I have sewn all my life....well since I was 8. I have made all kinds of clothing for everyone. My mother was great to teach me all the ins and outs......BUT she swore that a person would be crazy to sew anything knit.

Herein lies the problem. I have a7 year old daughter that refuses to wear jeans. That is fine with me but she hates anything that doesn't have stretch to it. I would love to sew her some tunic tops and leggings or knit pants.

First any hints when sewing knits? Tips? Tricks?

Second I am having problems finding patterns for a young girl. Any ideas of where to start. McCalls, Simplicity and such seem to have on style and one pattern each.

I would appreciate your help and thank you

Sheila

I used to agree with your mom, but now I love sewing on knits! What kind of machine do you have? Does it have a setting for knits? Make sure that you use it!! ;) Or use a wonky stitch, the zig- zag stitch, that looks almost straight. Mc Calls and Simplicity both have darling patterns just for knits for children. Look at the stretch requirement on the side. Put in a brand new needle, for knits or stretch fabric. Be careful cutting your pattern, use pins for knit fabric. Once you get the hang of it, you will love sewing with stretchy fabric.
You can PM me if I can be of more help. :?

I use my serger for knits.

Kwik Sew and Stretch and Sew both make multi-sized patterns for knit fabrics.

One can sew knits with a straight stitch machine. Use a longer (maybe 8 to an inch) stitch and gently stretch the fabric while sewing it. When it relaxes, there is some stretch in the seam.

In fact, Ann Person came up with that technique.

Sewing with a zigzag stitch is easier, and sewing with a serger is the easiest, but one can make garments with a straight stitch only machine.

I have a Brother SE 350. Not sure if it has a setting for knits in particular, but will check that out in my manual. Now when you mention look for the stretch requirements, what do you mean? Does the pattern state that the knit material have a certain amount of stretch? if so does the bolt state that this material has XXX amount of stretch?

I may keep you on speed PM. I would like to get a few outfits done soon, but may have to wait til after Christmas.

Sewing knits is not really that bad. Follow the ideas suggested by Grama and Bear and you will be fine. I made all of my daughter's pants when she was young because she was so skinny, nothing fit. There are tons of great patterns and fabrics out there.

In answer to your question about stretch requirements, look on the pattern envelope. You should see a bar that says something like "a four inch piece of fabric should stretch to here". That is the stretch gauge.

Okay just looked and I do have a stitch setting for stretch knits. I am really excited about trying this now.

Well I understand the nothing fits issue. Think that is the main problem with the jeans. She is so long waited that when she sits it pinches in all the horrible places. She is tall but because of her long waist her legs seem to short for the size she needs. I end up cutting off 3 or 4 inches on anything we buy. So I thought why not make something that is perfect for her.

I will look for the stretch gauge and will try and find some help instore if I am confused there.

Really excited that this may be possible. I love my mom but this is something she would never tackle (mind you only thing I can think of that she avoided).

Sheila

It's really not too bad. I used to make my girls tons of little knit dresses, t-shirts & even bathing suits. It's possible without a serger. Sometimes it's easier to do hems (that tend to get wavy) with a strip of super thin interfacing in them. Having some neutral rib knits on hand for collars, cuffs & waistbands is nice too, if you can find them. If something gets wavy use lots of steam, it'll correct lots of things. And a little extra time to topstitch does wonders.

Oh just thought of another question. Do I have to go back and zigzag the raw edges to "finish" them?