How do you HAND sew elastic together?

Question

I'm trying to make a tutu. I need to sew the elastic ends together. I know how to do it on a sewing machine, but it's currently broken. I've tried a lot of stuff, but the knot always comes through the elastic. I've looked through youtube.com and googled it. I'm probably just not looking right.

Any help?

Answer 1

Butt the cut ends together and wrap with a narrow strip of fabric. Stitch down both sides of the cut ends and then crisscross the middle.

Answer 2

How To Sew Elastic Together

Answer 3

If the knot's your main problem, take one stitch then hand-tie a knot to get your started. Use a back stich and sew back and forth across -- the short way -- several times.



The other thing to consider doing something other than sewing the elastic.

-- Could you tie the elastic instead?

-- How about using a large button on one end and a slit on the other?

-- You could also go to the fabric store and buy a plastic closure, the kind you'd find on a backpack -- this sort sof thing: http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/productdetail.jsp?pageName=search&flag=true&PRODID=prd38018.

-- Another thought, depending on the size of the elastic, is to use the type of closure they use on winter jacket hoods, the kind that cinch up. (Sorry, I don't know what they're called.) Good luck.

Answer 4

It's not terribly easy, because the elastic stretches and the stitches break. The thing to do is to stitch 3 or 4 rows of backstitching as close together as you can, to give it stability. What I mean is, the backstitches should be close together, the rows can be a small distance apart. It also helps if you use something like Fray Check on the ends of the elastic so that it doesn't fray while you are stitching.

Answer 5

You could try using a thicker thread and then saturating the seam with some watered down white glue to secure the area. Then the seam won't stretch while the rest of the elastic will.