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Four ways to put Elastic in Zills

The goal: Zill elastic that holds the zills on your fingers AND that has a neat appearance. Lots of dancers attach their zills with knots on the bottom or the top. This looks terrible! Sew it on properly and let the zills accentuate your appearance instead of detracting.

Elastic comes in black or white. Dyeing it will cause it to deteriorate faster. Soaking the elastic in a bowl of very strong tea will color the elastic to a shade closer to skin color.

Fastest but Sloppiest

So, one goal out of two!

• Twenty inches of ½” elastic;
• Needle and thread;
• Pointy object with a dull point, like a tapestry needle.

We have several sets of cheap stamped zills that we keep for loaners. This means one size needs to fit all. I cut 5” of ½” elastic, poke through the slots (using the tapestry needle) and sewed them into loops. Students wrap them around their fingers twice and adjust as needed.

Fast but Not Sloppy

Hair bands are not just for hair anymore!

• No-slip hair bands (with no metal connectors), one per zill. I used Scunci no-slip grip hairbands, article 58832-A, which are about 1½” in diameter and 1/8” wide.
• Pointy object with a dull point, like a tapestry needle.

Working from the bottom of the zills, poke a loop of hairband up through each zill slot using the tapestry needle. Here is the view from the bottom after the two looped ends of a black hairband have been pulled through completely.
Even out the two loops on top. Voila! Here is the view from the side after the two looped ends of a black hairband have been pulled through and evened up.

Yes, the success of this depends on the hairband you use and the size of the slots in your zills. You may need to test a couple of different sizes and widths. If you find a style that works that also comes in colors, you can color coordinate with your costume!

Elegant and Professional Two-slot Zills

• Ten inches of ½” or 3/8” elastic;
• Needle and thread;
• Pointy object with a dull point, like a tapestry needle.

Two-slot zills are the most common zills. The elastic is threaded as one loop coming up from the bottom though one slot and down through the other. You are going to sew the elastic into a loop with the stitches on the underside of the zills. Then you will turn the elastic over so the raw edges are hidden from view of your audience.

All zills have a little dome in the middle where the elastic slots are. If you place the zills on the table so that the dome is up, then the top of the zills are facing up and the bottom of the zills are facing the table.

Use the WIDEST elastic that you can get through the slots without having to use your teeth or a pliers :). The wider the elastic, the more durable it will be and the more it will stabilize the zills while you are playing. 1/2 or 3/8 inch is what I usually use. In general, I use 2" length of elastic for the thumb zills and 1.75" length of elastic for the finger zills. If you don't have a personal preference, start with these. Some folks say the elastic should be tight enough to make your finger tips slowly turn blue. Thread the two ends of the elastic through the zill slots from the top down, so that there is a loop on the top side of the zills and the raw edges are underneath. Pull the elastic loop tightly around your finger to fit. Try to keep the raw ends underneath even. Using double thread, bring the elastic ends to meet in the middle on the bottom of the zills and sew them together, keeping the fit snug. Cut the ends to within 3/16 - 1/4" of the stitches. Now you flip the elastic so that the raw seam is hidden. The elastic running through the slots in the zill will need to twist also in order to do this. The elastic will fight you. Be patient but firm. Pull the loop to the top and try it on your finger. Look at the underside of the zill. All nice and neat!

Elegant and Professional One-Hole Zills

• Ten inches of 3/8” elastic;
• Needle and thread;
• Pointy object with a dull point, like a tapestry needle.

One hole zills are more commonly used by professionals who know how to control them. They are often fastened on the fingers using a wide elastic cord which is knotted into a loop on the underneath. However, you CAN use flat elastic in these zills if you prefer. You are going to create an elastic U rather than a loop, with the raw edges on the underside folded back onto themselves and stitched down so they don't get pulled through the hole.

Determine the widest flat elastic that you will be able to use by folding a double layer in half and pushing/pulling the edges through the hole. 3/8” works for me. Push both raw ends of a 43/8” piece of elastic through the hole from the top. Make a 4-layer fold at each end (making the tiniest folds possible), stitching the folds firmly with doubled thread. My goal is 2.5" of elastic between the folds (which are functioning as knots). (The folds seem to take up about 3/4" of elastic each.) I fold one end to the bottom side and one end to the top side so that when the loop on top is pulled tight, they will nest together and overlap. When your end folds are stitched down, pull the elastic to the top. Make sure the folds on the bottom overlap.

Off-Site References

How to Sew Elastic in Your Zills from Farfesha.com.

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