Making Elastic Waistbands
Making jeans with elastic waistbands isn't much different than making them without them. Most commerically available jeans with fully elasticated waistbands are not built to the same quality as regular jeans. Many of them have poorly done fake flies instead of real flies which makes them look very different from a regular pair of jeans. I however, see no reason to compromise quality or design if you need a pair of elastic waisted jeans.
The first thing you need to realize when making an elasticated pair of jeans is that the pattern you start with needs to be looser fitting around the waist and hips. It would probably be a good idea to pattern your jeans after a pair that is a few sizes bigger around the waist or make sure your pattern isn't very tappered at the top. Basically you want to make the top of the pattern large enough so it can easily slip over your hips without having to undo the zipper.
The next thing you should do is choose a fabric with a considerable amount of stretch in it. You probably should find fabric with 1% or 2% spandex, but don't compromise durrability for stretchiness. Also find a nice non-rolling elastic that is about 1" wide.
Most Mens jeans have the grain of the fabric running horizontally on the yoke. For elasticated jeans (mens or womens) you should make sure the grain runs vertically because they will need to stretch horizontally.
There are two ways to actually sew the jeans that I have come up with. First the harder way (This method can also be used to make regular jeans into elasicated jeans). Sew the jeans together just as outlined in my guide but don't sew the ends of the waistband closed.
Sew a peice of cord on the elastic that can easily be threaded through the waistband. | |
Tie one end of the cord to a croquet hook and feed the hook through the waistband. | |
Gently pull the elastic through to the other side using the cord. | |
Evenly work the elastic around through the waistband making sure it isn't rolled over anywhere. Pin the ends down and make sure it is the right tightness (i.e. try them on). | |
Sew the elastic in place between the belt loops to prevent it from rolling in the future. Don't over do it with these stitches. In fact you might want to do this part by hand because sometimes the machine needle catches the cords in the elastic and pulls them up through the denim. | |
Make sure the elastic is sewed down securly about 1" or so away from the ends then close up the ends and finish the jeans as directed in the guide. | |
Here is the first pair i've made like this after they were washed. | |
An alternative method that I prefer over the previous one is to pin the elastic in place inside the waistband after only the outside of the band is sewn on then fold the waistband down over it and sew the band as usual. This elliminates the hassle of feeding the elastic though, but it makes it a little more cumbersome to sew the waistband down. |
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