2021 Zero Waste Mini Collection Blog Tour [ZW Joggers elastic ankle hack]

2021 Zero Waste Mini Collection Blog Tour [ZW Joggers elastic ankle hack]

Welcome back to the 2021 Zero Waste Mini Collection Blog Tour. It is day 4 today with more great makes, pattern hacks and giveaways. Scroll to the bottom of the post for the rest of the awesome lineup.

I am dropping in each day of the tour with hacks for the patterns in the collection, and todays hack is adding elastic cuffs to the Zero Waste Joggers.

This is a quick and easy little one that will give you another look you can create with your ZW Joggers Pattern. I added a bit of striped tape just behind the side seam too to get that full retro feel :)

How to get this look:

  • The first thing you will need to do is add a little length to the joggers when you cut them out. Do this the same way as it is explained in the pattern for adding length to the legs. I added 2.5cm (1") to these, but that is because I was tired and forgot that there is already 1.5cm (5/8") hem allowance included. adding 1cm (3/8") would likely be perfect.
  • Sew the entire joggers exactly as it is written in the pattern, but don't hem the legs.
  • Cut 2 pieces of 2.5cm (1") wide elastic at the length you would like for your elastic cuffs plus 2cm (3/4") for sewing the ends together. You don't want these to be tight around the wearer's ankle, remember that they need to come off easily over the foot, and the elastic needs to have enough stretch to be able to stretch out and meet the fabric of the ankle opening.
  • Sew each of your elastic pieces into a loop overlapping the ends by 2cm (3/4").

  • Divide both the elastic and the leg opening into 4 and mark with pins.

  • With the joggers inside out, slide the elastic over the leg opening and align the raw edge with the edge of the elastic. Match up the quarter marks on the elastic to those on the leg opening and pin the elastic to the cuff at these points.

  • Stretching the elastic to meet the leg opening as you go, sew the edge of the elastic to the raw edge of the leg opening. You can absolutely do this with your serger (make sure you don't cut the elastic) for a super neat and professional finish, but I had my sewing machine out so I did it with that :)

  • Fold the elastic over to the inside of the garment and pin it in place as shown above.

  • Stretching the elastic to meet the leg opening as you go, sew the edge of the elastic (the bottom edge in the pic above) to the pant leg. Use a straight stitch for this seam for aesthetic purposes, but if using a knit fabric like I am, stretch the fabric along with the elastic as you sew so save the stitches breaking later. Make sure you are holding your fabric and elastic at the back and the front of your machine while you stitch so that you don't break the needle.

  • Repeat the process for the other leg and there you have it! 

If you have a go at changing up your ZW Joggers, I would love to see, so be sure to grab some pics and hashtag them #threadfaction 

And check out the rest of the tour:

The entire site is on sale for 30% OFF for the duration of the tour, so if you see something you like make sure you grab it before the sale ends on Tuesday.

 

Enjoy the rest of the tour, see you tomorrow

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