Sewing with Tricot Knit???
 

Years ago, I bought yardage of the Tricot knit that was leftover from the Atlanta Olympics volunteer polo shirts. Polos are either soft or rough and this is the rough knit. I thought my bag of it had gotten lost through the years and moves.....but I found it this afternoon! I am so excited!!!! Has anybody ever sewn with this fabric? I am looking for all tips and tricks.....I am not a garment sewer and honestly, am scared to even cut this stuff. Afraid it will ravel or shred all over the place! It is quality fabric though.... Thank you for whatever you can tell me that will help!

I don't know about that specific fabric, but the soft tricot knit fabrics I have worked with do not ravel or shred at all. The one thing they do is curl a bit on certain cut edges.

Use a serger if you own one or stretch stitches on the sewing machine and use ball point needles. If you are making garments use a pattern that calls for knit fabric. Patterns that require woven fabric will not work well and not drape correctly.

I made garments out of various knits back in the day. Tricot is a lightweight knit used to underwear, slips, night and loungewear. Polo shirts are usually not made from tricot. They are either a regular knit fabric or a kind of waffle weave knit (I can't remember name :D ). It should be easier to sew on than tricot. Follow pennycandy's advice and you'll be fine.

Definitely a ball point needle. Not sure if you're meaning a very fine tricot fabric or a heavier tricot. If it's really fine, I would probably use a serger if that is available. Heavier tricot you can probably get away with a stretch stitch on a domestic machine. Just don't pull/tug - it will distort your fabric. Let the machine do the work for you.

I am thinking you mean pique knit. It is used for polo shirts and has a rougher texture, not a smooth knit. As PP said, tricot is what you make silky nightgowns out of, not polo shirts. Pique knit is easy to handle. Sew it with a very narrow zigzag if you don't have a serger. It will look like a straight stitch, but it has some give to handle the stretch.

Pam

If it is nylon tricot, use plastic wrap like "Glad" or "Saran" to stabilize it, and use painter's tape on the very edge too keep it from rolling while you work with it.

If you don't have a serger, see if you can borrow a friends. Knits can be very stretchy. Good Luck.

Definitely a serger is the best thing to use for knits if you have access to one.

Ann Person used her "stretch and sew" technique for working on/with knits if one had only a straight stitch machine.

Use a longer stitch, and then stretch the fabric while sewing it. It did work.

Practice on scraps for techniques. Knits are not all the same.