How to Sew Sweater Knit Fabrics

You searched for the right fibers, the right stitch, and you have worked hours, maybe even months to get this beautiful project complete and now you need to pull all the pieces together to finish the masterpiece. You want this masterpiece to be finished without a noticeable seam that will make it look terrible. Sew your projects together whether they are in the knit fabric family or hand knitted you want the finish look to be almost not noticeable. If the knitted fabric is in a pattern then that adds to the difficulty of finishing the garment. There are two methods of sewing your knitted project, either by hand or by machine.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Your finished Project
• Darning Needle
• Yarn from your project

How to Sew Sweater Knit Fabrics

1. By Hand MethodBlock your knitted pieces with no rolling edges. This will help you line up stitches and see where you might have missed any.

2. Lay the two pieces that you want to stitch together side by side with the right sides facing each other. Now, I usually like to test my stretchiness of the garment, so I stretch the first and second stitch so that I can see the “bar” that lies between the two stitches.

3. Use the "mattress stitch," also called the "whip stitch" to attach your knitted piece. This stitch is the best stitch to attach your pieces.

4. Load a darning needle with the same color and style of yarn that your project is in. Insert the needle between the first and second stitch and go underneath the two “bars” of the yarn running between the stitches. Pull through and then do the same for the other piece. Give a gently tug not too tight or you will have a puckering seam. Complete this for each stitch crossed the knitted piece.

5. Make sure the fibers are cleared from the stitch area, especially if your sweater was created from novelty yarn, so that you will not have empty spaces.

6. By Machine MethodUse a ¼” seam allowance on a Serger machine or an overlock stitch on a regular sewing machine for an industrialized look.

Tips & Warnings

• Knitted sweaters that were knitted in novelty yarn have different degrees of stretch and you should use a loose zig-zag stitch.