How To Choose Knit Fabrics For Beginner Sewists

Let’s say you want to expand the types of garments you make. But, you aren’t sure how to choose knit fabrics for beginner sewists. In this article, I want to give you some tips on how I chose my fabrics when I was starting out.

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Tip 1

Personally, I started with something simple. I began with a project that was uncomplicated and that I KNEW what it was supposed to look like while sewing it and what it should look like when finished. For me, that garment was a T-shirt. We all know and have worn them so it was the perfect choice.

I chose a simple pattern that was front, back, sleeves and neckband.

Line drawing for Style Arc Alannah T-shirt pattern

I remember choosing this Style Arc Alannah T-shirt because it had few pieces. While I was new to knit sewing, I wasn’t new to sewing overall. That’s something you might want to keep in mind for your own skill level. Some people choose to try a simple pair of knit shorts. But pick something that challenges you a little bit, but isn’t so challenging that you get discouraged. Besides, once you gain that confidence with a simple project, you can move on to more intricate projects and details.

Tip 2–Fabric

As far as the actual fabric is concerned when deciding how to choose knit fabrics for beginner sewists, I would start with a more stable knit. I always like cotton interlock for T-shirts because it’s comfortable, washes well, it lasts, and it’s easy to work with. Another option is a ponte knit. Ponte is great for making pants or a cardigan. It has a nice drape to it and it’s generally easy to work with as well.

Tip 3–Prepping The Fabric

Wash your fabric. Let me say it again: WASH YOUR FABRIC!! I don’t care that it’s a knit and therefore you don’t think it’ll shrink. Starting with clean fabric isn’t just about shrinkage. This material has been manufactured, stored in a warehouse, shipped and touched by many hands and machinery. I will always prep my fabric by washing it first. I generally wash it by itself (or with a lining fabric if that applies) in cold water then dry it on low heat. Since most of my laundry is washed in cold water, this works great for me.

Tip 4-Laying It Out And Cutting

Be sure you have a large, flat surface for cutting out the pattern. With knits, what you don’t want to happen is for the fabric to hang over the edge of the table and stretch. That can warp your pieces so that they don’t fit together. as they should.

As with any sewing project, it’s best to use sharp scissors so you don’t end up chewing up the fabric. One very important thing to keep in mind: make sure the stretch of the fabric is going ACROSS the body. If you don’t you will not be able to get the top over your head (or the shorts over your hips). Some patterns will have stretch direction printed on the pattern pieces. Others will not, so you always want to be able to know which way it’s going.

Collage of woman wearing three different t-shirts

Generally speaking, the greatest stretch is going to be perpendicular to the grainline.

Tip 5-Sewing

For the best success with your project, start with a new needle. In this article I’m assuming you don’t have a serger if you’re new to sewing knit fabrics. I suggest a universal size 14 sewing machine needle or a needle specifically made for knits. These will generally range from a size 10-14.

For stitch length for your first beginner knit sewing project, I would say to keep the zigzag stitch length either at the factory setting (be sure to test on a scrap of your fabric) or change to 2.5 length and width. This way if you need to take out any stitches, they won’t be so small that it’ll be difficult to do. Using the zigzag stitch will keep the seams secure and also give you the stretch the fabric needs.

woman wearing Butterick 6368 black velvet burnout cardigan

Conclusion

With some patience and practice, you will have sewing success. Before you know it, you can have a whole wardrobe of comfortable well-fitting knit garments that you made yourself.