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Trouble with elastic
LilLutheranLady Advanced Beginner USA Member since 8/9/12 Posts: 2	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 10/9/12 10:25 AM I made a car seat cover using Kwik Sew 2997 and it turned out really nice. The only trouble I'm having is with the elastic. I cut a piece of elastic 36" long just like the pattern required. I put it in the cover and finished it off. However, it won't fit over my car seat at all! I took out the elastic and the cover is large enough to fit over the seat so my problem is with the elastic. I used some elastic that I got at a garage sale, so maybe it's too old? It seemed to stretch just fine. All the reviews I looked at for the pattern don't mention anything about the elastic measurement being wrong. Am I supposed to stretch the elastic before measuring it to cut it? That doesn't seem right but I really don't know what went wrong. Any help would be appreciated!
PattiAnnJ   Advanced OH USA Member since 12/3/06 Posts: 5223	Login to reply to this post In reply to LilLutheranLady << Like this post Date: 10/9/12 11:44 AM The cut length would be the relaxed measurement and not the stretched measurement. Measure the cover and use that measurement for the length of elastic needed. Fit the cover to the car seat and adjust the elastic to fit before sewing the ends together. If anything, old elastic will loose it's ability to recover after being stretched. You may have gotten the same result with a new package of elastic as the instructions may have been in error. Do the redo with a new package of elastic. It is not very expensive and after all the work you have put into the construction it is not worth using old elastic that may fail. Best wishes for a successful project. ------ “I don’t give them Hell, I just tell the truth about them and they think it’s Hell.” — Harry Truman
AdaH   Intermediate IA USA Member since 11/21/09 Posts: 2157	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 10/9/12 12:32 PM Also elastics do not all stretch the same amount. Some hardly stretch at all and others stretch like crazy. ------ Ada
LilLutheranLady Advanced Beginner USA Member since 8/9/12 Posts: 2	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 10/11/12 5:24 PM Thank you so much for your suggestion, PattiAnnJ. It worked like a charm!

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