Here’s an excerpt from one of my online classes, showing two methods for weaving in ends on Stockinette stitch:
One of my favorite design details in knitwear is a simple, clean knit-in hem. On a basic stockinette stitch piece, hemmed edges give a really polished, tailored finish, so that the yarn and shape can take center stage. Traditionally, knit-in hems involve a provisional cast-on, then exposing live stitches and knitting the two fabric layers together. I sometimes go this route, but I’ve found that pretty often, you can get away with a method that’s a little less fussy, skipping the provisional cast on.
Here’s the traditional method from the front:
And from the back:
And this is the “cheater” method from the front and back:
(Excuse the fuzzies, this is a much-loved sweater*)
You’ll need two sets of circulars for this, one in the larger size for the majority of your knitting, and one set one to two sizes smaller for your hem facing.
To begin, cast on your desired number of stitches onto your smaller hem needle, using a simple backward loop cast on. Keep the tension “just right”, not too tight, but not loose and loopy. Normally these knit-in hems are done on knit-in-the-round pieces, but for illustration I’m doing a flat swatch.
The backward loop cast on is not my normal go-to method for casting on, but we’ll want a nice open bottom edge to this, so here it’s the winner.
Next, knit into your cast on through the front loop. This will give the stitches of the cast on edge a slight twist, which will make it easier to knit into the bottom edge later. Work in stockinette stitch to desired hem depth.
Now switch to your larger needles (whatever size you’ll be knitting the piece with), and purl one row to create the turning row for the hem. Then work in stockinette stitch until you’ve reached the same depth as the 1st section of the hem. Depending on your yarn and needles, this may not be the same number of rows. I often have one or two less rows on the 2nd section worked on larger needles than the 1st worked on smaller ones.
Now it’s time to join the layers together. Fold up your work at the purl row, so that the cast on edge is directly behind your left hand needle. Insert the tip of the left hand needle into the first cast on edge loop.
Insert your right hand needle, then knit these two loops together as one.
Continue knitting together pairs of stitches and cast on loops all the way to the end of your round/row.
The front of your work should look like this:
And the back like this:
Continue working in stockinette on larger needles as directed by your pattern.
Now you’ll have a nice smooth finish on the front:
And a nice flat finish on the inside of your piece:
Questions? Comments? I’d love to hear them.
*Refined Raglan, one of my patterns published in Interweave Knits in Winter 2006. Pattern available HERE.
This post is part of the Fiber Arts Friday Blog Carnival!
This week’s tutorial is on sewing zippers into knit and crochet pieces, which I know is a task that a lot of folks assiduously avoid because they’ve had disappointing results, or are just intimidated by the idea of all that sewing. I say, don’t be afraid of it! With a little bit of prep and some quiet sewing time, you can put in a nice, flat zipper closure into your knit and crochet pieces.
What you’ll need:
straight pins
sewing needle
sewing thread-one spool in a color that matches your handwork item, one in a contrasting color
a zipper in a length that matches your opening-use a separating zipper for cardigans and such, or a shorter, non-separating zipper for things like zip pouches. For non-separating zippers, it’s ok if the zipper is longer than the opening, they’re easy to shorten.
scissors
clean, flat work surface
some quiet time to work at a relaxed pace, don’t rush it!
In these project photos, I’m working on a small zipper pouch and an easier-to-see sample swatch. First, lay out your handwork against the zipper to determine how long you need the zipper to be for your item. Mark this spot with a pin. Here I’m centering the zipper about an eight of an inch in from each end.
Now, using sewing thread and a sharp needle, make a bar tack stitch by sewing over and over and over some more until you’ve built up a little bump of stitches in the spot you’ve marked. Clip threads. See? You’ve made your own zipper stop! Clip the zipper 3/4 inch away from this bar tack; now you’ve got a custom length zipper.
Lay out your handwork piece on the desired side of your zipper, pin in place like this:
Now, using your contrasting thread and a long running stitch, baste your zipper in place about a quarter inch from the edge of your zipper. Don’t knot your thread, you need to be able to yank this back out again later. Don’t worry about aiming for perfect stitches, just aim for a nice even tension to hold the zip flat. Again, this is temporary stitching.
Now you can remove the pins, and the basting stitches will hold your zipper smoothly in place while you do your “real” stitching. Using your matching sewing thread, sew through your fabric and the fabric of the zipper about an eight of an inch from the edge of the zipper, using a small, neat backstitch. Remember that Paula Abdul song, “Opposites Attract”? “One step forward, two steps back…” Backstitch is one step forward, AKA a full stitch length with the needle coming up through the underside of the work, then a half step back, taking a small half stitch length backwards down through the layers from the top of the work.
When you do this with your matching thread, the stitches completely disappear into the knit/crochet piece:
Once you reach the end of your seam, knot the thread and weave in the end. Now you can pull that basting thread out, and you’ll have a nice flat seam:
Here’s the back, and you can see where I didn’t quite make it through all the layers here and there (not the end of the world, I promise):
Now, for added stability and to give the inside a neat finish, I whipstitch the edge of the zipper to the back of the handwork. Using your matching thread again, use an overcast stitch and just catch a bit of the handwork in each stitch. You’re not going to sew all the way through the the front of the work, just on the surface of the wrong side.
Finished whipstitching:
And then you’re done! Repeat for the other side, weave in loose threads. For separating zippers on garments, I like to make bar tack stitches and the top and bottom of each side of the zipper to reinforce the opening. If your item will be getting a lot of heavy use, you can opt to sew an additional backstitch seam next to each of your first seams for extra strength.
Next Friday, I’ll be posting part 2 of this tutorial, which is on sewing a lined zipper pouch. And I’ll be releasing the pattern for these cute zipper pouches:
Tune in next week!
I love to learn new techniques; I’m a learning junkie (for example, last week’s hex patchwork mania).
This project keeps on growing!
I love it even MORE when I can share those newfound bits of knowledge with other fiber folk! So you can guess how fired up I am about the tutorial days in our new Friday series. I have a few things in mind, but what I’d love to know what knitting/crochet/fiber related tutorials you would like to see here in upcoming posts.
So this week’s freebie is nice and simple: leave a comment telling what type of tutorial you’d love to see here on the Kitchen Sink blog, and you’ll be entered to win a custom-dyed skein of our Blue Faced Lace yarn, great for socks, lace and, I must say, absolutely dreamy for crochet. I’ll take entries through Monday evening, then randomly draw a winner when I arrive back from Chicago on Tuesday. The winner can then choose a colorway for their special skein.
Blue Faced Lace yarns in Charlotte and Poppi
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