Burda Style For people who sew

This is probably a really silly question, but i’m quite the beginner and am wondering how you tell the difference between material that is woven and material that is a knit. Are knits far more stretchy than wovens?

Mar 7, 2010, 02.53 AM by kyliemikale

4 Posts

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  Mar 10, 2010, 08.56 AMby Sew4my3

  The difference in woven and knit garments lies in the construction of the fabrics. The knit garment is tougher and better able to withstand wear, but the woven garment has the ability to be more versatile in it’s construction. The woven garment is the most common in clothing construction. Because of the ability to cut the material and shape it by means of sewing, it is far more popular in the garment industry. Material made by weaving is thinner as a rule and is not prone to raveling in handling. This allows the garment maker to cut shapes that are not ordinarily available to the knitted garment. Garments made by this method can be embellished by any number of add on items such as buttons, woven in patterns, or different types of lace and contrasting materials sewn to the fabric. The knitted garment is softer and more supple because its thread is treated differently. Knitted is produced by using needles to pull threads up through the preceding threads to produce fabric. Items such as sweaters and stockings are made by the knitting method and will readily “give” in response to pressure of the body. The disadvantage to the knit garment is that it is easily damaged by pulling of one thread in the garment which will distort or even destroy the garment. Examples of this problem is seen by the “run” in stockings and “pulls” in a sweater. From: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_knit_and_woven_garments
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  May 18, 2010, 03.33 PMby staceyannec

  very informative thank you
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  May 25, 2010, 12.16 AMby Cantare

  to BurdaStyle: I personally love creating knit pieces, but can’t seem to get the machine to cooperate. The needle tension is either too loose or too tight and bubbles the seams. I have a Brother, and thread or fabric aids (like bottle formulas, extra layers) don’t always help when I want the knit to drape a certain way. Do I actually have to buy a “knit capable machine” or is there a way to sew knits neatly on a standard home machine? Any suggestions?

  1 Reply

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    May 26, 2010, 02.19 AMby Sew4my3

    Hello Cantare,

    Sewing knits can be tricky, but once you figure it out, it is such a fun fabric to work with. Here is a youtube video that should help http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8exUCIleGo. Also, check out some of the other videos in the menu to the right of the first video.

    This video is also posted here on Burdastyle at: http://www.burdastyle.com/techniques/sewing-stretch-knit-without-a-serger-overlocker, so whichever one works for you.

    Let me know how it works out for you. Happy sewing!