leg elastic question

[Thursday Girl]

OK, so i seem to not be doing very well with this.

How long should the elastic be? Can you sew over it while it's stretched? Will that affect the stretchiness of it?

thanks.

also what elastic do you suggest using?

[thixle]

It took me a while to figure it out when I first started, too.

First, don't cut the elastic before you sew it in-- just mark on your dipes where you want it to start & stop.

I use a soft-stretch elastic, about 1/4" wide. Don't remember the brand name, don't have a package, but it says it can withstand being washed in hot and it is very soft and very stretchy. I buy it from Wal-Mart I've never had a problem with it, it holds up mighty mighty well.

Now, you lay the elastic on your dipe, with it past the mark about 1/2 inch. If you have a "tack" stitch (it's the same thing as the bottom and top of a button hole), use that, then go over it back and forth with a short straight stitch to lock it in.

Then set your machine to a 3-step zig-zag stitch (aka stretch stitch). Now, pull your elastic taught- pull as tight as it will go then let up just a little, and sew over the elastic with the 3-step zig-zag, all the way down to the end mark.

Finish with the same tack stitch, and a short straight stitch over that. NOW, cut the extra elastic off, about 1/2 inch from the tack stitch. Ta-DA! It should have just the right amount of give.

The 3-step zig-zag was designed to sew the length of elastic-- practice on scrap fabric first! Dipes take too long to cut out and it is hard (though not impossible ) to pick out the zig-zag!

There is a cool video somewhere out there on the net that shows how, but I can't remember where!

[Thursday Girl]

will just a zig zag work? I don't know that i have a 3 step zig zag. in fact right now i have these little disc's that go in my machine to do different stitches (old 70's singer) and I can only find one disc. it's a scallop type stitch.

what other ways? Can I sew it by hand? Use another machine stitch? My machine only does straigh unless i have the little disc thing in it. But they are lost in the storage room.

[love2bmom]

I have video tutorials (with sound) on my site and on YouTube. Here's the YouTube link. Although I'm sewing with DiaperKit kits (my website), the tutorials should apply to other diapers/patterns.
Hope that helps!

[Mrs.Oz]

Originally Posted by Thursday Girl

will just a zig zag work? I don't know that i have a 3 step zig zag. in fact right now i have these little disc's that go in my machine to do different stitches (old 70's singer) and I can only find one disc. it's a scallop type stitch.

what other ways? Can I sew it by hand? Use another machine stitch? My machine only does straigh unless i have the little disc thing in it. But they are lost in the storage room.

The three step zig zag will look like a regular zig zag, only the line that indicates it will be dashed instead of continuous like a regular zig zag. On the Singer site, it is the fourth stitch down in the second column:

http://www.singerco.com/resources/stitch_ref.html

The reason a multi or three-step zig zag is preferable for elastic is that it is easier to make sure the stitches catch the elastic instead of just going on the sides. If you don't have this stitch, you could try (on practice material) a regular zig zag, but adjust the stitch width to make it fit within the elastic width-wise, and make the stitch length a tad longer, that way every time the needle goes down it will catch the elastic.

Doing this by hand, I would imagine, would be really hard, and I would probably recommend making an elastic casing instead. This page:

http://www.geocities.com/mytafadhali...tm#topstitched

does a pretty good job of explaining it, but there might be better tutorials out there.