Fold-Over Elastic Binding

Finishing off your raw edges with fold over elastic is a quick, easy, and attractive way to bind those raw edges, especially on knit garments because that elastic has such a nice stretch that it can curve around your armscye and neckline curves. So to bind your raw edges on garments, I have a neckline I'm gonna show you. So you wanna measure the raw edge that you're binding, subtract one inch, and cut your elastic to that measurement. And we wanna do it a little bit smaller than the edge that we're binding so that it eases everything in really nicely and you won't have any gaping at your neckline or your armscye. So fold over elastic has a shiny side and a matte side, and you can use either side as your right side. Just whatever side you decide, just denote that as the right side. So I'm going to use the shiny side as the right side. So the strip of elastic that I cut, I'm going to fold in half, and I'm gonna stitch my raw edges to create a loop because I'm binding this neckline in the round, meaning that my shoulder seams are already stitched, and it's just a circle that I'm binding. So I'm gonna stitch my elastic short ends. And you can use a straight stitch for this. Just add a 1/4-inch seam allowance. And then I want to quarter mark my elastic. So folding it in half, I'm going to mark this center, and then I'm going to fold it in half matching the center with the back seam. And I'm going to quarter mark the elastic, and I'm going to quarter mark my neckline so that all of the ease of the elastic is evenly distributed. Now, to quarter mark my neckline, my front scoop is deeper than my back scoop. So I'm going to mark my center front and center back by aligning the shoulder seams. And then I'm going to bring those center front markings together. And the quarter mark actually ends up a little bit forward of the shoulder seams. So I'm going to put the seam of my elastic at the back, at the center back. And you wanna align the wrong side of the elastic with the wrong side of the fabric. And when we stitch our first stitching line, we're going to stitch with the right side of the fabric up. So you wanna match your quarter marks. We're aligning the raw edge of the fabric with that center line of the elastic. Fold over elastic comes in a variety of different colors and a variety of different widths. 5/8-inch width is the most common width, but it comes in between 1/2-inch and 1-inch widths. And if you're using it to fold over an edge, the finished width of the elastic when it's folded over is going to be half of the width that's on the package. So I like to start at the center back, and I'm going to select a stretch stitch on the machine. So you can use a zigzag. You can use a triple stretch stitch, any kind of stitch that will give you stretch in the seam. And I'm going to put my needle down so that when I start stretching this elastic, it's not gonna pull my fabric out from under my presser foot. So I'm just gonna stretch the elastic to match my raw edge length. You don't wanna stretch the fabric, just the elastic. So I'm stretching, and I'm readjusting. And when this is going under the presser foot, we wanna put an even amount of pressure behind the presser foot and in front of it so that the fabric is just gliding under the foot. I'm gonna try to keep the raw edge of that fabric right in the center of the elastic. You can attach this fold over elastic in one seam, just trying to fold the elastic over the raw edge and stitch it just with one line of stitching, but I like doing it with two lines of stitching because when you get the elastic stitched down with your zigzag stitch, the next step is just, is really easy because to fold the elastic over and stitch it around the raw edge, it's kind of difficult to get that raw edge to stay right in the middle. And this neckline is wide enough for me to stitch this in the round. You can also stitch it in the flat, which is why I've got my other armscye. Side seam's not stitched. For seams like armscyes or for necklines on kids' clothing where the round is just a little bit too small, stitching it in the flat is a good option. So you wanna try to keep this raw edge pretty close to the center of the fold over elastic. And it has that little divot in the elastic to mark the center. And you want your zigzag stitch to stay on your fabric on that 1/2 that we're stitching it on. So you're going to see two lines of stitching on the wrong side of your garment, but on the right side, you'll only see one line of stitching. And you can change your zigzag stitch to be a little bit narrower than mine. When you're working with knits, it's all about going slow and steady. Stop to readjust. All right, so the elastic is attached. Now, the next step is really easy. All we're doing is folding that elastic over. And I don't really even need any pins for this step. I'm just gonna go kind of slow and easy. And we're just curving around, around our curves. We don't have to stretch at this step. We're just stitching fairly close to the edge of the elastic. And I used a thread that matches my elastic. So you can see as it's coming out the back of the presser foot, that thread is completely invisible against my elastic. And I'm not stretching at all at this point. I'm just easing that fold over my raw edge. And you can use any stretch stitch, a serpentine stitch, triple zigzag, triple stretch stitch, regular zigzag. You can make it fairly narrow. You can even make it a little bit longer than this zigzag that I'm using. But you don't wanna make it so long that there's not enough stretch in that stitch. So as it comes off the machine, our edge is nicely bound. It has a lot of stretch to it yet. And it finishes off that raw edge really nicely. So you can see the armscye that I did. And that black stitching is invisible against the elastic, and it's bound just like this neckline. So to do it in the flat, like this armscye, it's the same process. Measure your edge that you're binding. Cut your elastic one inch shorter, but leave it open in one long strip. And quarter mark the elastic. Quarter mark your seam. And stretch in between your quarter marks just the same way, and then stitch your side seam. The only thing is, when you do it that way, you will get the raw edges of your elastic are unfinished on the inside. So if you feel comfortable taking a lighter to the ends of your elastic, you can seal it that way. Or you can open up your seam and put a straight stitch, a line right along your binding. Either press your seam open, or press it to one side, and attach that binding to the side with just a straight stitch. So fold over elastic is a great way to bind those raw edges, and it gives you a nice, clean, professional look on your edge while still having stretch around your armscye and your neckline.