How wide do you make your waistbands?

[gypsylakat]

My orange skirt did as a last minute thing- but I'm not a big fan. I had a gathered skirt with a waistband when I was younger but it's far too short now and I want to go ahead and make another. I've seen a few different answers when it comes to waistband length from 1"-4" wide- what is your preference in waistband length?
I'm thinking 4" at this point because it will help "mind the gap" between my bodice and skirt edge- but 4" seems rather wide.

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Folded, the waistbands on my skirts are at least 2 inches wide. I cut a band 5 1/4 inches wide by whatever my waist measurement is, plus 2 1/4 inches for a 5/8 inch seam allowance and foldover at one end. There is a 5/8 inch seam when the gathered part of the skirt is attached to the waistband and the rest to be hand sewn for finishing.

Does that make sense?

[isabelladangelo]

I do something similar to Lady Kathleen.  I cut out a 4" wide piece of fabric and fold it over to encase the top of the skirt making the actual waistband a little less that 2" wide. 

If you have gappage, it's because the bodice doesn't fit you correctly, normally.  Also, you might want to consider what many ladies of all stations did in the renaissance, sew the skirt fabric directly to the bodice even if it's a different color.  I know there are a couple of extant dresses that show black bodices with different colored skirts.  That will correct any possible gappage issues. 

[gypsylakat]

So I may not have actually looked up where my natural waist was when I created my bodice. I just kind of went with what felt natural. I read up on it just now and I think I did a good job ending my bodice in a good place. If it were more than a smidge longer I'd have problems with it digging into my squishy parts (a problem with my store bought bodice)

I think I might be a bit short waisted

[Orphena]

I have a range of waist band widths - on my heavy gowns, I've started making wider waistbands, but when I pleat them to the waistband, I leave room under the skirt.

For example - if my waistband is 3 inches wide, i butte the edge of the pleats to the waistband at the 1/2 way mark, leaving a bit of room under the pleats. To that lower edge of the waistband, I've been sewing either a flat pocket, or rings or clasps so that I can avoid carrying a pouch. (I still carry a small pouch for cash & ID, but things like car keys can be well concealed until I need them.

I've also "fixed" the gapage on my red gown by using heavy duty hooks and eyes - means I can still swap out the bodice for a different one if I want, but keeps the sides from creeping upward.

[Hoowil]

I must admit I tend to make my waistbands (in my opinion) too narrow. Starting with a 2-3" piece, folded and then with seam allowances, they get a bit narrow, and my wife and daughter have both complained about them digging in a bit if tight enough to support full skirts.
For the gappage issue, the other possibility would be ties. I've have seen reference to it, but don't remember where off the top of my head, but putting pairs of eyelets on either side of the bodice just above the waist, and in the waistbands of the skirts, so tie could be used to thread the skirt to the bodice, holding it up without the hooks or permanently stitching it down. I've been working on incorporating that into my daughter's newer garb, as her skirt tend to ride low. (She doesn't have much of a waist, so everything scoots down to her hips if not secured)

[gypsylakat]

(She doesn't have much of a waist, so everything scoots down to her hips if not secured)

Yeah, I don't have much of one either my torso is mostly all one size except for my chest and hips

[isabelladangelo]

An example of ties being used to secure a skirt to the bodice from 1575. 

There is also an example of a pairs of bodies with eyelets in it to secure a skirt although we no longer have the skirt.

[isabelladangelo]

This is an example from an 1860's dress of the skirt being held to the bodice with hooks and eyes.  However, you don't want to do this unless you are wearing a pair of bodies under your dress/outfit. The hooks and eyes can and will dig into you if you have any sort of properly fitted bodice on.  If you have a pair of bodies on under the outfit, then the hooks and eyes will just hit the boning and not the layer of chemise that is the only thing between you and the hooks. 

I know once or twice with a new outfit that had a slippery skirt, I've just used pins to hold it in place along the very edge of the bodice.   

However, now I just sew most of the skirts to the bodice directly.   You can always rip the whipstitch out later the change the skirt.   

[gypsylakat]

Love those examples!
I will probably do eyelets because I find sewing them very zen. I need to get a proper awl though, I'm always using random stuff from around the house (my most recent project used a nail cuticle stick and a teeth cleaning tool... worked OK but an Awl would be nice)

[isabelladangelo]

Love those examples!
I will probably do eyelets because I find sewing them very zen. I need to get a proper awl though, I'm always using random stuff from around the house (my most recent project used a nail cuticle stick and a teeth cleaning tool... worked OK but an Awl would be nice)

Admittedly, I loose my awl so much that many a knitting needle has become one when I need to make an eyelet....

[gypsylakat]

I've used chopsticks, dental tools, cuticle pushers, scissors (misguided, it just cut the fabric obviously), and screwdrivers, pens and pencils...
Clan Macgyver.