Help with refining the costume

Hi everyone,

I’m sure this question has been asked a thousand times, but I couldn’t find it.
I have the following problem: on my Halloween costume, the “gathers” marked in the picture aren’t really there, and I’d like to try adding them myself. 
I’m a beginner at sewing and only have a simple Singer sewing machine (no serger)! 
Can anyone help me and tell me how I could add these gathers? 
In very simple terms. :) 
The costume is made of polyester, and I don’t think it’ll be very forgiving. 
I’d be really happy to get your help. 

Warm regards 

Laura :) 

Hi Laura,

1) Gathers on the legs: I’d just use a 5 mm wide elastic band and sew it onto the seam allowances on the inside of the legs, on both the left and right sides. Set the machine to a zigzag stitch and stretch the elastic as you sew.
To determine the length of the elastic: Put the pants on with the wrong side of the fabric facing out, secure the elastic at the bottom with a (safety) pin, and pull it up until you achieve the desired gather. Cut the elastic to the appropriate length.

2) Stitching the sleeves: Does your sewing machine have a free arm (i.e., can you remove part of the sewing table), and does the sleeve fit around the remaining part? If so, you just need to sew all the way around the sleeve once at the desired points.

I hope this helps.

Best regards
Marion

Hi Laura,
welcome to our forum.
You may only upload photos here that you own or to which you hold the rights.
The image will be removed later. 
 

Oh, sorry!
I’ll delete it right away!
Thanks for the info

You can’t delete this yourself.
But that’s okay—don’t stress about it. 

Yeah, I just realized that!
Okay, I’ll keep that in mind for next time—I’ve learned my lesson :) Thanks!

Are you going to delete the whole post or just the picture? 

Hi Marion,

thank you so, so, so, so much for your reply ☺️
Yeah, I’ve already used elastic a few times on pants that were too big or on fitted sheets—I can handle that!
I just read somewhere that you can use elastic thread as the bobbin thread, but that probably won’t work with my basic machine!
  I think it would work better with a serger or something like that!

And for the sleeves, I’d also like to make them somewhat elastic so I can maybe push them up or something like that?!

I could use underwear elastic for that too, right?

Best wishes 

Just the picture, not the post.

Hi Laura,

hmm, as far as I know, sewing with elastic bobbin thread only works with thin fabrics. If it’s a quilted fabric like the one in the picture, it might be too thick.
Of course, you could gather the sleeves with elastic just like the legs.

Best regards,
Marion

So it’s actually a really thin fabric—it feels like satin or something similar!