im a beginner-level sewer who has worked with nothing other than cotton, wool, and chiffon. I want to make a jersey knit top but I hear that working with knit is more difficult. Ive been told the machine eats it and also that the needle makes runs on the fabric. what other things can go wrong? and do you have any tips to help prevent mishaps?
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When sewing on knits, you need to use a ballpoint needle. Some machines have built in stretch stitches .
Here is a link with a good explanation of the different knit fabrics and how to sew them.
Knit is super easy to work with.
I have never had a sewing machine eat a knit fabric, but if you lay a piece of tissue (like wrapping paper) under the fabric at the beginning of the stitching, there should be no problem.
Maybe the person who told you that was starting the seam at the very edge of the fabric and not using the proper needle.
If you use a ballpoint or a stretch needle you will not have a problem with holes or runs.
Use a narrow, short, zig-zag stitch for stretch when sewing the seams.
Test the stitching on a scrap of the fabric you will be sewing to perfect the length and width.
Sewing with knits is pretty difficult. The main problem I’ve had…I use a regular needle….is that the stitch doesn’t stretch with the fabric, so it doesn’t work like you think it should. A way that I have solved this problem by not buy anything special or anything is to use a zigzag stitch. It can stretch a little with the fabric. The wider and shorter the zigzag, the more it will stretch with the fabric!! My machine doesn’t eat it or anything, as long as I don’t start too close to the edge, and it also depends on how heavy the knit is that you are working with.
Stable knits like interlocks are easy. Jersey gets a little trickier because it’s going to stretch on the crossgrain, and cut edges also roll on the crossgrain (which makes you say bad things while hemming sometimes.)
Got an old t-shirt in the ragbag? That’s a jersey knit… cut it up and sew some pieces back together, both on lengthwise grain and crossgrain. You’ll probably need to adjust presser foot pressure to get nice smooth seams that will lay flat.
The other problem you run into with jersey (and chiffon, and similar fabrics that are pretty liquid) is that they are hard to cut accurately. If you pin the fabric to paper first, and then pin the pattern to the fabric and paper, you can cut accurately and on grain, which makes sewing easier and the garment hang better. I also tape the shoulder seams on knits — that means I include a little selvage cut from a woven fabric or a bit of twill tape when I stitch. This helps prevent droopy shoulder and necklines.
Keep knit fabrics pinned to their pattern piece and flat until you’re ready to sew it.. you don’t want cut edges to stretch.
Knits 101:
http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/4584/a-primer-on-sewing-knits
(If you can find any of Ann Person’s books on sewing knits at the library, you’ve got a goldmine!)
http://www.denverfabrics.com/pages/sewinginfo/hsc-sewing-hints/sewing-fabric-knits.htm
Cutting on paper:
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.sewing/browse_thread/thread/46e28880c555daf0/23b37ccc2eba5a9e?q=“cut+on+paper”+group:*.sewing#23b37ccc2eba5a9e
Knits where the rage in the early seventies.
I made a lot of clothing from knit fabric, without the benefit of ballpoint/stretch needles, the stretch & sew method or a sewing machine with a stretch stitch.
If I had had all the information now floating around the Internet, I would have had the yips so bad, I would not have sewn knit garments and missed out on the comfort and ease of care this fabric provides.
Sew it, wear it and enjoy.
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