Sabrina Slims Sewalong Day 4: waistband & hemming

Today is the day we finish our Sabrina Slims! I can’t wait to see how you all are doing with the sewalong. Be sure to post your progress in the group.

To recap:
Day 1: Picking fabric 
Day 2: Step one to getting the perfect fit
Day 3: Pockets, construction & alterations

When we left off yesterday you had sewn the side seams, inseam and crotch. Today I’m going to walk you through installing the waistband and hemming.  I love this waistband, it’s wide and contoured so it fits to your curves better than something like a yoga waistband. Plus, it just gives you a more polished look.

Step 1:
Sew the short ends of the main waistband right sides together and press the seam allowance open. Do the same for the lining waistband except leave an opening. We’ll use this opening to insert the elastic.

Step 2:
Align the two waistband right sides together matching the seams and pin/clip along the top edge of the waistband. The top edge is marked on the pattern piece if you’re not sure which is which. The waistband curves down at the front and curves up at the back. Straight stitch along the top edge using a 3/8″ seam allowance.

Step 3:
Press the seam allowance towards the lining waistband (the one with the opening in the seam).

Step 4:
Edge stitch the seam allowance to the lining side of the waistband. This isn’t strictly necessary but it will help keep the wrong side of the waistband to the inside of the pants.

Step 5:
Press waistband & lining back together with wrong sides together. Mark the quarter points.

Step 6:
Align raw edges of the waistband to the pants waistline matching quarter points on waistband to center front seam, center back seam and side seams. Stitch/serge the waistband to the pants. You’ll need to stretch the waistband gently to fit a bit.

Step 7:
Press seam allowance down.

Step 8:
Measure just beneath your navel and subtract 2″ from that number. Cut that length of 2″ knit elastic. Insert the elastic into the opening left in the waistband using a bodkin or safety pin and pull elastic through to the other side. Stitch ends of elastic together (make sure it’s not twisted) and stretch the waistline until all the elastic is inside the waistband. Try the pants on to see if the elastic is a good fit. You can always pull it out and remove extra length if needed. Once you’re happy with the elastic hand-sew the opening closed (or just leave it as-is).

Finished with the waistband!

To hem your pants try them on first and decide how much of a hem you’d like. There is a 1″ built in hem allowance. I ran short on my fabric for these so I decided they’d be more of a cropped pant length. These were cut at 23″. Fold up the hem 1/2″ to the wrong side and press. Fold up an additional 1/2″ and press again. Straight stitch hem just inside the 1/2″ hem.

And you’re done! Now come on over the group and post in the sewalong album. Everyone who posts a finished pair of Sabrina’s (that were sewn this week during the SAL) will be entered to win a $50 credit to the Love Notions shop! Entries will be accepted until Saturday, midnight CST.

Tomorrow Kelly will be showing us how to hack the Sabrina’s into a moto-style jogger! Be sure to come back to see that.

Sabrina Sewalong Day 5: Moto-Style Jogger Hack

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