Hudson Pants Alternative Waistband Tutorial: Part 2

See Part 1 for instructions on how to create the waistband unit.

You'll be pleased to know that Part 1 is the tricky part (if that's what you were thinking as you followed along). For what it's worth, making the waistband unit is only tricky the first time as you're figuring it out. Thereafter, it's a rather pleasant activity.

Inserting the Waistband Unit into the Pants Unit

For clarity, the waistband unit is comprised of the waistband fabric and the elastic (now assembled). The pants unit is simply the assembled pants legs part of this pattern, now waiting for a waistband.

1. Get oriented. In the pic below I've aligned the centre back seams of the waistband and pants units. the waistband will be attached to the pants by sewing the two, right sides together with the raw edges abutting each other. Make sure that the wrong side of your waistband (the part with the zigzag stitch) is visible.

To clarify, in this photo the waistband is not atop the pants unit. It's sitting above...

2. Pin the waistband to the pants. You can repurpose the pins you used to pin the waistband, prior to pressing. You will likely need to ease the waistband, slightly, around the pants as the waistband will be smaller (by up to a couple of inches). If you've got a lot of easing to do, you can consider clipping the waistband (within the seam allowance only, obviously!) to give a bit of extra stretch. Mind you, the fabric is stretchy so you may not need to do this even with a moderate easing requirement.

When the pinning is done, it'll look like this:

3. Go to your sewing machine and stitch the waistband unit to the pants unit. I use a straight stitch because this is pre-serger basting for me. If you do not have a serger, consider using a zig zag stitch or an overlock stitch to ensure the plasticity of the seam.

You want to stitch within .25" of the elastic - the more confident you are that you won't catch the elastic, the closer you can go. I leave a bit of wiggle room because it makes me less nervous about the serging stage (to follow).

4. Here's how it looks from the right side when you're done. This is NOT pressed:

5. If you've got a serger, now's the time to neaten the raw edge... Serge with the waistband on top so that you can feel - and avoid! - the elastic as you go. Of course, following the basting line of machine stitches should be adequate, but you'll have more cues if you serge with the waistband unit on top.

You'll note that my waistband finishing is particularly lackluster. For some reason, my serger didn't love the double-thick waistband fabric (though it didn't mind any of the other double-thick seams). As a result, my finishing is wonky and I didn't approach the basted stitch as closely as I usually would. I was just trying to keep it together...

6. Press the waistband on both sides:

In the photo above you can see that the waistband is still a bit wavy. I'm willing to bet that, after 2 wears and a wash, this will be almost unnoticeable. While worn, the gathers disappear completely. Again, I'm still experimenting with the required width of the waistband fabric. I hope to be able to diminish any wrinkles still further.

I think you'll agree that it's very tidy, smooth and it's lovely not to see the stitching from the right side.

Here's a final shot of the completed pants (remember, I did not make the pockets):

And, so that you can see the flat profile of the waistband, here's a questionable selfie:

So there you go. I really do hope that this helps a few peeps looking for an alternative Hudson Pant waistband. Moreover, it works on all kinds of stretch waistbands!

Please do let me know if you get some use from it. These things are grueling to put together. I'd love your feedback!