How to sew with knit fabric
Learn the best tips and tricks for how to sew with knit fabric. Sewing with knits can be very intimidating for some people, but with these tips you can move forward with confidence and feel more prepared to enter the world of stretchy knits.
I love sewing with knits! They are primarily what I use for most of my projects. They’re soft and comfortable which makes for great clothing in my opinion. Here are a few tips that, in my experience, are useful when it comes to sewing with knit.
Note: The free patterns that were originally on this post have been moved here: Free Patterns for Everyday Wear. This post was originally written for Cali Fabrics.
Also if you’d like some tips for sewing with lace, check out my tips for sewing with lace post.
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Spray starch
Spray starch makes it easier to work with light weight Jersey knits.
Lightweight Jersey knits are often drapey, and consequently, a little more tricky to cut out and to keep properly aligned while sewing. Using a spray starch when ironing will stiffen up the fabric and help it lay where you want it to. It also washes right out so no need to worry about it staying on your clothes.
Use a walking foot.
It helps prevent fabric stretching and wavy seams.
You will probably see this in almost every blog post about sewing with knits because it really does make that big of a difference. A walking foot has “feed dogs” on it making it so that the fabric feeds through the machine on top and bottom. Because of that, your fabric won’t get stretched out or pulled by the presser foot when being sewn. It will feed through evenly. Goodbye wavy seams!
A few extra pins
will help stabilize your pieces while constructing.
I find that using extra pins while constructing knit pieces really helps me sew the seam properly. Knits don’t usually stay in place quite as nicely as woven fabrics do. They have a tendency to shift, curl and stretch. With that being the case, using a few more pins to hold the fabric in place is generally helpful, especially if you are not as familiar with knits.
Stretch stitches
Use stretch stitches to prevent popped seams.
Because knit fabric is stretchy, your seams must also be stretchy. If not, you will be popping seams when you put on your hand made clothing. To avoid popping seams, use a stretch stitch, or zig zag stitch to construct your knit garments. It is possible to use a straight stitch on knit, but it must be a long stitch. The added length to a straight stitch will allow some stretch to the seam.
Some people use a twin needle to make their knit clothing (for seam construction as well as for hemming). Twin needles create a zig zag with the bobbin thread. That zig zag allows for stretch in the seam which is exactly what knit pieces need. The downside with using a twin needle for constructing is you are using twice as much thread. That may or may not be a big deal to you, but either way, using a twin needle may be a good option especially if you don’t have a serger.
Use a ball point needle
It will prolong the life of your garment.
Rather than penetrating the fabric threads as a regular machine needle does, the ball point needle separates the fabric threads to pass through when sewing. This is super important when constructing a knit garment because if you use a regular sewing machine needle you will actually make little tears in the fabric that will get worse with time and create holes in your beautiful handmade piece.
Hem tape
Using a hem tape makes hemming easier.
Hem tape is stuck or fused with an iron (depending on what kind you’re using) to the hem of your garment, and then flipped up so the fabric sticks in place. It stabilizes the hem so it won’t shift or move around while you’re sewing it down. It also has the added bonus of reducing tunneling from a twin needle! Just make sure before you buy a hem tape, that you check whether or not you can sew through it. Some hem tapes are only meant to be fused, not sewn. My favorite hem tapes are Heat N’ Bond Soft Stretch Lite, and Wash Away Wonder Tape. (both are safe to use in a sewing machine.)
Those are my best tips for sewing with knit fabrics. I hope you found some useful information here and feel more confident sewing with knit fabrics now. You’ve totally got this! Thank you so much for reading and happy sewing!
P.s. If you’re just getting into sewing and are a little lost on what you need to get started, check out this post on the tools you need for sewing.
