Sewing Basic Tees With Knit Is A Walk In The Park

By Amanda, A Fabricworm Maker

A lot of sewists both new and old are intimidated by sewing with knits. 

I’m here to say there is nothing to fear! The two most important things 

to remember when sewing knits are 

1. Use a ballpoint needle

2. Use a stretch stitch or serger

I sew everything on a standard sewing machine using an overlock stitch. 

The stitches I have circled are all appropriate for sewing knits. I personally

 love using stitch 13, and I have also had success using a longer straight stitch. 

I really love using Birch interlock knit for kids clothing. It isn’t fiddly

to work with, takes a press easily and holds up really well to abuse from my kids
who frequently roll around in the dirt. I promise I’m not just saying this,
but Birch organic interlock is forever my favorite fabric to work with.
The weight, the colors, the feel, the stretch. It’s just *chef’s kiss* so good. 
One reason I think knits are perfect for learning to sew apparel is because
knits are very forgiving when it comes to fit! I think a basic t-shirt is the perfect
beginner knit project and there are SO many free t-shirt patterns online. I used
2 different patterns and the new Take a Walk interlock from the Jenny Ronen
collection for this project. The two shirt patterns I used were the DIBY
Anything But Basic Kid’s Tee for my big kid and the Basic Tee from
Brindille and Twig for my toddler. I also made my big kid a mask to match
his shirt using the Fabric Face Mask pattern from Twig and Tale. 

When I first started sewing with knits the things that intimidated me the most
were hemming and sleeves. I have always preferred inset sleeves to
raglan style sleeves, but many beginners find raglan style to be easier.
When sewing sleeves do not be afraid to use pins and go slow!
I still do both of these things. With smaller sized sleeves I will sometimes hem
the sleeve before I sew up the side seams. If you decide to do this little hack
you may want to zig zag stitch at seam to tack down the hem for comfort.
I think a lot of people can get bogged down in doing things “correctly” when
it comes to sewing. Sometimes you can get away doing things an easier way
and still end with a beautiful and lovingly made item of clothing.

One thing I really love is adding a label to the back of shirts for the kids.
It’s really helpful for independent dressers and caretakers who are trying
to tell back from the front.  I used to have a small biz and have a lot of
leftover tags so those are what I’m currently using, but Fabricworm also
sells some really cute ones you can find here.

The instructions for both shirt patterns I linked above are really quite
straight forward and making your kiddos shirts will be a breeze! 

 

Bio

Amanda is a stay at home mom of 2 young boys, living outside of
Charlotte, North Carolina. She can be found on
Instagram @mandabe4r where she shares everyday life and crafty things.