Around the House

#41 · Thread elastic through clothing

Attach elastic or a drawstring to the end of a chopstick and guide it through a waistband channel. A genuine sewing win.

The elastic in a pair of pyjama bottoms has gone, and the annoying part is not sewing in the new one - it is getting it through the channel. The traditional tool is a safety pin, which you then inch along the waistband a centimetre at a time while it repeatedly turns sideways and jams.

How to do it

Unpick two or three centimetres of the waistband seam to make an opening, if there isn't one already.
Cut your new elastic to your waist measurement minus about 5cm, plus 2cm for the overlap.
Tape one end of the elastic firmly to the tip of a chopstick with a wrap of masking tape.
Feed the chopstick in and push it along the channel, gathering the fabric back over it as you go rather than trying to drive it forwards.
When you reach the far side, pull it out and untape the elastic - keeping hold of the other end, which is the classic way to lose the lot back inside.
Overlap the two ends by 2cm, sew securely with a box stitch, and close up the opening.

Why it works

A safety pin is short, so most of the work is repeatedly bunching and sliding. A chopstick is long enough to cross a good part of a waistband in a single push, and rigid, so the force you apply at your end actually arrives at the far end instead of buckling.

If it isn't working

The tape comes off inside the channel: use more, and wrap it around rather than just sticking it on top.
The chopstick won't turn a curve: waistbands with a tight curve at the side seam do defeat it. Fall back to a safety pin for the last stretch.
The elastic twists inside the channel: pin both ends before you sew, then run the waistband flat between your fingers to straighten it.

Tips & warnings

Pin the free end of the elastic to the fabric before you start. This single step prevents the most common disaster.
A bodkin is the purpose-made tool and costs about £3 if you do this often.
For very narrow channels - drawstring hoods and the like - a safety pin still wins.