Friday, June 24, 2011

Handsewing Jersey Knits

Today at work (I work as a home aide), my employer asked me to mend a skirt for her. The skirt was made of a stretchy two-way knit. I knew that if I used a regular running stitch, the stretchiness would be lost. So, I used this cool technique on handsewing a zig zag I saw in Generation T by Megan Nicolay. (Great book, by the way. I'll do a review of it soon.) Here's the technique:

Start by bringing the thread up through the fabric, close to the edge (but not so close it might pull off).

Then, go down about a quarter inch, and a little to the side, and push the needle through.


Next, go back up in line with the first stitch, and do the same thing.



Continue in that pattern...


And voìla! Zig zag stitch. AND, it's still stretchy:



This is what the back will look like:


Have a great day!

4 comments:

  1. This is the ONLY place on the net that explains clearly how to sew up stretchy material by hand. I sewed a rip under the arm on my brother''s T-shirt and it worked just like it should. (Then I found the other underarm is ripped too. He can fix that one.) Thank you for posting such a clear explanation with accompanying excellent photos. --Texchanchan

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  2. Thank you so much for this! My sewing machine was acting up and I needed a way to handstich my knit fabric. Thanks for the detailed explanation -Sam

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Hi! Thanks for taking the time to read and respond!