Sewing a Skirt or Pants with a Drawstring Waist



This drawstring waistband uses a casing made from either double fold extra wide bias tape, or folded over hem tape. This is about the easiest waistband you can apply to a skirt, and it is also useful when you can't spare any length of fabric to make a self casing.


The required materials are:
Step 1: Make up your skirt, sewing all the side seams / vertical seams. You can also use this method to put a drawstring waist on a pair of loose-fitting pants.
Step 2: Staystitch the waist less than 1/2" from the edge. Gently push the fabric into the foot and feed dogs so it is slightly gathered rather than stretched.
Example of staystitching.
Note: If you are using hem tape, fold it in half lengthwise and press with a hot iron so it resembles extra extra extra wide double fold bias tape.

Step 3: Mark the skirt front center (the red arrow is pointing to this mark). Also mark the center of the skirt on the bias tape with two marks for buttonholes or eyelets (the white marks). This may not be the center of the length of the tape - think about where you want the ends of the tape to join. If it's in the back, then mark the center of the tape. If you want the ends to join at the side seam, then mark it 1/4 of the length from one end.

One more important point: Don't cut the tape too short! Leave 5 or 6 inches of "wiggle room" on each end.
Step 4: Open the bias tape, and pin the bias tape "center" to the skirt center, leaving the back half of the bias tape free.
The fabric should come right up to the crease in the bias tape.
Step 5: Install eyelets or buttonhole through the bias tape and fabric. I do this method because it gives the support needed for the eyelets/buttonholes without having to add additional interfacing or backing. However, if the fabric is very light weight, you can place a square of interfacing behind the fabric to give it the strength needed.
Step 6: Now pin the bias tape onto the waistband. You can do this two ways: with the cord in place or without the cord. (A) If you do it with the cord in place, as I did in the pictures, first thread the cord ends through the eyelets, and then be sure the cord stays in the crease as to prevent stitching over it or snagging it with your needle. This method is advantagous if you are using eyelets or very small buttonholes, because it may be hard to get a fine bobbin to thread the cord through afterwards. (B) Alternatively, you can stitch the tape on first and then thread the cord through later. This is the easier method if you have a good bobbin to thread the cord through, because you don't have to worry about stitching over the cord.
The bias tape is pinned on the waist. Now sew it on using a straight stitch around the bottom edge (see the next photo).
Step 7: When you get all the way around to the end of the tape, fold the top length under about 1/4", and sew it over the raw edge of the start of the tape.
Step 8: Because the tape fold is open, and you can't sew it with a straight stitch on your machine (because you will sew your casing closed), hand stitch the fold to the bias tape underneath it. Be careful that you only catch the bias tape with your needle.
Step 9: If you need to do sew, thread the cord through the casing. Hem your skirt, and you're finished!
Optional hem: You can also use the double-fold bias tape "hem" your skirt. I suppose you would call this a "bound hem". The example is shown in the photo. The advantages of this method is both ease of work, and that it doesn't require folding up any of the length. So if you need to hem your skirt but can't make it shorter, this is the ideal method. You can also make your own bias tape out of any woven fabric; bias tape out of calico adds a nice touch.
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Remember: never sew over pins!

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