Sewing With Nancy

cc Knit fabrics and knit sewing patterns are enjoying a resurgence in popularity. Plus, the fabric options are varied and very exciting. If you're new to sewing or if it's been a while since you've sewn knits I'd like to pass along tips to build your sewing confidence. Begin with a simple pattern. Let the fabric be the focal point. Then, learn the streamlined ways to stitch or serge the seams. You'll see that I don't like to over-sew the fabric. Less is more when it comes to sewing knits. "Sew Knits with Confidence" that's what's coming up next on Sewing with Nancy. Sewing with Nancy, celebrating 30 years of sewing and quilting with Nancy Zieman

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Baby Lock, a complete line of sewing, quilting and embroidery machines and sergers. Baby Lock, for the love of sewing. Madeira, specializing in embroidery, quilting and special-effect threads because creativity is never black and white. Koala Studios, fine sewing furniture custom-built in America. Clover, makers of sewing, knitting quilting and embroidery products for over 25 years. Experience the Clover difference. Amazing Designs and Klass needles. Let's start by looking at the types of knits just some of the types of knits. Varied different weights, different amounts of stretch. This is a crepe knit. Most knits have the greatest stretch in the cross grain. The length grain has stretch, but it's more stable. To test the amount of stretch, I fold the crosswise fabric. Just make a fold. If I would stretch three inches of fabric here's from zero to three. This goes to six inches. Of course, that's 100% stretch. Most knit fabrics and patterns will call for at least 50%. Some of the more stable ones like a jacket, will call for 25% stretch. You can just check the crosswise stretch. An interlock knit looks almost the same on both sides. It doesn't have as much stretch, about 50% stretch. The length of it is very stable. A ponte knit is heavy, and used for jackets or skirts. Again, it has about 25% stretch. Sweatshirts. Sweatshirt fleece looks like a very stable fabric. Of course, it has the comfy-ness on the inside. A slinky knit. Fun to work with, use very streamlined patterns. It stretches almost more than 100%. It drapes very well. A single knit is probably my least favorite to sew because it's so lightweight. It will always curl to the right side so you know which is the right from the wrong side. Regardless of the type of fabric you're working with and there are more knits than I have shown you here but these are the common ones. Regardless of the type you're going to use many of the same seams. On some knits, you'll be able to just use a straight stitch or a wobble stitch, that's a very slight zigzag or a straight and zigzag combined. To know which you should use do a little testing. I like to test it out on the crosswise grain the one with the greatest stretch because if the stitches are going to pop then I'll know at this time. In my machine, I have a stretch needle size "75" stretch needle is my favorite. All purpose thread works well. I have my machine set just for a straight stitch. Some patterns call for 5/8" seams. Others are 1/4", so you'll have to check your knit pattern whatever seam allowance width it has allowed. Now you test. A crosswise grain, if you have a straight stitch and it pops you're not going to use that one, because it wouldn't work. But do this test. If you do not have a serger change your machine to a zigzag, to a wobble stitch. That's a technique that I've learned from quilting and Betty Cotton. It's a very narrow zigzag. It will build in stretch. So, as I'm stitching, you'll see that this will build in extra give. Then, when you stretch it, it does have give because of that zigzag allowed in the seam. A serger. If you have a three-thread or four-thread serger always pin in the crosswise. Pin the crosswise grain so that it is parallel to the cut edge. Before actually serging, let's check the setup. I have a three-four thread or a four-thread serger. Upper looper, lower looper, and two needles. I would like a 1/4" seam allowance and sergers are set up at the "N" setting. You'll see it on the dial for the width. The "N" will give you a 1/4". For the length, set it at "3". Now, if your pattern has 1/4" seam allowances then simply guide the fabric along the blade because that will give you that automatic 1/4" seam allowance. If you have 5/8" seam allowances there's a guide on your serger for the left needle. I have the left needle. There, I would guide the fabric so that some of the fabric would be trimmed off. With a serger you have a lot of stretch in here. If it's a shorter seam, it's probably too much stretch. Because if you're taking your garment on and off a lot that shoulder seam may bow out of shape. What we recommend is to serge elastic in the shoulder. Serge over clear elastic. I'll do this on this next sample. I don't cut the elastic until I'm finished serging. This time, I'm going to make believe I had a 5/8" seam allowance and then place the clear elastic underneath the needle area, slip it underneath. Then as I'm serging, I can serge over the elastic. You can see I've trimmed off-- Then you can cut the elastic when you're done. After you've serged you have the stretch built in. It relaxes and it's perfect. Some simple tips when sewing or serging knits. Add a quick, yet clean finish to the neckline, sleeve or any other outer edge. In this knit combo called the Monterrey Knit Collection the sewing is very minimal. Since the knits are the ultimate no-ravel fabric you'll quickly build up your sewing skills and gain stitching confidence. When preparing this series I thought, "Is this too simple to share?" Because once you know how to do the seams you can do the hem, the neckline and sleeve edge. But I think it's worth repeating. Just to give you the confidence that you can sew a knit top a skirt, whatever you may be working with it is about as easy as it can be. You can serge the edges, turn it under and topstitch. You could also clean finish the edge with ribbing or add some extra support around a neckline with clear elastic. Just to give you the confidence I'm going to go through these basics. The hemline, whether you have a 1/4" hem a one-inch hem this idea or concept is the same. I do like to finish the edge. If you own a serger finish the edge of a knit. It may not ravel, but it helps the pressing it helps give it some stability. If you don't have a serger, you can just zigzag the edge again, for a little bit of stability. I always press. Before pinning the hem, I like to pre-press it. This would have a one-inch hem and you would have a much larger fabric piece than I have but this shows the concept. You can pin and then do the wobble stitch from the right side. That wobble stitch is so common and so needed for working with knits. It looks like a straight stitch, but it has the give that will be needed, perhaps around the sleeve or around the neckline. Again, you're going to be sewing in a circle. It's just easier for me to share this with you. I made the stitch wider so you can see wobbling. But it has built in stretch. We used clear elastic in the shoulder seam. You can also use it around the neckline. My top, for example has the clear elastic around the neckline. Many ready-to-wear tops have this elastic in that area. You would sew the shoulder seams the front to the back. I'm going to be working with a flat piece so you can see it a little bit more clearly. From the wrong side of the fabric-- Most necklines have a 1/4" finish around the edge. If not, that's what I would recommend using. Start with the elastic a little longer than you need because it gives you something to hold onto. Then from the wrong side,

try a 1

1 ratio. Just wobble stitch that around. It does give, because it's wide a little extra edge for you to turn. You're going to stitch this around. You'd be going in a circle, not a flat. Then turn to the right side. After I cut the thread, let me cut it then I can cut off the extra length. Then give it a turn. Turn it to the inside and then stitch around the edge. You can do a straight stitch. I'm going to lengthen it just a little bit. It gives a nice finish around the edges. Just turn and finish. That's all you have to do to finish the edge of a neckline all the way around. The other neckline finish, a ribbing finish for sleeves or for other areas, is a ribbing. As I mentioned, ribbing isn't only for necklines. The hoodie on this jacket sports a dyed-to-match ribbing that finishes the edges in minutes. If ribbing isn't available you can use the garment fabric itself. Regardless of which fabric you choose I'll give you the confidence building tips next. Ribbing. Most of the time you find it around the neckline or around the cuff. But it can be at the top of a pocket as I had on this garment, on the hoodie. The ribbing can be applied flat or around the circle. Usually, the ribbing is cut smaller that the garment. The pattern will give you the dimensions. This is 2" by the length on the pattern. Then you meet right sides together whether it's in a circle or flat. Because the ribbing is cut smaller I've marked the center point of the ribbing and the center point of the little hoodie. Then, use the wobble stitch or a serger. Because I'm set up right here, I'll just put it on. I'm stretching with the ribbing on the top. You just sew, stretch your fabric and you have a finish that's all you need to do. I'll show you the serged sample, once again. Press it to the right side, and that's another finish. You'll never feel like you're stitching in circles when you adapt a flat construction way of assembling knits. Set the sleeve in flat. Stitch the underarm and side seams in one step. What a speedy way to sew. I think it's helpful to understand the logic and the reasoning behind doing a flat construction for knits. I have the shoulder seams of this top put together. You can see the curve of the arm hole. Here's the curve of the sleeve. Two different curves are going together. Because of that, you have to use your sewing machine wisely. I'm going to pin the notches, the notch for the front a little clip for the notch to the sleeve. I'll pin them together. When I do, you'll see the curve changes or what happens to the curve of that sleeve. It's much longer. It appears much longer than the curve of the top. When you have two layers going together that have opposing curves you have to let your sewing machine do the work for you. The feed dogs are the work horse. They will ease. They'll bite the fabric and ease it in without having to do an easing stitch. The beauty of the knit is that it stretches. Rather than easing the sleeve to meet the garment which you have to do so often on woven fabrics you can let the fabric and the sewing machine work together. This pattern calls for 1/4" seam allowances so I'm just sewing with that wobble stitch, or you'd serge. As I get to this curve I'm going to meet the two together, and they will fit. It's amazing. Then after I'm done with this seam I do a little pressing, just to press it flat. I have this pinned. Even though that was quite an extension of that sleeve it will ease in because of what's happening with those feed dogs. They're biting the fabric. So, we're almost to the end. That's how fast it is to set a sleeve in knits. Then there's the underarm seam which is also the seam for the sleeve. Now, this is pretty simple. To explain this, you really have to look at it to see. Here's the sleeve set in, and of course, the underarm. After pressing this area with 1/4" seam allowances it makes it even easier. Generally, I like to stagger and have one underarm seam going one direction the other going in the other direction. I'm just going to pin it together to show you. You would start to sew from the underarm of the sleeve and sew continuously. I'll grab the fabric together to the hem so it's one long fell swoop, and you have a seam. So the sleeve has been set in and the seam stitched in two seams. Knit hems and edges don't have to be boring. Use a double needle or even fusible web for trendy hem finishes. The featured pattern, the Newport Pullover shows a two-toned hem accomplished with the help of fusible web. I told you this was simple sewing. Fusible web, straight stitching, and a little serging can get you a long way because the patterns are simple and the fabric drapes well. Sew around the neckline of this boatneck top the sleeves, as well as the asymmetrical hem has the two-tone look. We're going to do more of this in the second program of the series working with adding different fabrics. But knit-on-knit is great. You could topstitch the hem with a two-tone or you could use a double needle. Let's first talk about the double needle. Here's a sample just showing two rows of parallel stitching. On the flip side is a zigzag. The bobbin goes between the two needles. It gives it stretch and is a great hemming technique. Now, for a double needle many times it means you don't have a serger. So, rather than serging that edge if you don't have that option, fuse it. Use paperbacked fusible web in a strip. It's about 1/4" or 3/8" wide. Align it on the lower edge of the hem. Press it on and then just peel it off. When it's warm, it's tacky and it makes it easy to press that. I kind of pre-pressed a one-inch hem. I'm just going to gently put it there and press. Honestly, I hate to admit this but I have just pressed up hems and left them. Look at all the stretch. It stays very permanent. But if you'd rather stitch it, I'll show you how to do that. Double needles are two needles on one shaft. We've gone over this before if you're a frequent Sewing with Nancy viewer. If not, a double needle has two needles. Distance is the size, 3mm or 4mm apart are the sizes I'd recommend for knit fabrics. In the machine, you're going to have two spools of thread. One spool is going to unwind over the top. On the other spool, the thread is coming from the underside. It's caught under there right now but they come off in different directions so as they feed into your machine they're not going to entangle. Just a simple tip. I sometimes, when working with a double needle especially a wide double needle just slightly loosen the tension a notch or two. That will prevent tunneling. I'm just straight stitching. I'll show you what tunneling is in a minute. But if you can straight stitch, you can double needle stitch. I'll just show this right now. I'll sew a little bit. It's just straight stitching. It looks professional because it gives a parallel stitch. If you get tunneling where you get a big ridge between the stitching that means the tension is too tight. That's why I loosened that tension just a touch because my needles are wide apart. That is a simple technique to work with. Then another technique to do is to add to this layer, the trim. Now, the trim could be added obviously before you do the double needle stitching or the single needle stitching. On the edge, I think it adds a nice finish. You do not need to serge the edge or finish the edge. You could leave it just the fabric itself. The fabric, if you need more length than one cut of fabric would give you simply overlap the edges and just fuse them together, that fusing technique. There's the fusible. You just press them together so that you get extra length. Just cut a strip about 1-1/2" to 1-3/4". You press up the hem, using that same technique with the fusible web. Sometimes knits can be unruly. By fusing it especially the lightweights, it makes it so much easier. Then you align the trim on the underside. What appears on the right side is the extra little accent. It really sets it off, giving it a piping-like trim without having a lot of work. Then, using a straight stitch, or of course a double needle as I just showed you, you can topstitch along this edge, giving an accent. I really like this decorative edge finish. So these are some of the basics of sewing with knits. Remember, less is best. When Alzheimer's Disease affects a family member it often holds the family captive in care giving responsibilities. My Nancy's Corner guest was fortunate. The disease that fractured her mother brought their family together through the healing process of sewing aprons. Please welcome Gwen O'Leary, who joins us via Skype. Gwen, thanks for joining us on Sewing with Nancy. Thank you, Nancy, it's fun to be here with you. Well, it's a fascinating story. Tell us how you and your mom started sewing aprons, and why. Well, it started the last winter that I cared for my mother as she suffered from Alzheimer's. I arrived in Florida with a wonderful apron pattern. I thought I could keep myself busy sewing aprons. I never expected that my mom could also still accomplish some sewing tasks. Once she found out that I was sewing she wanted to be involved. She was such a great sewer. She's also worked hard all of her life and always wanted something important to do. So every day, she would say "Give me something important to do." So we sewed aprons together. We were able to reconnect. I discovered that it made her calmer and I didn't have to give her as much medication. It made me calmer. I actually called it self-medicating with fabric. I think a lot of people do that, Gwen. The aprons, you then decided to design an apron pattern. You made so many that you designed. Tell us about that. Yes, I used a wonderful pattern that was easy to sew. But after making 150 of them, I decided maybe I could design my own aprons. I spent a summer in Colorado sitting outdoors. I sew outdoors, because I live outdoors. I designed three aprons and my sister helped me publish the aprons like she helped me publish the books. Now I'm able to donate my profits from the book and the aprons that are sewn, and the patterns to Alzheimer's respite care in honor of my mother. You mentioned the book. It's got a great title "When Life Hands You Alzheimer's, Make Aprons." Again, you donate the net profits to respite care. What a great thing. You made 150 aprons. No person needs 150 aprons, so tell our viewers what you've done with the aprons and you encourage them to do, as well. Well, when I make my aprons I take them with me to readings and presentations and I sell them to the audience as I travel through the country. The money stays locally in the community that I happen to be in. My husband and I travel, and we love to travel. I stop in and visit fabric stores and give presentations to quilt guilds. But people don't have to wait for me to show up and have their own Aprons for Alzheimer's movement in their community. They can start that on their own. This is what I encourage all of your viewers to do. Respite care is so important for the caregiver. There are five million caregivers that take care of their Alzheimer's loved ones in the United States. If all of those caregivers were put in one state it would be the fifth-most populated state in the nation. Respite care is so important because it allows the caregiver to have a break. It delays the time that the loved one might have to go into a care facility. So I know women love to get together and sew. I sew with them as I travel. So maybe this is a great way to spend your time and energy sewing aprons in your community. I like the idea that you encourage people. You're planting the seed today encouraging people to make aprons with perhaps their loved one who's suffering with Alzheimer's and can still sew. It must have felt and provided a social need for you or a community need for your mother, as well. Yes, it did. She felt like she was doing something important. We both really appreciated being able to create something. We'd still use our creative minds. I know that people who are afflicted with Alzheimer's they're still able to use their creative mind. So it's not only a great thing for a community to have somebody support respite care it's great for those who are still afflicted with Alzheimer's to be able to do something that they feel is so purposeful. Well, Gwen, what a wonderful story. Keep sewing those aprons and encouraging others throughout the country. I know that you travel on the road you live on the road. Yes, I live on the road. I like to say I live on the road and I sew on the road. Where I go, there I sew. Keep it up and thank you for sharing your great story with our viewers. Glad you could join us. Thank you so much, Nancy. It's time to wrap up our first program of "Sew Knits with Confidence." In this program, I gave you the basics working with seams and fabrics, and flat construction. Next time, we're going to do some creative ideas. If you'd like to re-watch this program or past programs

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nancyzieman.com. We have 52 of the most recent shows online. You can sign up for my blog, connect with social media and re-watch the program again, if you'd like. Thanks for joining me. Bye for now. Nancy has written a full-color, fully-illustrated book entitled, "Sew Knits with Confidence," that includes all the information featured in this series. It's $14.99, plus shipping and handling. To order the book, call 1-800-336-8373

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sewingwithnancy.com/2624. Order item W8767 "Sew Knits with Confidence." Credit card orders only. To pay by check or money order call the number on the screen for details. Visit Nancy's website at nancyzieman.com to see additional episodes, Nancy's blog, and more. Sewing with Nancy, celebrating 30 years of sewing and quilting with Nancy Zieman

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