A WEEK OF KNITS Part 2 - Learnings from a Week of Sewing Simple Knit Garments

When I was ready to cut into this glowing hot pink merino wool jersey, I imagined this outfit. Read more about these overalls here.

As I sewed knits every day for a week, I thought about how, since childhood, I have had the concept that “sewing knits is hard” knocking around in my head. Where did that come from?? Who told me? It doesn’t matter - it’s in the ether. So many people messaged me last week saying “I want to sew knits but I’ve heard they are hard” or “I’d like to sew knits, but I don’t own a serger”.

Growing up, I pretty much only sewed with woven fabric, but I have clear memories of a few jersey halter tops I made in high school. Then when I got to college, I became a reckless enthusiastic, sewer - any material was fair game! I started buying more jersey (I’d buy literally whatever looked cool from the upstairs bargain area of Lorraine Fabrics). And then in my 20s in NYC, I sewed almost exclusively with jersey, and my methods were slapdash, rushed, improvisational. I would hear there was gonna be a party tomorrow night, and I would get to work on my new outfit. I never used patterns, I just referenced garments in my closet. I would draw with a marker directly on my fabric, tracing around clothes I owned, and cut following the lines. I didn’t own a serger, and my thread color rarely matched the fabric. I know that because I still have some of those clothes!

These are the patterns I rubbed off RTW garments this week. I added 1/2” seam allowances at first. After refining the patterns, I cut allowances down to 1/4”, which is all I need to serge the seams. I’d like to note: rubbing off a pattern from a RTW garment is NOT “self drafting”. Self drafting means you start with a set of measurements and drafting skills. Both are awesome methods! but they are very different.

If you sew with that spirit, then no, sewing knits is not hard. And that spirit was with my last week. I cut apart my favorite long sleeved T-shirt from Target, rubbed off a pattern and got to work. I kept my most worn tank top intact, but traced a pattern off of it as well. For sweat pants, I usually make a pattern off an existing pair; but this time I modified the bottom half of a McCall’s jumpsuit pattern. I worked fast and loose. I made no attempt to fix mistakes - it’s not like unpicking serged jersey will look good anyway! In contrast to my usual precision, it felt really good. And besides, the only way to learn and improve is to do. Mess up and move on, do better on the next one.

I kicked off my week of knits with this cat print cotton/lycra top. It was the first shirt I sewed with the pattern from my Target top.

That long sleeve shirt was a revelation for me. In contrast to every knit top pattern I have ever purchased, the curve of the sleeve cap was high, and the shoulder seam short - no need for a narrow shoulder adjustment. The neckline is nicely scooped, and I used Sarah Veblen’s technique for measuring how long to make my neckline piece. The technique worked beautifully for all of my fabrics, each of which had varying elasticity and recovery.

This is the inside neckline of a basic top. My finger is pointing to the clear elastic in the shoulder seam. The back neckline is stabilised with woven tape, and the front neckline shows where the neckline was served and topstitched. Threads need to be clipped!

Ribbons used as stabilisation on the back neckline of knit jersey tops.

I always put clear elastic into the shoulder seams of jersey garments for stabilization. It’s great to have in your stash, as you only need a few inches for each project. I was looking inside of RTW tops in my wardrobe for other methods of stabilization, which got me interested in adding woven tape to the back necklines of my tops. This is on the back neckline only. It is placed between the shoulder seams to prevent your neckline from stretching and losing shape over time. It also provides a nice finish. As I only have black cotton tape, I used ribbon from my stash. For some reason I have many yards of this glittery ribbon, all from B&Q in Manhattan. This seemed like a fun place to use it.

Topstitched hems.

As for finishing hems, I got to know my serger even better. It has a “Super Stretch Stitch”. I have no idea if that is common or not, my last serger did not have it. It requires a small metal part to block the upper looper from functioning - it is a 3 thread stitch. It is really stretchy! Especially if you’re using wooly nylon thread in the lower looper. I do not own a cover stitch machine, so once edges were finished with SSS, I pressed them up and added two parallel rows of top stitching. Simple. I don’t really care for bothering with a double needle (it’s a lot of set up for a very small amount of sewing in this case), but of course you could use one here.

The tank top reminded me of making silk slips. The same method of slightly stretching picot elastic, turning & top stitching it to make hems is the same. My knit version needs some finesse, and I need to adjust the pattern, but I think I am close to getting it just how I want it. (I still need photos of this piece, but there is a WIP shot in my previous post.)

For my lavender lounge set, I used a pattern from the Japanese sewing book “Men’s Clothes for All Seasons” (great book! I recommend!) and McCall’s M8028. A sweatshirt is a remarkably simple garment, and even after sewing all those tops, I was shocked at the speed in which it took shape. I shortened the body 3”, and could have shortened the sleeves, but I like them long. I opened the neckline by 1/4” all around (I installed the neck band wrong twice, which necessitated trimming it back).

There are a lot of things I wish I had done differently/better on these simple sweat pants, but done is better than perfect! I was losing steam at this point, and also out of fabric.

For the pants, I measure size L per the pattern envelope, but I cut M and used 1/4” seam allowances (as opposed to the 5/8” SA it is drafted with). I added my own ankle bindings and waistband. I eliminated pockets because I simply did not have enough fabric! They are fine. The set is fine. I made them both the same afternoon, and I have been wearing them around the house - extremely cozy!! But somehow, I don’t have a ton of enthusiasm for them. I would rather buy this kind of garment, sewing it didn’t really hold my interest, and RTW versions have better finishings than I can be bothered to execute on sweats.

Some of my knit tops. The lilac is cotton velour, the others are merino wool. One reason I will continue to sew with knits is merino! Especially when I can find it in gorgeous colours. All fabrics shown were purchased in New York.

Will I keep sewing knits? Sure, I still have a few pieces in my stash that I’d like to use. But the reason these fabrics sat unused in my stash is because I don’t particularly enjoy making these kinds of garments. I also know that I don’t like wearing novelty knit tops, i.e. ruffles or volume or extra features. I just like wearing plain layering pieces, and those are pretty readily available to purchase.

Making them was fun and a learning experience. I love learning! And my improvement over the course of just one week is visible to me: my sewing is cleaner, I got better at selecting my thread tension, and I got faster. I can make one of those tops from start to finish in about 40 minutes now. If I come across a spectacular fabric, say a neon pink or cat/cameo print, yes, I will buy it and sew it up. But for plain basics, I hereby grant myself permission to buy RTW! XO, Martha

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