Attaching a Waistband and Facing to a Pencil Skirt

We are only a few steps away from finishing up our skirt and moving on to shirts. Hopefully, you've drafted your waistband and have cut it out on your fabric. If not you'll need to do that before you can move on with your skirt.

Attaching the Waistband

This is probably one of the easiest parts of our pencil skirt. Since our waistband is a straight waistband we can start on the left or right side of the opening.

1. With the right side of the waistband facing the right side of the skirt, pin the edge of the waistband to the top edge of the skirt. Work your way around the skirt pinning every few inches.
2. Sew the waistband to the skirt at a ⅝" seam allowance. Make sure you backstitch at the beginning and the end. Don't forget to remove your pins as you come to them.
3. Trim the seam of the waistband down by about ⅜" or so. This will help to remove some of the bulk.
4. if your waistband was a little too long simply trim away the extra fabric. This can sometimes happen if you altered the darts after drafting the waistband.

Insert the Zipper

Before we finish the waistband the zipper needs to be inserted. You can view a detailed post here or use the video below.

Attach Waistband Facing

After you've attached the zipper you can move on to attaching the facing. The facing is what is going to give you a clean finish at the top of the waistband. The facing attaches to the waistband and is then folded down to form a clean crisp edge at the top of the waistband.

1. Starting at one of the side edges match the waistband to the waistband facing right sides together. Use a straight pin every few inches to secure.
2. Sew the waistband and facing together at a ⅝" seam allowance.
3. Trim the seam allowance down by ⅜". this will help remove bulk.
4. Fold the waistband facing to the inside of the skirt and press with an iron.

Now, all that you have left to do is hem your skirt!