The Sweater Knit Fabric

So what's a "sweater knit fabric" anyway? In the knit design and knit technology classes I've taken over the years, I actually don't recall ever hearing that phrase. (Perhaps I was absent on those days?) But I definitely recall learning to place weft knit fabrics into 3 categories:

Jersey fabrics -- One face of the fabric has knit stitches (V-shaped stitches) and no purl stitches. The other face has purl stitches and no knit stitches. (A purl stitch is simply the back side of a knit stitch.) The cut edges roll toward the knit side and the selvages roll toward the purl side.

Rib fabrics -- Each wale (column of stitches) has knit stitches and no purl stitches, or it has purl stitches and no knit stitches. Sweater cuffs are often, but not always, a rib fabric. Double knits also fit into this category, though it may be hard to see the actual ribs unless you stretch the fabric. Balanced rib fabrics do not roll.

This fabric has very distinct ribs.

Both knit stitches and purl stitches are on each side of this fabric (for my new Crazy Crushed Can Cowl!), but never in the same wale.

Close up it's still a little hard to see the ribs. You'd have to stretch this fabric to really see them. Click photo for a closer look.

Purl fabrics -- Knit stitches and purl stitches share wales. The garter stitch is an example of this and so is this more complex 2-color fabric. This fabric doesn't roll.

There can be other things such as tuck loops and slip stitches and cables thrown into the mix, but a knit fabric will fall into one of these three categories.

The sweater knit then seems to be distinguished by gauge or weight and not by stitch pattern. There can be jersey sweater knits, rib sweater knits or purl sweater knits. But the jersey fabric used in t-shirts is not a sweater knit. Neither is the material used to make pantyhose. There's a definition floating around the web that states a sweater knit is any knit fabric that has 9 or fewer stitches per inch. Hmmm... although I can think lots of exceptions, I'm not totally bothered by that definition. (ETA I'm leaning closer to 12 or fewer stitches these days.) For now I'm just going to go with the very subjective: any knit fabric that looks like sweater material. ;)

Why all this matters is important. Before I cut out my Crazy Crushed Can Cowl, I've got to determine the size of the seam allowance I'll use. I think the size of the stitches, as well as other properties of the fabric matter in making my decision. My research on an appropriate seam allowance for "sweater knit fabrics" has, frankly, confused me. I've spoken to garment industry people and read articles written by professional seamstresses and sewing teachers and they are not in agreement. (The "proper" seam allowance seems to range from 3/8 of an inch to a full one inch!) I suppose that whatever they're using works for them, but I'll have to make my own decision based on my experience (primarily with necklines), my own fabric, technique and tools. I'm going to be doing lots of testing and then making my decision. If anyone reading this has cut and sewn sweater knit fabrics, or has a better definition for "sweater knit", I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

O!
___
Last edit 28May2015

Making Fabric Choices

Well, I've got all my tools now: the new serger, the old sewing machine, the power scissors (Yes, I said power scissors -- more on those another time.) I've been practicing my serging: down the straight-aways and around curves, too. And I've chosen a first project from the book . I've decided to go small. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

If I'm to do what I've set out to do in my very first post, there are some important details I must take into consideration. The first is the fabric itself.

It's there, right on page 9 of the book. After giving a brief list and description of stretch fabrics, Nakamichi says, "For the slopers I have used a bare plain knit" (emphasis added). From the pictures I'm assuming this means a plain jersey knit fabric. She continues, " ...a cotton fabric mixed with polyurethane and other components." I won't pretend that I never saw that. I understand that if I use the concepts and pattern drafting methods described in the book, my various sweater knit fabrics won't behave in a same manner. That's ok. I'll adapt. I am inspired by the book. It's not required that I produce exact replicas of the garments.

Here's a close-up of one of my cotton jerseys. It's a 2-color tucked jersey, not a plain jersey. I'd probably use the technical back as the public side. It's a stretch fabric, but it would have more drape and less recovery than the fabrics in the book.

As I've mentioned earlier my plan is to start small with my first project from the book. Only thing is that there really aren't any small projects in the book. The smallest item happens to be a rather advanced cropped top with sleeves. There exists, however, a simple pattern that I really like that uses some pretty basic techniques. It's a basically a tube top gone wild. My plan is to make a smaller version of it and wear it  as a cowl.

I'm thinking that this rib, the original fabric I chose, is a bit too busy. I'm leaning now toward a simple rib that will accentuate the... um ...protrusions.

Ok, perhaps I'm a little crazy. But I can see my future cowl in a merino or baby alpaca, just the right amount of eye-pop to mix with a sedate sweater or coat. I promise you that soon you'll see it too.

O!

To Thread a Serger

It finally happened over the weekend -- Saturday to be exact. I pulled the thread from my already threaded serger and re-threaded it for the first time. After all the struggles that I've heard from other "serg-eons", I have to admit that it wasn't the big deal I was expecting.

By now you'll have surmised that I don't have one of those self-threading wonder sergers. The serger I do have came with a manual and a dvd. Honestly, if I'd had to thread my serger the first time solely from the included manual, it probably would have taken much longer. (I find matching line drawings to the real thing a bit daunting when I'm still a bit unfamiliar with the real thing.) But using the extremely clear instructional dvd made it easy. Next time I'll be able to use the color coded guide printed on the machine.

I'd read that using one of these would help things along.

Especially made for serger threading

It didn't. Perhaps it helps with other machines. I found it not worth the effort to work the threader tool through the guides and eyes in reverse direction to the way I wanted my thread to go.

I didn't even need one of these, as suggested in books and blogs. I never even tried it, but I can see how it could be helpful, working it in the same direction as the thread.

Butler floss threader, found in the dental section of drug stores

Instead I only used the included tweezers.

Came in the serger box along with a couple of screw drivers, extra needles, the manual and dvd

A good light was extremely helpful.

O!

Introduction: Paradigm Shift

I have always loved and appreciated fully fashioned knitwear, the style of knitted garment where none of the yarn is wasted. Each individual piece of the garment is knitted to the exact shape required. This is the way hand knitted garments are made. If a garment piece needs to be tapered, for instance, the knitter executes one of several styles of decrease. The most advanced models of industrial knitting machines also do full fashioning, increasing and decreasing where necessary, sometimes creating whole garments, seamlessly.

As a person who's worked professionally as a stitch pattern designer, I never really considered the method used to reproduce my stitches and create the end product. My job was to simply come up with interesting knit stitch patterns. As a crafter who knits primarily on a vintage "hand knitting" machine, when I created a garment, full fashioning has been my method of choice, increasing and decreasing through the hand manipulation of stitches.

But there is another way of working with knits that's used frequently. It's called cut and sew, a name which describes the method perfectly. "Cut" because the already knitted fabric is cut into pattern shapes, and "sew" because the shapes are then sewn together into a sweater or other garment, much the way woven fabric is worked to make a garment. (Beware the erroneous definitions of "cut and sew" floating around the web.)

My sweater on the left is from the 80s, the one on the right from last year. Fully fashioned, both are impossible to distinguish from cut and sew without close examination. Any competent sewist could make them if the fabrics were available.

---
When I returned to machine knitting at the beginning of 2011, after an extended hiatus, I considered cut and sew seriously. But I did not go there. Instead I fell in with a bunch of hand knitters, some who quivered at the thought of a steek. The machine knitting groups that I joined on Ravelry and Yahoo Groups were much more open to cutting and sewing. (Imagined dialog: Cut our knits? No problem. We can each consume a pound of yarn before lunch anyway. We knit with machines, why not sew with machines too?) Though I cut and sewed many a neckline, I did not venture further.

Then, while browsing in the fashion section of a local book store a few months ago, I came across Pattern Magic: Stretch Fabrics by Tomoko Nakamichi.

A quote from the book jacket:

Pattern Magic: Stretch Fabrics is the third title in the series of cult Japanese pattern-cutting books, now available in English. Step-by-step projects show you how to create stunning sculptural clothes, using a creative approach to pattern making.

I bought it. I admit that many of the designs in this book are wilder than I would ever wear. Honestly, I may never even get around to re-creating any of the designs exactly (though I'm not ruling that out). I can only say that I was inspired. The approach and concepts in the book really got me thinking, got my creative juices flowing. And even though my fabrics are a different gauge than the ones in the book, I imagined using some of the techniques while working with my own fabrics.

I probably won't be making "Pattern Mystery".

I love the method of drafting "Two Peas in a Pod A" and would totally wear my version.

My plan? I'm taking my knits, cutting them up and sewing them back together in new ways. I may break some rules out of ignorance or... just because. Don't worry about the waste fabric, 'cause I've got a plan for that too. I'm crafting fashion.

Join me. :)

O!

___
Affiliate ad

Pattern Magic: Stretch Fabrics

by Tomoko Nakamichi