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Sleeve detail on one of Alyson's knit designs Look, your friendly neighborhood knits guru is back! Alyson of Clair Vintage Inspired is taking over here today with an intro post on sewing with knit fabric. Thanks, Alyson! Alyson has treated us to a very in-depth post with lots of fabulous photos, so make sure to click on "read more" to see it in its full glory. Hi again, all! This post is meant to be an overview on knits in general. I can go into more specifics on different seam applications, fabric, stitching, and machine troubleshooting in the future, but first, I wanted to give a broad overview about the fabric and the different machines that can be used to sew and finish it. The most important thing to remember about knits is they are a whole different ball game from wovens. Look closely at the way the two fabrics are made: Woven - on a loom Knit - on a knitting machine Wovens are typically pretty static (aside from blends with Lycra and such, which we can go into later down the road). Knits are made to move, stretch, hug and perform differently. So if you think of it that way, it makes sense why they can't always be sewn the same way. I encourage you to go to your closet, pick a knit item of clothing and turn it inside out. I bet you will be able to identify how it was all put together after reading this post. I will now introduce you to my arsenal of machinery, which lives in my studio named Nashionland. I call this one Green Machine (even though it is more teal than green). This was my first real sewing machine I bought while I was in college. In school we had an industrial sewing machine lab but I needed something at home I could work with, and sew on heavier fabrics. One day while pillaging I spotted this gem in a thrift store for $7. A $20 tune up and she was good as new. (I totally recommend purchasing used machines, not only can it be cheaper but they sure are pretty!) The machine only has 2 functions, straight-stitch and zig-zag. They are pretty much the only 2 things I do on a single needle machine. Also, keep in mind on industrial machines, each only has one function. Sergers Sergers are your best friend when it comes to seaming knits. The poor dear on the left is a home version; it has been used more than anyone ever thought possible. The right is the industrial version, which is my most favorite toy! Sergers typically come in 4 or 5 threads. A 4 thread is perfect for sewing knits, and even some wovens. You can also sew knits with a 3 thread serger. For added stability I recommend using all 4 threads. Below is an up close look at the needles and the upper looper peaking out. Here is an example of stitching a 4 thread. Thread colors in order: Top (what you see on the machine) Teal - left needle thread White - right needle thread Right - upper looper thread Grey - lower looper thread bottom (what is against the feed dogs) Teal - left needle thread White - right needle thread Right - upper looper thread Grey - lower looper thread Coverstitch Machines I only have 2 complaints about the coverstitch: these machines aren't cheap, and are hard to find used. Other than that mine has been a gem. This home version comes in 2 and 3 needle. I went with the cheaper 2 needle, because I just needed to finish hems, and do chainstitching. The 3 needle can do flatlock and 3 thread coverstitching, which is more applicable on athletic apparel and spandex fabrics, even though you may see those stitches at decorative on ready to wear apparel. Anyway, back to the fun toy! I use the machine to do hems: Top: Red - left needle thread Black- right needle thread Bottom: White - looper thread You'll see most t-shirts and a lot of dress hems finished this way. This machine also takes a bit of practice to get the hang of. Essentially you are sewing blind, since the needles are what you see. You have to learn to feel the fabric as it is going into the machine to make sure that you catch the edge between the needles on the underside and have the looper stitch "hide" the edge of the raw fabric. The other neat thing a 2 needle coverstitch machine can do is a chainstitch: Top: Bottom: By removing a needle you can have a stitch that looks like a regular straight-stitch machine on the outside. The underpart is a bit loopy. The reason? Stretch. If you have knits in your closet that have a single-needle on them, look a little closer, I bet you will see that looper on the backside. A good example is this dress I made last year. I used the chainstitch on the pleating on the front, since this fabric had 4-way stretch. I did the sleeve in a tulip shape and hemmed it with the coverstitch. And of course all of the inside seams were sewn on a 4 thread serger. Now that you have seen all my toys, let's move on to thread! Thread is so important with knits. If you have a serger you may own some cones of thread that look like this: While they fit very nicely on the serger, the most important factor is thread weight. Thread weight is refered to as Tex. I recomend sewing knits with a Tex 24 or Tex 27 thread. In my area of the country I mainly see Tex 27 on the sewing store shelves. For knits you can also sew with Wooly Nylon/"Fluff" thread, but I can go more into that later. Tex 40 is used on wovens or heavier fabrics. You can use Tex 40 on knits, but it is not as soft agaist the skin. The higher the Tex weight, the heavier the thread. Another tip, make sure when setting up your serger all of your thread cones are the same weight thread. Serger practice If you have a serger and are having trouble sewing a knit pattern because of the fabric, take a step back. Try cutting a few 2" x 10" strips. Practice sewing them together and having a good seam that isn't rippling, or puckering. If one strip is ending up shorter, try adjusting the feed dogs, or thread tensions. If you would like, I can address a future post on issues with tensions and machine settings. I hope you aren't intimdated by knits. It has taken my years of practice to figure a lot of these things out! I would have to say 90% of it was from trial and error (mostly error in the early days), and learning to handle all the different weights and stretches of fabric and tensioning of machines. Every time I have sewn on a new fabric I practice to get all of the settings on the above machines correct. If you feel like you and your machine just are not BFFs and any of the above things aren't working, maybe it's time for a tune up. Skipped stitches or major tension issues are usually give aways that your machine could use a little hospital visit. Hope you understand knits a little better now. Next post we'll chat about sewing them on home machines!
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