I have a ready to wear pair of Nike capri joggers similar to this and I often see them online. Here are some Under Armour joggers for inspiration. I love the comfort of the wide, soft elastic and it is not a hard modification at all. I had wide elastic leftover from making my daughter skirts. This tutorial is one of the first things I made my daughter when I started to sew around 4 years ago. So easy, so cute! I'm sure there are many places online to get wide elastic, but I get mine from Ruffle Fabric, LLC. Theirs is always so soft. I have ordered some off etsy that sparkled (from China) but it was scratchy. Lucky for you, it looks like Ruffle Fabric has sparkly wide elastic now too!
Trust me, this is very simple. For reference, I am making a size SMALL of the Greenstyle Creations Brassie Joggers.
1. Assemble your Brassie Joggers (USE THE MID-RISE) up until you are ready to attach the waistband. You will not be using the waistband pieces of the pattern.
2. Cut your wide elastic to the desired length. I just held it around my lower waist (where it will be sitting when you have the joggers on) and then added 2 inches. Make sure you are holding it around your waist as tight as you want your waistband to fit. The elastic is what will be holding your pants up! The added yoga waistband is mostly just for looks.
3. Next, you are going to sew your elastic together in a circle. When you sew (with sewing machine), right sides together, make sure there is an inch Seam Allowance. Once sewn, you now take the 1 inch ends and sew them down. These ends will be on the inside of your waistband, so you will not see them.
Here is a pic of the wide elastic waistband laid out. You can see about how long it is for the size small Brassie Joggers.
4. Cut and assemble the yoga waistband. I did not want my yoga waistband tight. One reason being that the elastic is what is holding the joggers up and in place. Secondly, I didn't want it to cause my joggers to bunch and lay weird when folded over. I chose to cut 2 pieces, so my side seams of the foldover waistband and the joggers would line up. Just personal preference. I cut 2 pieces - 7 inches x 16.5 inches. I used a performance knit with great stretch and recovery. Sew the 2 pieces right sides together and then foldover so wrong sides are touching, just as you would do on any yoga waistband.
5. Pin yoga waistband and elastic to your joggers. I divided my yoga waistband into fourths and attached to my joggers, matching up side seams and front and back. I then divided my elastic into fourths and pinned on, on top of the yoga waistband. Make sure the seam of the elastic is in the back.
6. Sew or serge on, carefully and slowly. I have a serger, so I made sure to disengage the blade and use a 1/4 inch seam allowance. You DO NOT want to cut the elastic! Flip the elastic up, keep the yoga waistband folded down..... And you are finished!! Super easy, right?? If you decide to give this a try, make sure to ask any questions and post your pics in the Greenstyle Creations Facebook Group !
