If you’re making clothes, eventually you’ll encounter the need to sew elastic to gather fabric. Gathered fabric makes a pretty highlight as ruffles at the sleeves or cuffs, or even as frills or flounces on skirts. I first started making clothes with simple straight lines before attempting to sew a top with gathers.
Thinking of gathering fabric can make some people nervous. The thing is, it’s pretty simple once you get the hang of it. But how do you sew elastic to gather fabric? The best way to overcome your nervousness with gathers is to start off simple with light gathering.
You need the basics:
- A length of elastic (¼ inch to 1-inch wide, depending on what your project is)
- Fabric
- Matching thread
- Sewing machine
- Thread cutter
- Tailor’s pins
- Cutting mat
- Rotary cutter and tailors’ shears (for fabric cutting)
Alternatively, if you’re hand-sewing, you need:
- A hand-sewing blunt-tip needle (size 14 or larger)
- Suitable thread to match the needle
Step 1
Measure the desired gathered width and cut the elastic length to match that (if the gathers are for cuffs or the neckline, make sure the elastic is long enough to be comfortable – you don’t want pretty ruffled cuffs that cut off circulation!) If you want looser gathers, cut your fabric about 1.5 to 2 inches longer than your elastic. Tighter gathers need more fabric.
Step 2
Fold both the fabric & elastic along the length into two, and fold over again until both have been divided into 4 quarters. Mark each point with pins – these points will help to distribute the gathers evenly when you sew. Open up and lay out the fabric (wrong side up) and place the elastic, starting from ¼ inch from the edge of the fabric. Align and pin together the quarter marks on both items.
Step 3
Change the stitch setting on your machine to the zigzag stitch (this enables the elastic to stretch after sewing) and choose a longer stitch length (around 3-4 mm) for easier stitching and smoother gathers. Start sewing from one end, keeping the elastic stretched to match the fabric length as you sew (the quarter marks on both fabric and elastic should help to make this easier). Make sure you’re only stretching the elastic! Feed the fabric and elastic slowly through the machine – no need to rush.
You can, of course, hand-sew the elastic to the fabric. It can be a little tough to do it, as the elastic tends to be thick and more challenging to pierce by hand. If you piece your sewing by hand, or have no access to a sewing machine, though, it is still doable.
Step 4
Trim any excess fabric once done. As you’ll be sewing this piece together with another piece of fabric, you can neaten the edges with a serger (some sewing supply shops and tailors provide this service if you don’t have one), pinking shears or sew a zigzag stitch at the edges.
What’s next? Try making waistbands for skirts (which are also how you use elastic to gather fabric, but without the elastic sewn onto the fabric).
Step 1
Assuming you’ve already sewn together the sides of a simple skirt (in a similar manner to making a drawstring bag), create a fabric tube by folding the top edge wrong side down by ¼ inch and pressing it. Fold again to create a tunnel that is slightly wider than your elastic, and sew along the long edge to secure the tube. Leave an opening on the short edge for you to thread the elastic through.
Step 2
Just as how you’d make a drawstring bag, secure a safety pin at one end of the elastic and thread it carefully through the fabric tube. Make sure you hold on to the other end of the thread so it doesn’t get pulled completely into the tube. Once the safety pin comes out at the other end, bring and sew both elastic edges together using a zigzag stitch before closing the tube opening.
Distribute the gathers evenly, and you’re done! Some prefer to stitch one point of the elastic and the fabric tube together – if you’re using a wide elastic, this can help you to adjust the elastic if it flips over with usage.
The fun thing about gathered fabric is that you can even use them on bags (not just clothes), so for a bag-lover like me, that’s another way for me to customize the look of my bags! Let’s see how that turns out, okay?