Whimsical Fabric Sew-Along: Sew-Along #10 - Bedtime Story Pajamas

Friday, December 13, 2013

Sew-Along #10 - Bedtime Story Pajamas - Lesson #5

The Bedtime Story Pajamas by Oliver+S
*If you need to see more detail in any of the pictures please click on them to enlarge.

Day 4 - Finishing the Pants

The waistband is next. Find the two short ends of the waistband and sew them together to make a continuous ring. Be sure to place your fabric right sides together (my fabric is the same on both sides so I didn't have to worry about right and wrong sides). Iron the seam open so that it will lay flat.

Press the waistband in half lengthwise so that you have a crease right down the middle of the circle. The fabric will be pressed wrong sides together, so you are hiding the seam. Once the waistband is ironed in half, press one edge 1/2 inch toward the center crease. We are making the waistband casing so that we have a nice, clean edge once attached.

Place the waistband on top of the pants with right sides together and the folded/ ironed hem to the bottom. Align the center seam of the waistband to the center seam on the back of the pants. Pin the raw edge of the waistband and top edge of the pants together. Sew with a 1/2 inch seam allowance.

It's starting to take shape! Fold the waistband to the wrong side of the pants at the middle crease we ironed earlier. You will now have a nice finished edge on both the inside and outside edge of the waistband. I like to do another pressing to be sure the crease is really nice. At this point you need to be sure that the edge of the waistband covers the stitches on the inside of the pants, pin. Starting at the back center of the pants, edge stitch a very small hem to secure both edges of the waistband. Leave a small opening (a couple of inches) so that the elastic can be inserted.

If you have a Bobkin, now is the time to get it out. I don't have one, so I will show a different method of inserting elastic. Attach a safety pin to both ends of the elastic. Insert the pin attached to the elastic into the opening you left in the topstitching. Push the pin through the casing of the waistband all the way around.

As the slack in the elastic gets taken up, the tail will get shorter. Once the elastic doesn't have much of a tail anymore, pin the tail elastic to the waistband (this eliminates the chances of pulling the tail end of the elastic through the casing and having to start the whole process over). Continue threading the elastic through the waistband until both pins are out of the opening.

Pull enough elastic through the opening to stitch the ends together. I like to make a rectangle with an "X" in the center to be sure the elastic is secure. If you have size tags, this is a good time to insert it into the back seam. The pattern instructions suggest adding a ribbon tag so that you can easily see the back if you don't have size tags. I like that idea!

Stitch the hole for the elastic closed with an edgestich around the entire waistband.

Oh, so close to being FINISHED! Yay! We are following the same process that we used for the waistband to make the leg binding. Sew the two short sides together to form a circle, press the seam open. Fold the ring in half with the raw edges meeting. Press one raw edge to meet the center crease, this creates one finished edge after it is attached. Align the raw edge of the binding with the raw edge of the pants , right sides together. Pin and sew the pants and the binding together. Turn the finished edge over the raw edge to the inside of the pants. Be sure to hide all of the stitching. Topstitch to secure both sides of the leg binding.