A first try at knit fabrics

I've been interested in copying a few of my current tops which have definitely reached their 'mid-life' so I wanted to do some succession planning! They're good tops but they're in knit fabrics and that just seemed too complicated for me to do as I don't have an overlocker. However, I've been looking around other blogs and realised that sewing knit fabrics is much easier than I thought. Tilly and the buttons came up trumps with easy to follow instructions so I put my trust in her and here are the results:

I drew around a top I have, drawing the outline on a piece of newspaper (!). Then cut out the fabric. I used a stretchy fabrics sewing machine needle and did lots of adjusting and experimenting in getting the correct length of stitches and type of stitch. Normal zigzag is good but I did have to play around to get the right length of stitch so it wasn't too tight and pull the fabric. Here's a photo below of the zigzagged hem which I'm pleased with.


For some reason this photo and the one below insist on upside-down-ing themselves!

I bound the neck and I think I've got away with it! I used a straight stretch stitch to sew the band on, the folded over the raw edge to the inside of the garment, and slip stitched by hand the last edge. The neck looks better when worn, honest!