Hollyburn Sew-Along - Pattern Alteration - Piping on your Waistband

Welcome to the next post in the Hollyburn Sew-Along! Incase you've missed any, here are the posts we've had so far:
- Inspiration (Part 1)
- Inspiration (Part 2)
- Choosing a view
- Sizing
- Choosing and Buying Fabric
- Changing the Length
- An Interview with Tasia
- Pattern Alteration - Removing the Pockets

Hi guys! First up, apologies that this post didn't go up yesterday, a combination of sickness and issues with internet access meant that it wasn't possible. Thankfully I added a little buffer time into the schedule so we're still on track.

Since it was requested after the inspiration posts, today I'm going to run through how you could add piping to your waistband. If you only want to add piping to the bottom of the waistband (in the seam between the waistband and the skirt) you won't need to make any pattern alterations, but if you want to put piping along the top of the waistband too, today I have a quick tutorial on the alteration you need to make.

So, the only piece you'll need is your waistband piece:

The waistband piece for the Hollyburn skirt is one piece that gets folded in half when you're constructing the skirt. However, if you want to add piping along the top of the waistband you'll need to add a seam in there, or there won't be anywhere for the piping to go!

So, on your waistband piece you need to mark where the new seam will be, which is lengthwise along the middle (shown in blue), all you need to do is join up the middle set of notches on the short ends:

Quick Tip: When marking your pattern piece, make sure you use a nice sharp pencil for accuracy, I've only used coloured pencils to make it clearer, you might be able to see my accurate pencil line underneath.

Now we need to add a new bit of seam allowance to our pattern piece, along the outside of our new seamline. So to the side of your new seamline, further away from the notches on the long edge of the  waistband piece mark your cutting line 5/8" (1.5cm) from the centre (shown in orange):

Before you cut, mark your notches on your new cutting line. You only need to mark the centre front notch, but I also marked the other notches for the side seams. Now cut along the line:

And you have your new waistband piece! Hurrah!

Remember to annotate your new piece with "cut 2" rather than 1, and you're alteration is done!

For sewing your piped waistband together, first you'll need the piping. You can buy piping pre-made, or you can make it yourself. If you're planning on making some yourself there is a great tutorial on it on the Coletterie here.

When it comes to the sewing steps, you'll need to sew your waistband pieces together along the seam we just created before attaching the waistband to the skirt. I won't actually be demonstrating how to sew piping, as again reinventing the wheel is silly, and there is a fab tutorial on the Coletterie here and here and by Sunni here.

If you were considering adding shape to your waistband, as per some of the inspiration photos, you'd do that with a very similar method; but instead of just drawing a straight line for your new seamline you'd draw whatever shape you want your waistband to be, and then add seam allowance to that shape.

Is everything clear? Apologies that it's a bit brief today, I'm still not 100% and my brain is struggling this evening! Any questions let me know! Is anybody already planning on adding piping to their skirt?

Missed any of the sew-along posts, or just want to re-read them? You can find the full list here.