Couture Techniques for a Better Fitting Waistband
Sewing hooks, eyes, and snaps
Findings often work their way loose because the stitches used to attach them allow them to move; in effect, they saw themselves off. Use a locking stitch to sew findings securely.
Knot the end of a doubled, waxed, and pressed thread. Anchor the thread in the waistband and take one stitch through the finding's eyelet from underneath. Take another stitch, but before tightening the loop, slip the needle through it. Tighten the thread to create a tiny bead that rests at the finding's base. Follow the finding's contours as you stitch. If you're sewing a snap, use two or three stitches on each quadrant.
Hooks also can be sewn to the waistband's end before it's finished, to conceal the hook's eyelets. Place each hook so its eyelets rest just inside the waistband end's foldline. Anchor your stitches to the petersham to secure the hooks.
|Sew findings using a locking stitch (left). Hooks may be installed before finishing the waistband so their eyelets are concealed (right).|