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Tips on Sewing and Designing with Knits
I love working with knits, but even experienced sew-ists tell me they are afraid of knits and often avoid working with them. if you are starting out sewing on knits, here are some tips to understanding and handling these fabrics.
Things to look for: the construction (single knit/jersey or double knit), and fiber content. Bear in mind that EVERY knit fabric handles differently, even different colors in the same fabric may respond differently. I recently made a half dozen t-shirts using the same pattern in different fabrics, and the length, width and neck size varied with each garment.....so fitting as you sew is a crucial part of the process.
Pre-treat knit fabric before sewing. I toss knit fabrics in the washer and drier before sewing. But I NEVER put the finished garment in the drier again. Once the garment is completed, it is washed in the machine on a gentle cycle and air dried (and touched up with an iron if needed). The drier will wear out a garment more quickly than normal wear. Only after my hand made t-shirts are relegated to the ‘gardening’ status are they put into the drier.
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| Cutting Knits on the Cross Grain
I LOVE LOVE LOVE stripes, hands down my favorite version of a print. If the stripe is woven on the cross grain on a knit, I will cut it so the stripes run vertically on the body. Check the amount of stretch on the fabric before cutting. Ideally, the stripes run vertically and the stretch runs around the body. If the stretch runs vertically/lengthwise and the stripe and stretch run crosswise, I add a bit of extra ease to compensate.
| | Single knits, also called jersey are constructed with the industrial equivalent of a stockinette stitch: knit one row, purl one row, so one side looks smooth and the other is slightly pebbly. Single knits tend to roll along the edge, so if you check out the cut edge and sometimes the selvedge, you can see the roll. Single knits tend to be lighter in weight and drapey and take a bit more care in handling during the construction process.
| | | | Single knits roll along the cut edge toward the right side of the fabric. You can cut your garment using either the 'right' or the 'wrong' side of the fabric. I use the roll as a design element and consider how it will be used in the garment or binding. | | | |
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|  | | | Double knits are easier to handle---this is a good place to start. Stable double knits are super easy to work with. You can tell if a knit is a double knit because it looks the same on both sides, and double knits tend lie flat and not roll along the cut edge or selvedge.
In the fashion industry,
Ponte is a name for stable double knits, often a blend of rayon/poly/lycra or pure poly/lycra, and are seasonless and travel friendly. Ponte knits are showing up in lots of ready to wear clothing lines.
I use Ponte double knits for tops as well as pants. We stock black, brown, grey and seasonal colors in ponte knits, sometimes I can find them woven with one color one side of the fabric, another color on the other.
Double knits don’t roll, so the edges are easy to handle, don't ravel, and no seam finishes are required. In fact, following the lead of ready to wear, I sometimes use the raw edge on a hem or binding edge.
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| | | | Lycra content is a GOOD thing! A small amount of lycra (usually 5% or less), adds drape and good recovery. Recovery means that the fabric will stretch, but will ‘recover’ back to the original size and not stretch or bag out of shape.
Good recovery is important in sewing a neck band---because the band needs to be smaller than the neck edge so it will lie flat on the body, and the neck binding is stretched while stitching....so if it does not ‘recover’, the neck edge will be too big.
| | | Cotton interlock is a big NO! This is one of the few knit fabrics I don't use. Why not, you say? It is made from short cotton fibers and has little or no stretch recovery, so it stretches out of shape, tends to pill and makes my work look bad. It can be tempting, the price is cheap and it comes in lots of colors, but unless I sense it is a top quality fabric, I leave it in the store. |
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| Heading off trouble:
those pesky rolling edges!
Here are a few ideas for solving the frustrations of sewing on a knit fabric that wants to roll along the edges. |
| Rolling edge: Seams| Place pins close together parallel to and along the edge of the fabric. Pull pins out as you sew. | | | |
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| | | | | Pins keep the edge stable, keep the fabric from shifting and control the rolling. | | | |
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| | Rolling Edge: Hems | |
Here the hem is pressed under, and you can see how the cut edge of the hem is rolling---which is a frustrating problem to handle. | | | |
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Cut 1/2" strips of fusible tricot. I cut a batch at one time, using a metal ruler. Press the tricot strip along the wrong edge of the hem edge. | | | |
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| | | | | The tricot edge will stabilize the hem edge and prevent rolling. | | Spray Adhesive holds the hem in place while stitching
Use a spray adhesive like 505 Spray to hold the hem in place as you stitch. Works with both machine and hand sewing. You can serge the hem edge, but I find it is often better to simply use the raw edge since serging can cause stretching and adds bulk.
Note that the hem has been pressed in place first.
Apply the adhesive spray to the hem width. Protect the table surface from over spray with a layer of paper or place the garment in a shallow box. Use paper to mask off the hem area, spraying a section at a time using even application of spray adhesive. Carefully stick the hem in place and it is ready for machine or hand stitching.
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