Patterns for Pirates

P4P stylish, modern, wearable patterns

P4P University – knit cuffs

Ahoy Pirates! In our first P4P University blog of the year I wanted to give you a few tips and tricks to make adding knit cuffs to your projects easy peasy. Whether you’re sewing for yourself, your significant other or your little ones, adding cuffs to your sleeves or leg openings can be a tedious job. We can change that!

*Choose the right fabric for the cuff!

As I mentioned in the Neckbands 101 blog post, choosing the correct fabric for your cuffs will make a huge difference. The best one is rib knit or ribbing. If you do not have any ribbing handy or the colors you have do not work for your project the next best thing would be cotton spandex. I mainly use cotton spandex in for my kids’ shirts and joggers cuffs as I like to coordinate it with the main fabric. Whatever fabric you pick, make sure it has at least 50% stretch and excellent recovery.

*Always cut the cuff with the greatest stretch horizontally.

Always cut your cuffs cross grain! Even if the fabric you use stretches over 50% in both directions, you should never cut against the grain. Read all about the importance of “the grain” in Roberta’s blog post, When It Goes Against the Grain. 

*Press your cuffs!

I know I talk about pressing a lot in my blogs, but you have to believe me, it makes your sewing life so much easier. I recommend grabbing those cuffs and giving them a good steam press as soon as you cut your fabric. This will create a memory hem that will make it so much easier to fold them once you sew the “loop” closed.

Press your cuffs after you sew them on too! 🙂

*Snip the seam allowance to create less bulk

This is one of tricks for creating less bulk at he seam. Once you sew the cuff to create a loop, grab your sharpest scissors and make a cut as close to the stitch as possible without, of course, snipping the stitch.

That little snip will make it so easy to please the seam allowances on opposite sides when you sew fold the cuff. In doing so, you will have so much less bulk at the seam, your serger will thank you! 🙂

*Place your sleeve inside the cuffs

Mark the quarter points on the sleeve (or leg) opening as well as the cuffs. I find that for the smallest of sizes, marking just the half point is sufficient.

To make sure you will not have your seam allowance on the outside of your sleeve (or ankle) 😉 place the right side of your sleeve inside the cuff and match the quarter (or half way) points.

*Sew or serge with the presser foot inside the sleeve

Most of the time the sleeve opening is pretty small so I find that it is easier the place the presser foot of my serger (or sewing machine) inside the sleeve as opposed to stitching on the outside. This is especially important when you make Baby Bear Joggers or and kids shirts with cuffs, like the Jolly Roger Raglan or the Yo Ho Henley.

*Do not topstitch.

As opposed to necklines, I find that cuffs and waistbands look a lot better if you do not topstitch them down. I do encourage you to press your garments when you finish sewing it, including the cuffs.

There you have it! 7 easy tips to follow when adding cuffs to your favorite P4P knit patterns. My boys are both rocking the JRR with add on cowl neck from the pack and faux layered sleeves from the blog.

Which one will you be making first? Make sure you post your creations in the P4P group and let me know if adding cuffs is now an easier “task”. 🙂

 

Pattern Markings 101

Many moons ago, I can remember calling my mom in a panic. I had printed out my first pattern for a garment, assembled it, and then just stared at all of the markings! Even though I’d sewn quilts for years before, this was my first attempt at making clothes and the pattern looked like a map in which I had no clue how to follow. After my “what did I get myself into” talk with her, she slowly walked me through each question I had and now after all these years we’ve come full circle and I’m making clothes for her!

Like many people, you will probably experience (or already have!) the “What have I done?” moment in sewing and question why you started a project to begin with. Have no fear! We’re here to help. We decided it was time to break that map down for you and help you learn how to navigate through the amazing world of garment sewing. In this post, you’ll find a description of all the key terms and symbols you might expect to see when starting your sewing adventures! So let’s get those patterns printed, assembled and let the fun begin! (If you’re staring at all of those pages you’ve just printed- don’t worry there either! Click here for our First Time User Tips, which includes how to assemble patterns).

Grainline

The grainline tells you which direction the grain of your fabric should run. The grainline will run parallel between the selvages, or finished edges of your fabric. There are usually printer markings, contrasting trims, solid colors, etc found on the selvage. Typically, your grainline will have the less amount of stretch in knit fabric. A few weeks ago, Roberta shared some details and information about grainlines, why they’re important, and much more. You can check that out here. 

Stretch

The stretch of your fabric will run perpendicular to the grainline/selvage and will be the direction with the most stretch. As you can see in the picture below, the stretch is running the opposite way as the grainline. It is extremely important to have the right direction of stretch when it comes to the fit of your garment. The stretch will go around your body for most pattern pieces and is accounted for when the ease of a pattern is drafted (read more about ease here). For example, if a pattern is drafted with negative ease (finished measurements are smaller than your body) and you have the stretch going in the wrong direction, chances are, it won’t fit.

Fold

If a pattern piece is symmetrical on both sides, you will notice the center with a “FOLD” marking. This is commonly found on pieces such as the bodice, back, or sleeve in which both the left and right sides have the same appearance. You will want to fold your fabric wide enough for your pattern piece and align this marking to the fold of the fabric. To help conserve fabric, I like to fold it just wide enough for the pattern piece (shown above). A common error can be to fold the fabric exactly down the middle, leaving wasted material.

Notches

You might have noticed small triangles on some pattern pieces. These notches serve several different purposes. One of the purposes is to help distinguish the back from the front. For example, something like a raglan style top can easily get mixed up when assembling. These notches will help keep the front  with the front and back with the back. The second purpose is to help with alignment. By matching these notches up, your pieces will be in the correct position.

TIP: I always cut my notches out rather than in as to avoid accidentally cutting too far into the seam allowance.

Hem Gauge

You will typically find a hem gauge on both the sleeves and bottom edges. This is usually a triangular shape that notches out. It will mark the correct allowance for your hem. This is particularly useful when creating a memory hem. All you will need to do is fold your fabric up to this notch, press and unfold. Once you’ve sewn the seams, you will still have your pressed fold in place with the correct seam allowance.

 

Cut Chart

Most Patterns for Pirates patterns will include a cut chart. The cut chart is typically found within the first few pages of the tutorial and will give measurements for any rectangular pieces. For example, items like neckbands, cuffs, waistbands and elastic would all be found here. Some designers will included these as actual pattern pieces, however by providing a cut chart, you are able to save on both paper and ink. When cutting these pieces, I find it easiest to do so using a quilters ruler and rotary cutter.

Hopefully these tips help! Remember that we are always here to help, especially in our Facebook group. If you’re not a already a member, be sure to join so that you can ask questions and share all of your amazing Patterns for Pirates creations!

~ Erinn

When It Goes Against the Grain

Woven Fabrics

We make woven fabrics on a loom. The weaver strings the lengthwise threads first, and we call them the “warp”. Then threads are woven through them creating the fabric. We call these horizontal threads  the “weft” or the “woof”. We’ve named the edges of the fabric the “selvages” or “selvedges”, and we weave them more tightly to prevent fraying.

The warp creates the “straight grain” of the fabric, and the weft creates the “cross grain”.

Pattern pieces have grainlines printed on them.  They are either arrows or fold lines.

Grainline

 

When we cut a pattern out, the best way is to fold the fabric carefully on the straight grain of the fabric, lining up the selvages .  If you need to straighten the ends of your fabric, take a snip through the selvage near one end. Then pull a horizontal thread. The missing thread will create a straight line for you to cut along.

Fold Placement

Then place the pattern pieces down carefully with the grain lines on the pattern piece lined up with the straight grain of the fabric.

Finding the Straight Grain

An easy way to check if your pattern piece is “on-grain” is to measure from the line on the pattern piece to the selvages in a couple of places. The distance should be the same.

It’s important for long pattern pieces, especially something like a pant leg, to be grain perfect. If it’s not, the garment will twist, and once you cut it, there’s nothing you can do to fix it. You’ll also never be able to match stripes or plaids if you cut off-grain.

Smaller pieces like pockets, collars, cuffs, and yokes can be cut on the straight grain, the cross grain, or the bias no matter what the lines on the pattern say. The “bias” is the direction that’s 45 degrees from the straight grain. It has more drape than either the straight grain or the cross, and edges cut on the bias don’t fray.

When you cut major pieces on the bias, it’s important to cut them in opposite directions or your whole garment will twist. But it’s not important for small pieces like pockets.

How to Position Bias Cut Pieces

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can mark the bias on your pattern piece with a protractor or a quilting ruler.

Marking the Grainlines

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over time fabrics cut on the cross grain will droop more than then fabric cut on the straight. It’s not a problem for something like a skirt or pants made from a border print. The droop won’t be noticeable in the normal lifetime of the garment. You might see it in heavy curtains, though.

Knit Fabrics

Technically, knit fabrics don’t have a grain, but the direction you cut your pieces out matters just as much. Big machines make knit fabric, but they work the same way we knit with yarn and needles. Some machines knit back and forth and some  knit in the round. One results in a fabric with selvage-like edges and other in a tube of fabric.

Close up of a Knit Fabric

 

 

No matter what yarn is used to create the knit fabric, the single knit process will result in a horizontal stretch in the fabric we call the “mechanical stretch”.  Fabrics that only have horizontal stretch are usually called “two-way stretch”.  The addition of elastane (Spandex, Lycra, etc.) to the yarns can create a fabric with both horizontal and vertical stretch, and it is usually described as “four-way stretch”. Whether the fabric is two-way or four-way,  the horizontal stretch should be the circumference of your garment.

Horizontal Stretch Line

While the amount of elastane in the yarns might make the fabric stretchy enough for the garment to fit you cut with the vertical stretch used as the circumference, you shouldn’t cut it that way. If the mechanical stretch in the fabric hangs vertically, you’ll get elephant knees, saggy elbows, and baggy crotches. You can use the same method for making sure your pattern is lined up so the grainlines on your pattern are parallel to the edges of your fabric that we use for wovens. Knit patterns often have the horizontal stretch line marked, too.

There’s a saying in sewing- The fabric always wins. There is probably nowhere in sewing where fighting the fabric is more futile than not paying attention to the grain.

Roberta

P4P University- Ease

Ease is a term using to describe how much extra fabric there is around your body after the garment is sewn up. In sewing and pattern groups you often see the question, “Does this run big/small/true to size?”  And most the time the same pattern and size will have an array of answers! Confusing right?  The truth is the pattern is designed with a certain amount of ease the designer has picked based on the size chart.

So, when the designer like me drafts a pattern they decide how much ease they want for the intended fit.  They use not only the listed body measurements, but an entire book of standard/average measurements for each part of the body to give the pattern a certain amount of ease everywhere along the body.  I try to give the most important measurements in the measurement chart and finished measurements to help you pick the perfect size for your preference of fit.  I usually have more measurements in the tutorial than on the listing pictures so that when you’re ready to pick a size for that certain garment you can see if you need to modify, grade between sizes on that particular pattern. Here is the size chart within the tutorial for the Peg Legs:

Some ease is needed for certain garments.  Woven/non-stretch fabrics require much more ease since they don’t stretch.  A body requires ease to move, bend, breathe, etc comfortably.  Designers use the recommended amount in general for guidelines and can add more if they want a looser fit.  Knit garments can, and often do have negative ease.  Negative ease means the garment finishes smaller than your body and much stretch to fit on to your body as well as when you move.

There is a very wide span of “what fits” within a single garment.  For a knit shirt using a stretchy fabric- lets pick cotton spandex with about 75% stretch) you can have up to about 50% negative ease and still move and breath, this would be what most would call “skin tight”.   You can also have a few inches of ease for a looser fit, what most would call relaxed or baggy. And within that range, everything technically “fits” because you have enough ease for movement.  The rest is up to the designer to create the design ease they have in mind.  When the question is asked, “Is it true to size?” it really can’t be answered.  It is true to the designer’s intended fit with the amount of ease they drafted into the garment.  Whether it is how much ease you prefer personally for that garment depends on if your personal preference is the same as the intended fit.  I’m always surprised to see someone post in our FB group “this is huge” or “it’s too tight”, I try very hard to show intended fit through listing pictures, use the best describing words in the listing and give a good description in the tutorial along with the measurements.  But, what one person with the exact same measurements and fabric choice finds “too snug” another might describe as “huge”.  It’s all personal preference!

Lets think about what a big range that is… I’m going to go down to 30% negative ease since this is a pretty tight standard athletic/swim amount of ease, most clothes wont be tighter unless we’re going to add in compression fit/slimming undergarments.  I will do hips at 40 (top end of the medium).  So you could easily have a well drafted pant pattern with a finished full hip measurement of anywhere from 28″ all the way to 45″ depending on the intended fit and suggested fabrics.  Most knit pants can easily range from 28″-42″ depending on the kind of knit they’re drafted for.

Woven pants don’t have quite the range, since you take away the option of having negative ease and using stretch for the movement ease needed.  But, A woven pant for a 40″ full hip can still range from about 42″ up to 46″ depending on the intended look of the design.  We very often get the question if you can sew a knit pattern with a woven non stretch fabric.  The answer is mostly no.  Most knit patterns depend on the stretch of the fabric to give some, if not all, of that movement ease you HAVE to have for your body to comfortably move, bend, breathe, get the garment on and off, etc.  If you would like to know how much wearing ease you need to get the slimmest possible woven garment there are ways to measure that.  For your full hip you can place the measuring tape around your full hip-mine is about 40″.  Keep the tape carefully in place, but loosen your grip at the front.  Very slowly sit down, or bend/squat.  You will notice that the tape will pull and need more room.  This is called your “sitting spread”.  Lovely name right 😉 , but it is how much you “spread” when you sit/squat.  You need this much ease or extra fabric around your hip in any woven garment to be able to move comfortably.  There are tighter dresses out there with less ease there, but you aren’t sitting cross legged on the floor in that tight woven pencil skirt.  You probably aren’t even sitting comfortably in it.  The hip is the easiest measurement to check your ease need.  But, the same concept can be a check for bust, arms, thighs, etc. putting the tape measurer around and moving and breathing, letting the tape slide to the biggest range you use while moving.  If you check this sitting/moving measurement against the finished measurements of the pattern you will know if you can use a non-stretch fabric and still move comfortably.

I did a quick video about measuring your needed “wearing ease” here:

A designer’s job is to choose how much ease they want for a certain intended fit and look.  Lets take one of my patterns The Pumpkin Spice Dolman.  It is a looser cut with a quite a lot of ease through the bust and about 0 ease at the full hip.  I intended it to be a loose, slouchy fit and works best with fabric that has a soft drape.  Some might find the design ease I added too much if they don’t like the loose, slouchy look.  It doesn’t mean the pattern “runs big” since that is exactly the amount of ease intended for the look I was after.  It just means you prefer a tighter fit that intended.

A slimmer cut shirt like the Slim Fit Raglan or Layer Me Up has negative ease at the best and less ease through the body.  Again, this doesn’t mean the pattern “runs small” it is meant to be smaller and tighter as designed.

Lets take another pattern, this time a fitted one, the Peg Legs.  The Pegs are a traditional tight fit legging with negative ease.  The standard ease used in athletic wear is usually 20-30%.  The Pegs are right in the middle through legs and up at the higher end at 30% at full hip and high hip.  Since they do not have elastic I preferred the tighter end of normal to help them from inching down.  We’ve seen them compared to others with less negative ease and neither are wrong, just a different preference on how fitted the designer had in mind.

Now lets talk about how you can use this knowledge to your advantage in sewing for yourself!  Once you understand ease and fabric choices you can essentially make the perfect garment fit you every time before even cutting! WHAT? I know, amazing right?  Now, this doesn’t happen overnight.  It’s something you will come to learn about your preferences over time and experimenting.  But, the more you pay attention to both your fabric choices and the design ease the faster you will get there!

Take all the clothes you love and look at them, study them! For that matter take the ones that you think are a little tight or loose too.  How much ease does it have to your body? On the bust, waist, hip?  What fabric is it made out of (this doesn’t have to be exact, but “thin and drapey or thick and stable categories work well).  Now you can apply this to your sewing choices.  You will learn if you like a looser fit with those thinner drapey knits- or a tighter fit with those.  Maybe you tend to always love thicker stable knits with you do have a more fitted garment.  Whatever you find in your “research” try to apply that to your pattern, fabric, size choices.  If you know you tend to like at least 2″ of ease at your waist you can know if you want to grade in or out at a waist on any t-shirt pattern.  Maybe you only like knit pants with some negative ease on the booty… When you open up a new knit pant pattern you can pick your size off that finished measurement chart and know for certain you’ll like the fit on the booty.  If you are just beginning it’s something you will want to make an effort to pay attention to.  Eventually it will become second nature 🙂 You’ll be able to open up a new pattern and know just how to use it to create YOUR OWN intended fit if you happen to not love the designer’s intended fit.

Woven Apparel Fabrics

Since we did the blog post about Knit Fabrics and included a printable cheat sheet for those diving into the world of garment sewing- we’ve been asked to do a Woven Apparel Fabrics one as well! As part of our Summer of Wovens I’d like to present

I worked hard on a Woven Fabric Cheat Sheet that you can download and look through when trying to pick the perfect fabric to pair with your woven patterns.

I also did a show and tell with the woven apparel fabrics I had in my stash in our Facebook Group. But you can watch it here as well:

I hope this helps you pick the perfect fabric for the P4P patterns drafted for woven fabrics!

P4P University – plackets

 

Ohhh….plackets! Why are you so scary? Today on the blog I’m hoping to change that perceptions of them and help you face this fear.

What are plackets?

Plackets are basically just a slit or an opening in the fabric that allows for garments to be easily put on or taken off. Sometimes plackets are purely decorative. You can find them on sleeves, on pants, back of skirts and neckline. You can have a placket on the back of the neckline or on the front. The most common neckline front plackets are for Henley or Polo style shirts. On this blog I will be using the new Brunch Blouse placket but you can certainly utilize the same principles for a Yo Ho Henley or a Women or Men Henley shirt too.

 

Interfacing? Yay or nay?

My first tip/recommendation is to always use light weight interfacing for the placket piece. Simply fuse a piece of interfacing to the wrong side of the pattern piece. You can get away with not using any if you’re making a woven pattern but even so, the result will be so much better if you do add it. Interfacing will help stabilize your piece which in turn will make it a lot easier to sew. ALWAYS use interfacing for knit plackets!

Mark and press!

As you can see in the video above, I use a tailor chalk to mark the pressing and sewing lines on the back of the placket piece. You can use a soluble fabric pen or a fabric marker too.

If you have a tailor clapper now would be a good time to use it. It will defiantly come in handy and help keep those pressing marks firm. Spray starch will help too!

Sew slowly!

Make sure you pin a lot and catch any notches that need to be enclosed! This may be the most tedious part of adding a front neckline placket so it is well worth paying extra attention and sewing slowly.

Enjoy the fruits of your labor! 🙂

Now that you took the time to create the perfect placket, show it off! Be proud of your achievement and don’t let sewing techniques intimidate you! Speaking of showing off…don’t forget to brag about your Henleys and Brunch Blouses in the P4P group.

 

P4P University :: Bias Binding

 

We recently covered the tips and tricks to using a knit binding (HERE) but what about woven fabrics?  One of the many finishing options for necklines, sleeve hems and armcyes for woven fabrics is bias binding.  Unlike knit, woven binding should be cut on the bias (45 degrees from the grain-line) so that it bends and curves and allows it to lay flat.  Some patterns will include a pattern piece, which makes it easy to line up and cut the strip on the bias, however, it can eat up quite a bit of fabric and we all know how much we hate to waste pretty fabric, right?  You can also use pre-made bias binding, but many of times it’s nice to use the same fabric as the your garment, so we’re going to show you how make a continuous bias strip from a small square of your fabric.  This is also perfect to use up your scraps.

For this example, I used a 15″ x 15″ square which makes about 100″ of 2″ bias binding.  A 12″ square makes about 60″ which is plenty for the bias binding neckline option of the Everyday Elegance.

At this point, you can set your binding aside or you can continue to pre-press to finish preparing it to be sewn to your garment.  A 2″ binding strip will create 1″ single fold or 1/2″ double fold bias tape.  The above method also works for various widths and single or double fold bias tape.

There you have it!  Creating your own bias tape from woven fabric is as simple as a couple of seams and cuts.

Check out the video below as Judy walks you through a quick demonstration on sewing with bias binding.

We’ve added another quick video with SINGLE FOLD BIAS BINDING 🙂 Enjoy!

As promised in the video here are a couple pictures to entice you to PRESS and stay stitch to help get a great finish.

Finished single fold bias:

 

Happy Sewing!!

5 tips for adding neckbands

So you spent an hour picking the perfect fabric, perfect coordinates and matching thread. You’ve sewn your favorite P4P shirt and you only have one step left…the dreaded neckband. That’s when you start panicking and getting nervous about attaching the neckband and finishing your outfit. Fear no more!

Today on the blog I will give you 5 tips that will help you achieve that perfect neckband you are striving for all the time.

1. Choose the right fabric for your neckband!

Neckbands will be stretched when you attach them, they will be stretched when you put on or take off the shirt, so it is very important that fabric you use for the neckband has great stretch and great recovery. My favorite type of materials for neckbands are cotton spandex, rayon spandex, ribbing and rib knit. You can get away with using some brushed poly as long as the recovery is good. Avoid, scuba, french terry and 2 way poly blends.

 

2. Always cut the neckband cross-grain!

Never cut your neckbands along the grain. Even if your fabric has 4 way stretch (which it should) the vertical stretch is not going to be as much as the horizontal one. If you don’t have enough of the main fabric to cut the neckband is best to use a coordinating fabric than cutting the neckband along the grain.

 

3. Mark the quarters of your neckband and neck opening!

It’s very important that you find and pin (or clip) the quarter points of the neckband and neck opening. After you have sewn the neckband RTS at the ends so you have a loop, fold it length wise and mark where the seam is. This will be the back of your neck band.  The center front of the neckband will be on the opposite side. Now fold it in half bringing the center front and back markings together. The fold will mark your two quarters.

To find the front and back  neck opening centers, bring the shoulder seams wrong side together. Where centers will be where the folds are. Mark them with a pin, a clip or a small snip. With the fabric still laying flat, bring the center front and back together. Your quarter marks will be at the folds. Mark them as well. You will see that the side neck opening quarter marks are NOT at the shoulder seam. The front opening is larger than the back opening.

For all you visual learners, here is a video of the process.

 

 

4. Use the right stitches!

Avoid using a straight stitch when attaching the neckband. As I mentioned earlier, the neckband will be stretched and pulled so you want to make sure the stitches are up to the job. If you are using only your sewing machine, attach the neckband with either a stretch stitch or a narrow zig zag stitch. I prefer to use my serger for this step but it is not mandatory. Once you attached the neckband, press the seam allowance towards the shirt. You will now be top stitching it down with your coverstitch machine or your sewing machine. You can top stitch with a wide zig zag stitch, a stretch stitch or twin needles. Be sure to check out our Twin Needles tips and tricks blog too.

You can see how I attached the neckbands here:

 

5. Press, press, and steam some more!

If you’ve followed the tips I gave you and notice a slight waviness, don’t panic. It’s normal when sewing knits especially if they are on the bias (as is part of the neck opening). Go back to your ironing board and give the neckline a good hefty steam press. Most of the times my neckbands are cotton spandex based and I crank up my ironing machine all the way to the “linen” setting. Make sure you test the heat of your iron on a scrap fabric first. If your shirt is poly based you will need a lower ironing temperature, you do not want to melt your fabric 🙂

There you have it! 5 easy to follow steps to achieve a perfect neckband all the time!

Happy sewing, pirates!

P4P University:: Knit Binding 101

With our recent release of the Cross my Heart and Heart Breaker Cami patterns, we’ve had some questions and hesitation about the straps… because, well, they look scary!  They may look intimidating but they truly are not as bad as they appear.  We’re going to show you a few different ways to do knit binding and hopefully help ease those fears.

What is Knit Binding?

  • There are two main methods to finish a neckline or armhole.  Knit bands are an extension of the neckline and probably the most recognizable finishing method for a traditional T-Shirt (rose floral shown below). We’ll dive in to bands on another post ;).  Knit binding is done similar to bias tape binding, which is typically used on woven fabrics and encloses the raw edge of the neckline but does not extend above and away from it (ivory floral shown below).

Tools to create successful knit binding:

  • Use fabric with spandex.  You will yield better results with fabric that has great stretch and recovery.  Not sure what fabrics to use? Check out our Knit Fabric Cheat Sheet.
  • Steam iron:  One of the best tips to create even and professional looking binding is to press, press and press again.  Throughout the entire process of binding your garment, hitting your binding with some steam will help it bounce back to shape and keep a clean, crisp fold which is easier to turn and top-stitch.
  • Ball Point or Stretch Needles:  Whenever using knit fabric, stretch or ball point needles are always recommended.  The needle tip slips between the knit fibers and does not break or damage them while sewing.  Stretch needles are mostly used with fabrics that have a higher percentage of stretch (think swimwear or athletic fabrics) but most prefer to use them for all types of knits.
  • Pins or clips: Pinning or clipping your binding, especially when you get to the later steps to turn and top-stitch is a life-saver.  Once you become more comfortable with binding, you may not need as many but it’s always best to clip more now than regret it later.
  • Optional: Blind Hem Foot – this helps keep an even straight line along the edge of your binding when top-stitching.

Both the cami patterns, the Sweetheart and Me Hearties Dress, and Essential Tank use knit binding to finish the necklines, armholes or sleeves but you can apply this method to other tops and skirts in lieu of bands or hemming.  Just be sure to take in to account your seam allowances and band heights as they will finish lower or higher if no adjustments are made.

Methods to do knit binding:

  • Serger: (this method is used in the Cross my Heart and Heart Breaker Cami).  Using a 1/4″ seam allowance, the binding is serged to the neckline or armhole with the right side of the binding to the wrong side of the main fabric.  The seam allowance is pressed up with binding folded up and over the serged edge and then top-stitched.

  • Sewing Machine: (this method is used as an option in the Sweetheart and Me Hearties Dress and Essential Tank).  The binding is pre-pressed in quarters (double folds).  Using a stretch stitch (narrow zigzag, lightening bolt, or triple stretch stitch), with right side of the binding to the wrong side of the main fabric, the binding is stitched along the crease. The seam allowance is pressed up with binding folded up and over the raw edge and then top-stitched.

  • Serger or Sewing Machine: Using a 1/4″ to 3/8″ seam allowance the binding is stitched with right sides of the binding to the right side of the main fabric.  The seam allowance is pressed up and binding folded over the edge to the wrong side of the fabric and then top-stitched.  The excess binding is trimmed at the seam-line.

 

There are multiple options for Top-stitching binding.  Here are few of our favorites:

  • Twin Needle: Double straight stitch on front and zig-zag on back.  (Elisabeth walked us through using a twin needle a few posts back and is a great resource for top-stitching the knit binding using a regular sewing machine.  In case you missed it, be sure to check it out HERE!)
  • Coverstitch: single or double needle: straight stitch on the front with a stretch zig-zag stitch on the back.
  • Narrow Zig-Zag: Gives the appearance of a straight stitch but still has some stretch.
  • Triple Step Zig-Zag:  This is great for swimwear or high stretch areas.

 

Need more help?  Here’s a video of the binding options described above 🙂

 

Hopefully this answered your questions about knit binding and eased some of your fears.  Just remember, press and go slow!  As with any new skill, it takes time to master, so keep practicing and you’ll have added another finishing method to your sewing arsenal.

Finished a project using knit binding? Be sure to share in our Facebook Group! We’d love to see it.

 

 

 

Sleeves and Their Wrinkles

I’ve scrolled past the question or remark about wrinkling around armpits a ton in sewing groups.  I’m here to talk about the #1 cause of armpit wrinkle on the sleeves.

It’s easier to understand why we have wrinkles around the armpit when we know how the sleeve was drafted.  Different sleeve types are drafted differently.

 

Dolman sleeves are also drafted so that there are no wrinkles when we have our arms lifted horiztonally.

Raglan sleeves are drafted so that there are little to no wrinkles when your arms are lifted.

Set in sleeves on knit tees are drafted so that there are no wrinkles when our arms are at a diagonal.

Okay, so what does that mean? When your arms are in other positions than the ones the sleeves are drafted for there will always be wrinkles/extra fabric/pulling.  Lets see a few real life picture examples!

Dolman: Shown here: The Sweet Tee Others we have in the shop are: The Pumpkin Spice Dolman and CoCoon Cardigan

Arms up (almost horizontal– I don’t stand with my arms straight out too much for pictures ;)): very little wrinkling or extra fabric and if my arm was up slightly more horizontal it would go away completely.

Arms Down: All the extra fabric is now “bunched”up under my arm when I put them down.

Arms Up:

Arms Down: in this more stable cotton spandex you can really see the difference!

 

 

Raglan: Shown here in the pink and grey: Slim Fit Raglan , Shown here in the black and leopard: Relaxed Raglan , and Shown here in youth: Jolly Roger Raglan

Arm Up: (almost horizontal).

Arms Down:

Arms Up: (again it was near impossible to find one all the way up/out but this is close!)

Arms Down:

Arms Raised: higher than horizontal. You can see the wrinkling move from under the arm to on top, it is being pulled since it is higher than the raglan sleeve is drafted at.

And another raglan set courtesy of my Little Guy 🙂

Arms Up: although it’s a close up, you can see his hands are on his hips-so not fully horizontal, but close!

Arms Down: (that look guys!  He’s a sassy one for sure…that doesn’t enjoy modeling for mama 😉 )

 

 

Set in Sleeves: Shown here: Sweetheart Dress , Shown here in youth: Henley , Shown here: fit picture from testing the upcoming youth tee 🙂 , and also in the shop we have Grandpa Cardigan , Wingman Shirt , Boundless Knit Dress , Buried Treasure Tunic , High Low Tide Top

Arms Diagonal:

One Arm Down and One Arm Extended Up: see the wrinkles are in different spots. My arm that is down creates wrinkle under the armpit area.  My arm that is extended all the way up creates them on top of the shoulder. (Also super crazy face I’m making because it was super windy 😉 ).

Arms Diagonal: the only wrinkling going on here is because I’m pulling my arm to the back (pointing my elbow backwards) unnaturally to try to show off the top.

Arms Down:

Here is a few youth examples of set in sleeves as well!

Arms Diagonal:

Arms Down:

Arms Diagonal:

Arms Down:

Arms Diagonal: (no wrinkling)

Arms Down: (wrinkling at under arm)

Arms Extended Up: (wrinkling above arm/shoulder)

If you’re realizing you have wrinkles at the bust, not sleeve we’ve also blogged about those here!

I hope this helps all you wonderful seamstresses out there creating knit garments and trying to make sure you’re getting the fit right 🙂

 

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