Tartan special

Before

At the weekend my youngest daughter announced that she would like a tartan skirt to wear to a school ceilidh this week. It wasn't a lot of notice but, since she announced this in a fabric shop, at least I had the chance to get the fabric I needed to make it. She chose a black and white check, which tips its hat to being tartan without being a 'true' tartan. So a plan was formed . . . a wide elastic waistband with the fabric gathered and sewn on. Simple.

After

Since the checked pattern is pretty simple to match I worked out where the back seam would sit.

Since I don't have an overlocker I stitched a zigzag 10mm from where my seam would be and then trimmed the fabric to the edge of it – edges finished and ready for the seam to be sewn without the fiddle of trying to finish the edge later (seam not to be sewn till after the skirt was attached to the waist elastic). 

To measure the elastic it seemed simplest to just put it around her, pull it snug and pin it. I marked a line approx 15mm from the bottom edge – that's where the checked fabric would line up to – measured along the line and put a pin in the middle.

I find the easiest way to get the fabric and elastic to fit is to pin the ends, find the middle of both and pin them together, find the middle of what is left and pin it together and so on until the gaps are only 30–40mm. The idea is to pin enough for the fabric to sit in the right place and gather evenly but not so close as to make it lose stretch.

For this skirt I measured 35mm gaps and marked with pins. I then pinned the same fraction of the checked fabric into place, pinning up to the line marked earlier. Since I didn't baste this but wanted to stitch from the right side I switched the pins to be on the outside and pulled them out before they got to the needle.

I couldn't take any pics of the elastic being stretched out to fit the fabric since I needed two hands to put the elastic taught and don't have a third to use the camera (ah, now I realise I could have used a tripod and timer!). 

Anyway, the technique is to pull the elastic taught until the fabric sits flat along it and stitch, move to the next section and do it again until it's all done. I like to run the elastic and fabric through the machine twice as an extra line of stitching helps hold the gathers on the inside flat. I start stitching approx 10mm from the end at one end of the elastic – this allows for the back seam to be sewn neatly and easily.

I try to stay in the groove of the elastic when sewing as the lines of stitching then disappear quite well.

Line up the back seam and sew the fabric right sides together (no finishing to be done since it's done already!).

I measured 15mm overlap of the ends of the elastic and sat the pieces on top of each other, both right side out. 

I ran a zigzag stitch along the edge of the elastic. This gives a really tidy and strong finish.

Just to make doubly sure it's well fixed I then do the same to the other end of the elastic. 

That's the waistband finished – simple. I like this finish as it means there is none of the bulk you can get with right-side to right-side seams in elastic.

I took up a small hem and that was it!

All ready for the annual Burns' celebration in the morning at school (100 kids dancing 'Strip the Willow' in the playground with live music accompaniment) and the ceilidh at night.