How to attach elastic with zig zag stitch
Zig zag stitch, one of my favourite finishes for lingerie, ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ the zig zag shape is a great finish as you can alter the size and width of the stitch easily and attach any width elastic. It’s great for under-bands on bras and also attaching delicate knicker elastic.
So where is the best place to use this stitch?
The zig zag stitch is used so that when worn the elastic can stretch to allow for flexibility and stretch so the thread doesn’t break. I would use the zig-zag choice of stitch on all lingerie that is in stretch fabric. I have covered 3-step stitching in this blog here, where I would use that stitch method (behind edge of laces and non stretch fabrics).
How to attach the elastic
Set the width and the length to 2.5
Have the right side of your garment facing up towards you
Place the soft side of the elastic upwards on top of the garment edge.
If your elastic has a fancy edge this be facing inwards towards the fabric
Begin to sew close to the edge of the elastic (near the fancy edge)
Ensure the needle catches both the elastic and the fabric
If you are attaching elastic in a circle say the opening of the leg, ensure that you overlap the elastic
Your elastic should be attached to the outside of your garment facing inwards.
You will turn the elastic over so it now sites under the garment with only the edge peeking out.
Begin to sew another row of zig-zag stitch to secure the elastic into place.
When finished you will see one row of zig-zag stitching on the outside of the garment and two rows on the elastic on the inside.
*Why not just turn under the fabric and sew? A couple of reasons, one is that you would need quite thin elastic to allow the sewing to come to both edges, also if you do it this way, you don’t turn consistently the fabrics and can turn too miuhc or not enough and then the stitching doesn’t catch the fabric.
If you wish to learn more about sewing techniques, please read the book How to write a tech pack for a bra and brief
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