Jutland Sew-Along: Day 8 - Creating the Waistband

During today's update for the Jutland Sew-Along I'll be showing you how to sew the waistband onto the pants.  This is how your pants will appear when you are ready to begin assembling the waistband:

To create the waistband, place the waistband and waistband facing with right sides together.  Pin along one edge.

Stitch along the entire length and press the seam allowance towards the waistband facing.  Grade the seam allowances so that one is shorter than the other (I grade the thicker fabric shorter).  Under stitch along the entire seam.

This is what your waistband will look like from the wrong side:

Finish the raw edge of the facing with bias binding, seam tape or by using a serger or zig zag stitch.

Now it's time to attach the waistband to the pants!  Place the waistband and pants with right sides together.

Grade the seam allowance (I like to grade the pants seam allowance shorter than the waistband) and press the seam allowance towards the waistband.

Here is what the graded seam allowance looks like at this point:

Now it's time to finish the waistband corners.  Position the waistband and waistband facing with right sides together.  The seam allowances should sit next to the waistband facing.

This is what your waistband will look like from the waistband side:

Stitch along the waistband edge using a 5/8" seam allowance.

Trim the seam allowance to 3/8".  Don't clip the corners though!  Keeping a 3/8" seam allowance along this seam will add strength and structure on this high stress area.

Pinch the seam allowance and waistband facing:

Flip the facing so that the the wrong sides are together.  Keep the seam allowance pinched as you do this so that a fold is formed at the top edge of the waistband:

Here is how the fold will look at this point:

And a nice square waistband corner will result!

Now it's time to finish the waistband facing.

Fold under the waistband facing for several inches on either waistband end:

Pin the rest of the waistband facing in place.

To finish the waistband facing, topstitch 1/8" from the waistband seam from the right side.

And you're done!  The only thing left to do is top-stitch your belt loops in place and add a button and buttonhole!