Glue Basting and Sweater Knit Fabrics

To some traditionalists the thought of using glue in the construction of a garment must seem outrageous. Well, later for you, traditionalist. This post is about the magic of glue basting.

I'd never heard of instant basting adhesive before I purchased Singer Complete Photo Guide to Sewing. (Yes, I know it's not one of the cool books, but I really like it.) I was thrilled when I found a stick of this stuff in the notions department of my local fabric shop. Later research taught me that many garment sewers, quilters, and bag makers use glue basting methods in construction.

I know that lots of garment sewers swear by Wonder Tape. I understand that it works wonderfully well on many woven and knit fabrics. It just doesn't work at all on a sweater knit. The surface of even a relatively smooth double knit does not provide enough surface for the tape to stick to.

Wonder Tape can only stick to the yarns, not to the spaces between the yarns. Alas, there's not enough surface for it to stick and hold the fabric together.

Yes, I could machine baste. (I do that with neck bands and other bands after pinning or clipping them to the bodice.) I could hand baste. (Done that too.) But once I tried Collins Fabric Glue Stick, I was hooked -- hooked until I heard that folks were loving Elmer's Washable School Glue with their quilting and bag making. And so I decided to conduct a little test.

The contenders

Basting the first pair of swatches is Elmer's Washable School Glue Stick Gel. I've read of people using Elmer's Washable School Glue Stick before, but never have I heard of anyone specifically using the "Gel" version in the turquoise applicator, so I had to give it a whirl. The label says washable, though info on the Elmer's site says "permanent" and "washes out of clothes"!?  This seems to be the only one in the Elmer's school glue category with the "permanent" distinction.

The second pair of swatches used the highly recommended from assorted internet sources Elmer's Washable School Glue. When it's not in my handy fine line applicator, pictured above, it comes in the familiar plastic bottle, pictured below.

Number three was Collins Fabric Glue Stick - Instant Basting Adhesive. This is the stuff I've been using regularly.

Glue basting the fourth set of swatches was the Stitch Witchery brand of Fusible Bonding Web. The info on the Dritz site states that this product is for "fuse-basting".

On a protected ironing board I applied the Elmer's Glue Stick Gel, the School Glue liquid, or the Collins Fabric Glue Stick  to the edge of a swatch. I pressed the swatch together with the edge of the swatch's mate through a pressing cloth with a dry iron set to "wool". I only pressed the glued edges, and I used a pressing cloth in order to protect my iron from any glue that might squeeze through. I held the iron on the edge of the swatch for five seconds. For the Stitch Witchery, I followed the instructions on the label. All results are below. (If spreadsheet is not visible in your blog reader, click here.)


This is what happens to the glue sticks when working with unfinished edges.

I know from previous work with the Collins Glue Stick, that this won't happen on finished sweater knit edges. I don't consider the mess a huge problem.

Residue after washing Elmer's Washable School Glue Stick Gel (Click to enlarge.)

The Elmer's Washable School Glue Stick Gel really was permanent and left a residue! I could not pull the pieces apart after washing and drying. All other glues washed away easily and swatches separated from each other in the wash. As I understand it, the Elmer's Washable School Glue Stick Gel is not the same as the Elmer's Washable All Purpose School Glue Sticks, which some people seem to use successfully. Yeah, I know, confusing.

In conclusion, I'll be basting mostly with #2, the Elmer's Washable School Glue (liquid) from now on, because it's so easy to use. With a sweater knit fabric, it does not dry as quickly as the Collins instant basting adhesive, but it's so easy and not messy. Did I mention it was easy? I'll use the Collins glue stick on my already finished edges.

As for the Elmer's Glue Stick Gel in the turquoise container? It's my new favorite glue for cataloging swatches, when I glue a new design to paper and I want it to hold forever.

Any glue basting experience you'd like to share? I'd love to hear about it.

O!

Hip to Be Square Sweater

Despite my vow a few weeks ago to make more adventurous designs, I went back to a classic for this one. Why? My wardrobe needed a basic wool sweater to transition into fall. Also, I wanted the challenge of working with a jersey fabric, rolling edges and all.

Hip to Be Square is what resulted. The sweater pattern is my basic pattern block. The jersey fabric is a very lightweight merino jersey with tucks in basic grid formation. I used the reverse side as the public side so the tucks would show. (I haven't decided yet if I'll offer this fabric for sale in the shop yet, as it's very narrow.) The tendency of jersey to roll at the edges turned out not to be a big issue with this fabric. Yeah, the edges rolled a little. But I could handle it.

The original plan was to use a plain jersey binding to enclose the edges, but then I got to experimenting with the binding fabric -- stretching, gathering, trying rolled hems -- before I realized that I'd forgotten to cut out the hem binding!! Since I no longer had enough plain jersey for the hem, I ended up using leftover main fabric, cut parallel to the selvage, for the hem binding. I really like the way this accidental design worked out in the end because of this particular stitch pattern.

Hip to Be Square before blocking, stitch pattern is turned sideways for hem binding.

Not enough new techniques were used in this sweater to do a "Further Notes" post, except to say that I did a little glue basting with Elmer's School Glue (as some quilters do) instead of my ever reliable Collins Fabric Glue Stick. More on this another time.

O!

Taming Openwork Fabrics

I simply love the look the openwork fabrics that have been so popular over the summer. I am especially drawn to the knits, because I can make many of them myself! But I also like openwork woven and crochet fabrics. Openwork describes a structure of fabric where holes or openings are used as a design element. (And yes, I'm adding that to the Knit Fabric Glossary. Thanks again for the suggestion, Andrea!)

As I learned when working with the fabric for the Moonstone sweater, openwork knits present some challenges. I've found in the past that using a solution of Super Solvy (See Books, Notions & Tools > Really Useful Notions.) applied to all cut edges was the way to temporarily tame the stretch and curb the tendency of the fabric to ravel.  (Read Further Notes on the Moonstone Sweater for detailed info.) I ended up using the very same fabric for the Blue Moon Renfrew, because I felt confident enough after that first Moonstone sweater.

This openwork cotton knit is not a "true lace"; it's considered a "tuck lace" and is available in the O! Jolly! Shop.

But just when I thought I had this openwork/stabilization thing down, I got a surprise with my current sweater project. I'm using the fabric below -- just a slight suggestion of openwork but enough for me to be concerned about the color of the permanent shoulder stabilization I'd be using.

More tuck loops, yes! I love them. What can I say? Because this fabric is wool, not as slippery as cotton, and with better recovery, I elected not to stabilize every edge after cutting. So... I suppose that's one way to get around potential raveling with openwork fabrics -- choose wool. ;) So far I haven't regretted the decision not to stabilize the edges. Wool is simply a wonderful fiber to work with.

Getting back to the shoulder stabilization, I did choose to use transparent elastic again, because I was sure the white interfacing I had available would show through. And though the first shoulder went ok when sewing in the transparent elastic, the second shoulder did not go well at all. I ended up redoing the stabilization, this time with newly purchased non-woven, black interfacing. Thank goodness I had machine basted the elastic so that it wasn't too difficult to remove.

As it turns out, I'm quite happy using the black interfacing. It's fusible and really easy to measure, cut, and apply. And it does its job. The interfacing doesn't seem to show through on the public side, when I hang it on my shoulder. But I'll know for sure when I'm done!

O!

About Purl Fabrics and Interlock Fabrics

I've added short definitions of purl and interlock to my Knit Fabric Glossary. If you'd like to read more about these fabrics, read on!

There is a very popular sewing book from a major craft book publisher that states that a purl fabric is made of all purl stitches. I think this is a very poor definition of a purl fabric! If a hand knitter were to make purl stitches across one row; turn the fabric; make purl stitches across the next row; turn the fabric and repeat several times; yes, a purl fabric would be the result. If, however, the hand knitter were to make knit stitches across one row; turn the fabric; make knit stitches across the next row; turn the fabric and repeat several times; the result would still be a purl fabric. Hand knitters call this the garter stitch. Since a  purl stitch is just the back side of a knit stitch, no matter which way the knitter did it, the resulting fabric would be the same.

The artisan- or commercially-produced, machine-made purl fabric is not made by turning the fabric. The artisan uses a special "transfer carriage". If the fabric is made industrially, a knitting machine with special needles is used.

As in the example above, a purl fabric can be more than that simple garter stitch. As long as both knit and purl stitches are in the same column of stitches, it's a purl fabric. These fabrics can have gorgeous and complex textures involving, tuck loops, slip stitches and cables. Balanced purl fabrics can be very easy to cut and sew because they don't roll at the edges.
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Below is an interlock knit fabric.

Funny thing -- even if you click to see the enlarged version, it still looks like a jersey in the picture. If you had the sample in your hand, however, you'd see that unlike the jersey, the reverse side of basic interlock fabric looks the same as the front side of the interlock fabric. An interlock knit is not the same as a basic double knit rib fabric. Once you stretched the fabric, you'd see that interlock does not divide into neat ribs. That is, there are no columns of purl stitches visible between the wales of knit stitches as in a double knit rib fabric. The interlock has been produced differently than the double knit rib fabric by using a different knitting sequence.

The interlock fabric has lots of interesting features. It has greater stability than a basic double knit rib fabric, and the interlock's surface is smoother. This makes it an excellent vehicle for printing or discharge paste projects. It's a more expensive fabric than a double knit rib fabric, because it takes longer to make when it's produced industrially and much longer to make on a hand knitting machine!

Be sure to browse the Knit Fabric Glossary to see samples and definitions of other types of knit fabrics. :)

O!
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Last update 04June2018

Using All the Fabric

About I year ago I was attending a sewing workshop and I got to talking with one of the participants. I started telling her of my plans regarding cutting, sewing, and my sweater knit fabrics. The woman, who worked with textiles at a major museum here in the city, said she thought I could be successful in my enterprise, but she had misgivings about all the waste produced by the cut and sew method.

Indeed, there is waste produced with the cut and sew method where one starts with a piece a fabric and then cuts away everything that is "Not Sweater". And it's true that creating a fully fashioned garment creates no waste. Each inch of yarn goes into creating a fully fashioned garment. Nothing is cut away.

But it's not as if I'm throwing my scraps away! My scraps serve many purposes. My large scraps are saved and cherished. One day they will be part of a big patchwork afghan. I will artfully piece the scraps together, perhaps with a flatlock stitch and yarn in the loopers. I'll use large rectangular pieces of knitted fabric as a backing.

My smaller scraps have a very important job. They serve as experimental subjects. ;) This is how I'm sure most of us test stitch size, make differential feed adjustments, and check tensions. This is where we experiment with seams and various edge finishes. The results that I like get saved with my notes. Some of these "scraps" end up in photos on this blog. Those I don't like get tossed in the bin. What's inside the bin will be the stuffing for pillows I start the day after I finish my patchwork afghan. Or maybe sooner. Yes, I suppose they may seem like extravagant scraps, as I do like working with merino. But these scraps are few; it will take a long time to accumulate enough to stuff a pillow. They will have served me very well.

I was doing some research for this post, because I was planning to include a couple of links to "zero waste fashion". This is where the designer cuts the garment in a way that there are no scraps. Some of these cuts can be very clever and make striking fashion. Others are just silly with excessive fabric added to the garment -- in the name of fashion or just so that it all gets used!? Many of these designers have gotten considerable press lately.  Then I found this discussion from about 2 years ago on Artisan's Square. The links I had found and several more are included in the original post. The discussion that followed made me smile.
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There have been updates to the Knit Fabric Glossary:  wale and knit, (Thanks for the suggestions, Andrea!) I've also added weft knit and warp knit fabrics. Take a look!

O!