Skip to main content

Made by a Fabricista: Working with Sweater Knits

Winter time, not particularly my favorite season, but there are certain things I look forward to each year: wearing my boots, cozy sweaters and making myself sick on copious amounts of hot chocolate.  What I don't look forward to...when the cold rolls in so does my lack of motivation.  I just want to put my flannel pjs on and snuggle on the couch with a pug. 

I think my lack of motivation stems from the fact I'm just not sure what to sew in the winter months.  I like chunky sweaters and lots of layers.  Not really up for sewing another dress or blouse.  A lot of sewing bloggers I follow trade in their sewing needles for knitting needles in the winter months.  They knit some of the most beautiful sweaters and I'm envious.  I've tried knitting and I just don't have the patience for it.  So I asked myself, "Can I sew a sweater?"  I did some research on the topic, bought some sweater fabric and was off on a mission to see how hard it could be.

There are many blends and weights of sweater knit available.  For my first try at sewing my own sweater I chose a chunky wool sweater knit from Fabric Mart. (Sorry, I don't see this available anymore on their site but you can find other options here)  Because this is a wool blend it is a heavier weight.  If you want something a little lighter weight I would suggest a cotton blend sweater knit. 



When working with any type of sweater knit the first thing you want to do is pre-shrink your fabric.  How you chose to pre-shrink should be based upon the fiber content of your fabric.  Since I'm working with a chunky wool I chose to pre-shrink mine in the dryer.  To do this I got a couple of large towels and wet them with very hot water until they were nice and steamy.  I wrung out the towels so they were still damp but not soaking.  Next I threw the steamy towels and my wool knit into the dryer and set the dryer on high heat.  I let the dryer run for about 40 minutes then took out my fabric to let it cool.  I was a little hesitant to throw all my fabric in at once so I did a test swatch first.  I started out with a 5x5 swatch and ended up with total shrinkage of about 1/2 inch overall.  That can make quite a difference in your final garment so pre-shrinking is important.



Since working with sweater knit was not enough of a challenge for me I decided to throw some faux leather into the mix.  Leather detailing seems to be a popular trend at the moment so I chose Burda's Jersey Top pattern because it has contrasting shoulder insets, perfect for some leather pleather details.  This pattern calls for a two way stretch jersey fabric.  My sweater knit had just enough stretch to pull it off but I cut an extra 1 inch seam allowance on the side seams for some wiggle room.

When sewing the pleather shoulders I used a microtex needle and made sure when sewing that my pleather's good side was always facing up towards my presser foot and not down towards the feed dogs.  The feed dogs can tear up the pleather so if it is facing down, slip a piece of paper or tear away stabilizer in between the fabric and feed dogs.  I used my walking foot and did not have any problems with the pleather sticking to the foot or the foot leaving indentions.  Also this should be common knowledge but keep your iron far away from the pleather, even just a little steam can ruin it...ask me how I know.

The only alterations I made to this pattern was omitting the keyhole opening in the back.  Also instead of using the facings I chose to make my own single fold binding with a lighter weight jersey knit from my stash.  To make my own neckline binding I first measured my neckline opening then cut a 2 inch bias strip about 3 inches shorter then my opening.  I folded the strip in half, ironed then pinned it to my neckline matching the fold line on the strip to the 5/8 seam allowance around the neck.  When sewing I stretched the bias binding slightly to fit the neckline.  Once attached I trimmed the seam allowances in half then flipped the remainder of the binding over and understiched to the seam.  Because of the bulkiness of the knit it was a little challenging to get the binding to stay flat so I hand stitched it to the neckline.  This helped the pleather to stay in place as well.


My seams, except for the neckline, are all serged.  Please don't think that if you don't own a serger you can't sew with sweater knits.  A serger certainly does make the job go a little faster but you can accomplish the same good looking seams using your sewing machine.  The sleeve ends and bottom hem are finished with a serged edge then flipped under and stitched in place with a twin needle. The shoulder seams are stabilized with knit seam tape.



Sewing a sweater is not hard at all.    If you do your research and take your time there is no room for failure.  Here are a few sites that I found very helpful....


And here are a few pictures of me testing out the sweater in the frigid weather.  Even though this sweater is wool I was still freezing.  The high was 30 degrees and the wind would not stop blowing! Brrr.....



~ Shannon

Shannon is the winner of our first Fabricista Fashion Challenge. She will be blogging periodically for the Fabric Mart Fabricista blog. Learn more about Shannon here. You can also follow her blog, Shanni Loves.

Comments

  1. The sweater looks great!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pretty sweater and looks very nice on you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very nice! I am also a fan of Burda and this pattern has been on my to do list.
    I am curious how this fabric made it through the dryer on high. I think I got the same fabric and I am planning to make a sweater for my man friend who doesn't like a lot of hassle when it comes to laundry. It looks like the dryer did not affect the structure of the fabric at all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The dryer shrunk it a little but the structure of the fabric was not affected at all, but I did dry it all by itself. I don't know what the outcome would be if you threw it in with a bunch of other clothes. Sometimes it can get all fuzzy on you. You could always test a swatch of it in the dryer with other clothing to see how it's affected.

      Delete
  4. Awesome garment Shannon! I've been a bit skittish about attempting to sew sweater knits, but after reading about and seeing the photos of your sweater, I can't wait to give it a try! Well done and congratulations on winning the first Challenge :D!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for the inspiration. Looks great! Which Burda pattern did you use?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was Burda 09/2012 123a jersey top. Here's the link,
      http://www.burdastyle.com/pattern_store/patterns/jersey-top-092012

      Delete
  6. Shannon, congratulations! The sweater looks great. Awesome work!

    ReplyDelete
  7. wow looks cool with the "leather" details. Just came across the Blog.
    Love it when ideas are outside the sewing box. thanks for posting.
    Judy H

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment! All comments are reviewed before posting to help us eliminate spam. Your comment will be posted within 24 hours.

Popular Posts You Might Like

Made By A Fabricista: Workwear Ready

I'm excited for my first post in 2023! At the beginning of the year, I recently went back to working in person so now I am looking to make and wear pieces that I can wear to work.  The goal is to be functional but also very fashionable since I am a fashion design professor. I saw this blue denim fabric and knew I wanted to make some pants; I just wasn’t sure what kind.  I decided to make Mimi G x Simplicity S8985 View B pants.  I liked the oversized flare look, I just made one slight modification to them by adding a pintuck along the front.  This was easy to add since the waistline was called to be slightly gathered to fit.  The fabric had a hand closer to linen and was very lightweight which was great and very satisfying to sew.  I lengthened the pants by 3” and finished with a 2” hem. The top I used Simplicity S9707.  It’s an oversized partial button down top.  I decided to create a high low hem by combining two different views.   I loved the print of the fabric but honestly as s

Made By A Fabricista: Spring into 2023 with Liberty of London!

Hi Fabricista Fans! I'm excited to be back with my first FabricMart project of 2023 and my second with Liberty of London Tana Lawn ! This fabric is so luxurious and wonderful to work with, I just can't pass it up whenever I see it come on sale! With such a high thread count, Liberty of London doesn't easily crush, and although it's 100% cotton, it's so flowy that it's perfect for billowy dresses, blouses, and skirts. With my $50 budget this month, I purchased 2 yards of Tana Lawn and made a Peony Patterns Rosemary Dress with inseam pockets for my youngest daughter. This is a gorgeous button down dress with long and short puff sleeve options. After cutting it out, I realized I had plenty leftover for a skirt for my eldest, so I whipped up the FREE Peony Patterns Apple Berry Skirt for her. Since she needed a top to go with it, I raided my stash for some additional fabric, and found a lovely eggshell Fabric Mart Rayon Lycra hidden away. (Don't worry, I still ha

Made By A Fabricista: A Denim Set for Spring

Happy Friday All! I am ecstatic to share my latest make that I had on my to make list for a while.  My goal for the month of February was to sew a mini vacation capsule for a trip, but unfortunately I did not get a chance to. I was able to make 3 of the 6 pieces including this denim set. When this beautiful denim fabric arrived, I knew exactly what I wanted to make. I have been wanting to recreate a linen look I made a few years ago using the Montoya coat pattern with a few adjustments.  I created VIEW A without the peplum and lengthened it by 6 inches. Instead of sewing the tie inside the seam of the top like I did here, I wanted to make it separate so that it looks like a jumpsuit. (Read the blogpost here ). Moreover, my body has changed and I needed to cut a size larger so that I can rock it as an open vest or a top tucked in. I love the way it turned out but wish I had extended it by 8 inches instead of 6. For the pants, I went to my tried and true simplicity 8605 pants pattern and