Whether you went with bias cut, pleated, or gathered – by now you have the main body of your Wattle skirt complete. It’s time to move on to the waistband! Wattle offers two really great waistband options, and today we will go over the button waistband version. Stay tuned for the tie version tomorrow!
Either of the waistbands can actually be attached to any of the skirt style options for Wattle. For this tutorial, I’ll be attaching the button waistband to a bias cut version (view A/D). But it is the exact same process if you adding it to a pleated (view B) or gathered (view C) skirt.
Let’s get to it!
Start by applying lightweight fusible interfacing to the wrong side of your waistband.
Make sure to transfer all notches and buttonhole markings onto your waistband. You can transfer the notches to the wrong side as you normally would, but mark the buttonholes on the right side of the fabric to make it easier later on.
Place the waistband down on top of the skirt with right sides together, lining up the top edge.
Make sure you are not putting the waistband on backwards – the buttonhole markings should be at the front here where you are starting. And they should be close to the seam/waist edge, not close to the bottom edge (although you can’t see them here because I transferred them on the right side of the fabric).
Match up the notches on the waistband matches up with the notches or seams on the skirt.
Note: Make sure you continue to leave the left pocket open. This is where you will be stepping into the skirt.
The waistband piece will extend 5/8″ beyond the pocket opening.
Continue pinning all the way around, continuing to make sure all notches line up.
The waistband piece will extend beyond the pocket on the inside by 5/8″, too.
Sew 5/8″ from the edge around the entire waist edge. Again, make sure not to close that left side pocket closed.
Turn in the inside edge of the waistband by 5/8” (1.5cm) and press well.
Press the waistband and seam allowance up away from the skirt.
Now fold the waistband in half with right sides facing each other, and match up the folded edge of the waistband with the waist seam previously sewn.
I actually like to extend the folded edge just a tiiiiiiny bit beyond the waist seam. Like, 1/16″. This will just make it easier to catch that waistband edge if you want to stitch in the ditch instead of topstitch later on.
Pin in place.
Do the same thing with the other side.
Sew 5/8” (1.5cm) from the raw edge along the waistband short edges. Be careful not to catch the skirt or pocket edge in your sewing.The line of stitching should just line up perfectly with the skirt/pocket edge.
Clip the corner and trim the seam allowance back.
Turn the waistband the right way round and press. Use a pointing tool to make the top corner of the waistband nice and square.
The bottom folded edge of the waistband should just cover the waist seam stitching on the inside.
Either topstitch just under 1/8″ from the seam edge to secure,
OR
Stitch in the ditch from the right side of the fabric (what I have demonstrated here). Stitch right in the waistline seam, catching the edge of the waistband on the inside. This is why I mentioned extending it slightly earlier!
You can see how the waistband is now secure and enclosed on the inside now.
Sew two button holes on the outer left waistband in the positions indicated on the pattern that you had already marked on your pattern before starting.
Sew two buttons on the inner left waistband in the positions indicated on the pattern.
And your button waistband is complete!
Alternatively, you could instead use hook and eyes or snaps instead of buttons, or you can also switch up the placement to hide the buttons on the inside of the garment (button holes on the inner waistband, buttons sewn on the inside of the outer waistband).
LOOKING FOR MORE WATTLE POSTS?
Here’s the full list of Wattle tutorials :
- How to choose between Wattle & Wattle Curve
- Pattern Tester Round-up
- Inspiration + Ideas
- Pockets (all views)
- Bias Cut seams (views A & D) and Tips for Pattern Matching
- Pleats (view B) and Alternate Pleat Patterns
- Gathers (view C)
- Button Waistband (this post!)
- Tie Waistband
- Hemming
- Wattle skirt hack: Bib overalls
- Wattle skirt hack: Gathered tier hem
Don’t forget to tag your creations with #MNwattle and @megannielsenpatterns when sharing on social media, and check out what everyone else is up to!
Don’t have the pattern yet?
