I have a love/hate relationship with knits. I love to wear them, but sewing with them is always a hit or miss proposition. I have tried sewing with several different kinds including jersey, double knit, spandex and rayon with spandex, but at the start of each knit project, I could not give you the odds on its successful outcome.

The jersey knit project results have been mixed. I finally learned to use a ballpoint needle, use hand-wrapped wooly nylon in the bobbin, hold onto the thread tails when I start, start a few stitches in from the end and, use a walking foot. Doing all of these things does not guarantee success, but it at least improves the odds.

I have made several attempts at using knits when I was much younger and more patient. I sewed my bridesmaid’s dress for my sister’s wedding back in the days of Qiana . This stuff was difficult to work with and it was subject to runs, just like pantyhose. At the time, my solution to the fabric going down the throat plate hole was to use a stabilizer that was readily available – toilet paper.

 

My next try was a Diane von Furstenberg wrapped dress made with a gorgeous pale peach cotton double knit. It had several problems I did not take into consideration when I first started. The skirt was gathered and the weight of the fabric, pulled the waist down which pulled on the top. In hindsight the waist required some support coming from the shoulders. The second problem was I loved the color, but the color did not like me. It looked dreadful on me and unfortunately after all that hard work, I only wore it once and then gave it away. This ended my experience with knits for the time being.

Many years and 2 grown children later, a cotton double knit was my new foray into knits because it is pretty easy to use and not slippery. I made a double knit cotton wrap top and I am crazy about it, but it stretched out of shape so easily, especially when I was sewing it. Next time, I think I will stick to a little spandex with my cotton knit; it will recover better. The stretching occurred while sewing and that was my fault. I did not use a walking foot and I pulled the fabric through rather than letting the feed dogs do the work. Thankfully, I was told a little steam would help this and it has, but it is still a little wavy. The other alternative would be using a Ponte de Roma instead of a cotton fabric.

A polyester knit from which I tried to make a top was a disaster from start to finish. First it kept sliding all over the cutting table while I was trying to pin it. To remedy the problem, I pinned the fabric to some tissue paper first before pinning the pattern on. When I started sewing, the fabric kept going through the hole on the throat plate and then jamming, plus my ballpoint needle did not work as well as I had hoped, even after I put in a new one. The project was terminated about 1/3 of the way through. It just wasn’t working and I was stressing out about it, which is probably one of the reasons it was a disaster.

My next knit project was a wrap top I made out of the niftiest fabric I bought from Marcy Tilton. It has little clear plastic dots on it that pick up the light and gently sparkle. I had no problem with the “sequins” because I removed all the ones in the seam line. My problem was the sleeves were too small. For some reason, the biceps were about 3” smaller than they needed to be. That’s unusual because I have used this same pattern before and not had this problem. Maybe I can put a gusset of sorts in the underarm to expand them without them showing too much.  Also, next time I will check the amount of stretch in the fabric against the pattern requirement and make sure I have the grainline of the pattern piece perpendicular to the stretch of the fabric.

I heard of another tip when sewing with knits, so I am going to try it: decreasing the pressure on the presser foot. I will try an experiment with all of the foot pressure settings on my machine which has 3. So many things to think of, but I guess I thought the same thing with my first sewing projects, an apron and potholder.

Picking up knits from the remnant shelf is a good cheap way to get T-shirt fabric. So far, it has been all black, red and light blue which are not exactly exciting colors, but I take what’s available because I am too cheap to buy the little bit of fabric needed at full price. Remnants are also great for learning because you have only made a small investment. These experiments have turned out OK. I did all the things I mentioned above (except the foot pressure adjustment). To use all of the fabric, I cut the pattern and fabric (all under a yard) in a couple of different ways and the results are pretty good until I come to the neck band. That has been a real toughie.

My neck bands have been cut shorter than the neck edge, and I have measured off the quarters for matching, but I have not experimented with the actual stitching. I have read and heard a couple of different ways to stitch on a collar: you can start at the shoulder and sew the complete circle in one go or you can sew down one side starting at the back, and then switch to sew down the other side, meeting in the center front. Another thing I have come across is to shorten the stitches as you go around the center front where there is more fabric to ease into less space. The last thing I want to try, because it should work well, is to make sure that I sew on the neck band using the feed dogs to ease the stitching as I pull gently on the band.

My favorite knit to use is cotton. It sews so easily and using a double needle makes it a snap to hem. I will go for cotton with a little spandex, though, because it recovers better. I tried another knit that I love because it feels so soft – rayon with 5% spandex. It is not difficult to work with, although, it is a little slippery. It also washes easily. After I prewashed my fabric, it felt as soft and smooth as silk. I made a t-shirt out it and despite its funky neck band, I wear it anyway.

Do you sew with knits? How do you feel about it; do you like it, prefer it? How about t-shirts; any suggestions for sewing these, especially the neck band?  Let us know!

Cheers,