After releasing the Work-from-home pattern bundle a couple of weeks ago, I received a few questions from people unsure about sewing with knit fabric. I completely understand the feeling and I used to be really nervous myself to sew with knit fabric. But, with some practice, knits can be really fun and easy to sew. Over the years, I’ve created a bunch of blog posts and videos with tips for sewing knit fabric. I’ve compiled them here along with links to my favorite books about sewing with knit fabric. Read on to learn more.
The first video that I recommend watching is 6 Tips for Sewing with Knit Fabric. This is only the third video that I ever made so please be forgiving of the quality. :) I’ve recapped the tips below but the video has more detail.
If the video above doesn’t work, you can watch it on YouTube here.
Six Tips for Sewing with Knit Fabric
Find the straight of grain by holding up the fabric with the selvages of the fabric aligned. Shift the selvages to the left and right until the fabric hangs straight and doesn’t have any drag lines.
Use a rotary cutter for better accuracy.
Use a stitch with stretch (more on that down below)
Use a walking foot or, if you don’t have one stitch with tissue paper under your fabric to help it feed through the machine.
Use a ballpoint or jersey needle. This will prevent holes from being made in the fabric during stitching. Bonus tip! Test your stitches and needle on a scrap of fabric.
Jump in and practice. Every machine and fabric will behave a little differently so it’s important to practice and figure out which techniques work best for your machine.
How to calculate fabric stretch percentage
The next video tutorial I recommend is How to calculate fabric stretch percentage. Before you cut out your project, it’s very important to know whether your fabric has the right amount of stretch for the pattern. Head over to the blog post for more details and a handy cheat sheet.
How to sew knit fabric without a serger
The next video to watch is all about stitches. When sewing with knit fabric, it’s important to use a stitch that stretches to prevent the stitches from breaking (aka popping) while you’re wearing your garment. Watch the video above (or on YouTube) and make sure to check out the blog post for additional detail photos.
How to thread a serger
If you do have a serger or overlocker, then you will need to know how to thread it. In this video, I show how to thread a Brother 1034D serger (affiliate link). Watch above or on YouTube.
How to adjust serger thread tension
After you get your serger threaded, you’ll want to make sure to adjust the tension for your fabric. Lucky enough, I have a video for that too. Watch above or on YouTube.
How to sew a t-shirt neckband
Now it’s time to start sewing! One of the trickiest things to stitch is a knit neckband. In this video, I show how to sew a neckband to a t-shirt using my Lou Box Top pattern. In this video, I show how to attach a neckband in the round. Watch above or on YouTube.
How to sew the neckband attached flat
If you’re looking for more details on sewing the Lou Box Top or would like to see how to attach a knit neckband flat, then check out the video above. You can also watch it on YouTube here.
Tips for using a twin needle
After you attach the neckband, you might want to topstitch and hem it using a twin needle. Fortunately, I’ve got you covered on that too. Watch the video above or on YouTube here. If videos aren’t your thing, I have an older blog post about twin needles here.
My favorite books about sewing with knit fabric
Below are links to a few of the books that I’ve used as sewing resources over my years of sewing with knit fabric. (These are affiliate links.)
Patterns for knit fabric
If you’re looking for a pattern to get started sewing with knits, I recommend starting with my Lou Box Top pattern. It’s a very simple and forgiving design. The instruction booklet includes instructions for sewing with both woven and knit fabric. Below, is a selection of patterns from the shop that are suited to knit fabrics. Make sure to also explore the sewalongs for each pattern for more tutorials and inspiration. Happy sewing!
