SEWING KNITS

One thing I noticed about knits and sewing them over the years is that they always want to go back to the way they were when they're washed. My advice would be to wash your pants first and see what happens. They might just go back to normal.

When you're hemming knits, you might want to try using a 4.0mm twin needle as opposed to a zig zag. A zig zag only promotes stretch, but the twin needle would cut down on that.

Hope that helps... if it doesn't work... let me know

Addie

Linda, When I sew knits I try to use the stretch stitch if the machine has one,lessen the pressure of the presser foot and some times use a method of feeding the fabric I saw Sandra Betzina use for easing......put your finger on the fabric behind the presser foot and keep the fabric bunched up... release and repeat. The other suggestion is using a product called wonder tape. It is a double sided tape that you can stick the hem up with,it will serve to stabilize the seam while you sew (no stretching),will not gum up the needle and washes out when you launder the clothes. I use it to stick zippers down too.

Elaine

Admiralla scribbled :

I am really surprised no one has mentioned an even feed/walking foot

Penny S

snipped-for-privacy@aol.comNOJUNK (Abejjmoot) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mb-m05.aol.com:

You might also want to read the article 'no more gaping necklines' at

It details how to use stablizing tape with knit on the neckline and armscyes, but the same could apply to what you're trying to fix.

-j

Thanks..........this is something that I have never even heard of. I learned to sew in high school (which was a long time ago) and we didn't have anything but needles, thread and a one way sewing Singer. I had always thought that zigzag stitches were for sewing with knits. If not, what exactly are they for?

Linda

I am going to do this today but I need to know if it is possible to do this with just my old Singer. I don't have a new machine and mine sews using ONE STITCH ....period. I borrow another machine for the zigzag but that is the only thing that machine does also. I know nothing about the new machines as I have only used my 1930 model my whole life. Thank you everyone for all of your help./ Isn't the internet a wonderful thing?

Linda

Straight stitch is all you need. You may have to do some hems by hand. (Depends on the fabric and on the effect you want.)

Stretch the fabric SLIGHTLY while you are sewing, and use a moderately-long stitch so it will have room to shrink when you let go. A very short stitch secures the fabric in the stretched condition, and you get ripples.

Don't worry about "finishing" the edges of seam allowances

-- most knits don't ravel.

Vertical seams in jersey press themselves open.

Joy Beeson

Well, the good thing about a straight-stitch-only machine is that it does that one thing beautifully. My mother made all our clothes with only a Victorian Singer hand-crank - I thought a treadle machine was the height of sophistication.

I looked up techniques in a 1930s manual for you and they simply assumed you would be sewing with wovens or knitting knitwear. For bias they suggested handwork - in fact the amount of hand-finishing people did then would make your eyes water! They suggested finishing lock-knits with hand-done herringbone stitch - no thank you...

I'd do as Joy said. Stretch the fabric slightly as you sew and use a longish stitch. That's a method many people favour for sewing on the bias, too.

What do you do about buttonholes, incidentally? If you don't have zig-zag, you might want to think about in-seam buttonholes to save yourself a lot of work...

:) Trish

Yes, you can sew with your old Singer. Get a copy of an old Stretch & Sew book, which tells you how to use your machine on knits. For blind hems, you can get a blind hem attachment or a zigzag attachment for the straight-stitch Singers that moves the fabric rather than the needle. Check on eBay for the attachments since I don't think dealers carry them anymore (unless they have an old one in stock - I got a slant-needle zigzag attachment that way.) You can also get a buttonhole attachment if you want to do buttonholes. I seem to have about 30 or 40 of those.

The bottom line for any sewing machine is that they form a stitch. All the newer ones do is move the needle back and forth - which means that there is extra room by the bobbin for the needle to drop in a wider area - this also means that the straight stitch is not as precise. About 90% or

95% of all sewing is straight stitch. So you've got most of it covered already!

Linda,=20

Did you see one of the earlier posts on this? It suggested lessenig the pressure of the presser foot. Also using a method of feeding the fabric by putting your finger on the fabric behind the presser foot and keep the fabric bunched up...release and then repeat. The other suggestion was using a product called wonder tape. It is a double sided tape to stick the hem up with, which stabilizes the seam while you sew (no stretching),will not gum up the needle and washes out when you launder the clothes.=20

Now, what I am interested in is what type of 1930 Singer you have!! I LOVE old Singers (I have over 20 of them....)!

Irene

PS =3D As my daughter used to say, "the Internet ROCKS!!"

I have a Singer 301 and I will never give it up because I think that I could never learn any of the new machines! Thank you everyone for all of your help. I haven't been back here to read anything for awhile because my computer is also OLD OLD and sometimes doesn't fire up for me!!(but I love the old Mac too!) I am going to print out all of your information and will keep tabs on this newsgroup, what a great bunch you all are!!

Linda