getting the elastic to go through a casing #SewingTips #Elastic

In this image, a roll of elastic appears in the lower right corner of a blue square. The elastic is escaping from the roll in a long ribbon of white elastic that wiggles across the center of the square, ending with its tip in the upper left corner of the square. A graphic of scissors appears in the upper left corner of the square, cutting the elastic. The text reads simply, "Elastic." Chelly Wood designed this graphic using Canva. — Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable PDF sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

You may remember that I extended an invitation to submit questions a couple of weeks back. Well today’s blog post answers one of those questions regarding the pulling of elastic through a casing.

Before we dive into this topic, I need to make my required disclaimer statement: As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. To learn more about how affiliate marketing works on my website, please go to the Privacy Policy page. Thank you!

Here we see the waistband of a pair of pants/jeans that were handmade for an American Girl Kaya doll, using Simplicity Crafts pattern 5276. In this close-up, the rise in the back of the jeans makes the waistband seem higher in back than in front. The image shows where the casing has been sewn together at the back, and the elastic's cut tips are sticking out a bit from the waistband. Beneath these elastic tips, a bit of the maker's tag is visible. It has been sewn into the crotch seam at the back of the jeans, to show the child who plays with these doll clothes which side is the back of the pants/jeans. — Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable PDF sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

Today’s question comes from Susan. Specifically, she asked, “Sometimes when I am putting elastic in a waistband using a safety pin, it gets stuck where there is a sewn seam…any tricks for guiding it easier through?”

In the photo above, you can see what Susan is referring to. There’s a seam right at the front of these pants, and when your safety pin starts to pass through this seam area of the casing, it can get stuck in the folds of pressed fabric.

Here’s what I mean by the pressed fabric:

Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable PDF sewing patterns and tutorial videos for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

In the photo above, it shows the seams pressed flat. That’s not the only way to press seams though.

Instead of pressing your seams so they’re flat, if you’re right handed, you can press the seams to the left before you sew the casing. If you’re left-handed, you probably start pushing your safety pin through from the left side of the casing — while looking at the wrong side of the garment — which means you’d be wiser to press the seams to the right before you sew the casing.

However I don’t think this looks as nice from the outside of the garment. It makes it easier to send the safety pin through the casing, but it leaves your garment looking lumpy where the seams are, especially if the garment is close-fitting.

So the second way to work with the safety pin inside the casing involves two concepts:

first, near the top of the pants, clip your seams frequently (several clips at the top)
secondly, turn the safety pin sideways as you try to push past the seams

This is a great question! Thank you for submitting it, Susan!

If anyone else would like to submit a question, feel free to put it in the comments section or use my contact form to submit your question.

And if anyone can think of additional answers to Susan’s question, please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section as well.

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*Please note: when you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include Amazon, JoAnn Fabric, Etsy, and the eBay Partner Network. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. To learn more about how my website uses affiliate marketing, please visit the website’s Privacy Policy page.

Chelly Wood and the ChellyWood.com website are not affiliated with any of the doll or toy companies mentioned in this blog post, but Chelly enjoys designing her doll clothes to fit a variety of dolls. To learn more about the doll companies mentioned in today’s post, please visit the doll or toy company’s website.