How to Sew Elastic by Hand (2024)

Elastic has been used to create easy to stretch and fit clothes for ages. Clothes with an elastic band waist are comfortable to fit. Sewing elastic into clothes is easy and fast. It gives a nice finish to clothes and helps develop design and seamstress skills. With the nice finish that elastic gives to clothes, can you sew elastic by hand?

Can You Sew Elastic by Hand?

Yes, you can. You can easily sew elastic into your skirts, shorts, and home wear by hand. You will start by measuring the correct length of elastic required to fit your clothes. You can then sew it directly onto your clothes or create a casing into which you will fit the elastic around for a perfect finish.

Now that we know that it is possible to sew elastic by hand, here is how to do it. Practice is the best teacher for sewing projects.

How to Sew Elastic by Hand?

Sewing elastic directly is one of the easiest ways to do it. You can sew elastic onto any part of the clothes you are working on using this method. You can sew it on the waist, arms, around the neck and other parts of the clothes you are making.

To do this successfully, follow these steps.

1. Measure and cut the elastic into the required size.
2. Place the elastic around the cloth or fabric that you want to sue it on.
3. With a zigzag or straight stitch, start sewing your elastic along your intended length on the fabric or clothes.
4. As you sew your elastic, ensure that you stretch it as far as possible to ensure a good fit. If you sew it on without pulling, it will end up being too loose to wear.
5. Make sure you do this for the entire length of the fabric. Sew the elastic on with the best stitch you can use.

When you sew elastic directly, it helps save on the amount and length of fabric that you will use. It also helps improve the appearance of the clothes you make. Your clothes will look beautiful because of the pattern created by the elastic attached behind the cloth.

Sewing elastic by hand also ensures that you can improve your designs as you go. It also protects and prolongs the life of the elastic that you use on your clothes and other fabrics. You can also do this for other projects such as curtains.

How to Sew Elastic onto Your Clothes Using a Casing?

The other convenient method to sew elastic by hand is to use a casing. Here are the steps to follow, to sew elastic successfully into clothes in this method.

1. The first thing you need to do is to make the casing into which you will sew in the elastic. To make the casing, turn in the ends of the fabric or clothes to make a hem. Stitch the hem down all around and leave an opening that is large enough to fit your elastic.
2. Measure and cut your elastic band. Ensure that it can fit the length of the intended area on your fabric that you want to sew your elastic.
3. After cutting the elastic, mark the two ends. Sew these two ends together when you have successfully gotten your elastic through the casing.
4. Attach a safety pin to one end of the elastic. Use it to push the elastic into the hem casing through the opening that is unstitched.
5. Pull the safety pin as far along the casing as possible. Make sure that the other end does not get lost in the casing as you do this.
6. Straighten the hem as you go to ensure that the elastic does not twist.
7. When all your elastic is within the casing, stitch together the two marked ends of the elastic by hand.
8. Pull the ends of the elastic into the hem and make sure that they fit appropriately.
9. Stitch down the opening on the casing to complete your fabric or cloth. You have now finished sewing elastic using a casing.

With the casing method, you can sew your elastic band onto any part of the clothes that you are making.

How To Sew Elastic To Gather Fabric

Making gathers on a piece of fabric or clothes is a way to create appeal. Making gathers, however, is a long and tedious process. Using elastic makes the gathering process a lot easier and fun. Using elastic to make gathers is a quick process that you should get right from the beginning. If you don’t, you may end up wasting fabric and time.

For many, gathers on clothes may seem old-fashioned. However, as with fashion trends, the old is in fashion. As a result, many new sewing enthusiasts are looking for easy methods to add gathers to their sewing projects. One of the most popular methods is the use of elastic to make gathers on fabric.

Making gathers by hand using elastic is a time-proven practice. We have tested it over the years and found it to be the best way to go about making gathers. Its only disadvantage is that it is a great test of patience. It may take a longer time compared to using a sewing machine.

For the best results, cut a much longer fabric than you need for your end product. For example, if you want your dress waist size to be 32 inches, you will need a longer fabric to allow for making gathers. For the elastic, however, measure it to your desired length. Here, 32 inches. Make sure that your elastic can stretch to the full length of the fabric it will gather.

Sew your elastic onto one end of your fabric. Over the length of your fabric, push your fabric gently to the sewn end. Then fold into gathers and sew. Keep this up to the end of your fabric. You will have successfully used elastic to sew gathers by hand.

How to Sew Ends of Elastic by Hand

When you use a casing, you will need to tie up the ends for a good tight fit. Doing it by hand is easy and fast. It also ensures that we sew together all the elastic. This makes sure that you will not have to undo your casing to repair your elastic due to twisting or loss of elasticity.

Using a safety pin, attach the ends of your elastic. Using a backstitch, sew the top and bottom of the attached ends. This will be the part that untouched by your safety pin. You will, therefore, be sewing around the safety pin.

When you are through, remove the safety pin and confirm that the ends of the elastic to fix them together. Put them back in the casing and stretch out the elastic to ensure that it fits perfectly. Hem the casing to create the perfect finished fabric.

Another method to sew the elastic ends is by placing them on top of each other and stitching them together. This is fast and clean. It is also suitable for thick elastic pieces.

You can also use a scrap piece of fabric to sew the loose elastic ends. This is much easier and cleaner since it will not show a bulge where the ends overlap. Sew the piece of cloth to both ends of the elastic, bringing them together in a circle. This is a fast and effective method. It will also ensure that you reduce waste from your sewing projects. This is because you will use up any waste fabric pieces for tasks such as sewing the ends of the elastic. Ensure you do this before you close the casing.