Steps 5 & 6 - McCall's 6898

Step 5 Waistband
Pin interfaced waistband to blouse, right sides together.

Pin right side of waistband facing to inside of blouse.  There is now a waistband on the outside of the garment as well as the inside.

Stitch through all three layers 5/8" from the raw edges.  Press all seam allowances down to the waistband.

Grade seam allowances.  The seam allowance with interfacing is closest to the outside of the garment so do not trim it.  Trim 1/8" from the middle seam allowance and trim 1/4" from the innermost seam allowance which is the waistband facing.

Stitch side seams to connect Lower Fronts to Lower Back using French seams. 

View of side seam.

View of garment front. 

Note in the above photos there are two rows of basting stitches along the waist in four places.  One row is 1/2" from the raw edge, and one row is 1/4" from the raw edge.  Do not back tack to secure these rows of basting and leave the thread tails for pulling.

From the wrong side, pull on the two thread tails until loops appear.

Place a pin in the loops to pull the two threads from the right side to the inside.

Four threads at each end of the basting.

Pull on the two rear thread tails to gather the fabric.

Arrange gathers evenly and pin in place.

Stitch seam that connects lower garment to waistband with 5/8" seam allowance.  Press seam up to waistband without smashing gathers.

Here is a photo of the inside of the garment at this point in construction.

Back view from inside the garment.  Note the waistband facing is up only to show you the waist seams.

Tie off/knot the basting threads and clip close to knot.

 Lay the waistband facing in place.  Fold the raw edge so the seam is covered.  The fold should extend 1/8" below the waist seam.  Pin waistband facing in place.

From right side of garment, stitch in ditch to attach waistband facing to garment and close waistband.  You could top stitch the two long edges of the waistband if you wish.

Press waistband on both inside and outside of garment.  Inside of garment waistband looks like this:

Note the alignment of the side seam; the side seam above aligns with the side seam below the waistband.

 Outside of garment waistband looks like this:

 The shirt is progressing nicely.  Here is the back view.

Front view.