[Jamie]

Hi, ladies! I am in need of some bias tape made of rib knit…does anyone know if I can use my bias tape maker for knits? I’m an old pro at making woven binding, but have not tried it with knits yet. I am making some knit sundresses for my 2 yr old and would like to use a continuous strip to bind the arm hole & tie the dress at each shoulder (similar to the finish on Liesl’s Popover sundress). Any tips would be*greatly* appreciated!

Thanks,

Jamie

[Sarvi]

Wish I had some good info, but I haven’t tried it. Usually wovens are cut on the bias because that’s where the stretch is, if I’m not mistaken. For a knit, would it be better to cut it on the crossgrain in the direction of the stretch?

[Nicole]

From my very limited knit sewing experience I would suggest you cut the knit across the grain too.

Hopefully Cindy, the knit queen, will pop in and confirm.

~Nicole~

[beachmom]

I made a sundress for my oldest recently that had knit binding for the straps: http://flic.kr/p/ex5VX8

The straps were cut on the cross grain. Sometimes when I don’t want the straps to stretch much, I’ll cut them against the grain. Knit binding is never (or at least I haven’t seen it yet!) cut on the bias.

I don’t know if a bias tape maker will work or not. Perhaps there’s something in the literature that came with it? I typically fold mine in fourths and press.:)

Good luck! Sundresses in that style made out of knit sound lovely!

Cindy

[Lightning McStitch]

I’ve done this and the others are right, no need to cut on the bias as you’ll get the stretch you need from the fabric. The pesty part is that knit fabrics don’t iron creases very well, so I wouldn’t bother with the bias maker.

Just sew the strip on imagining you have a crease at the 1/4 width then wrap around and cover the first sewing.

Of course if you use a straight stitch as you would sewing a woven bias binding then you’ll lose any stretch at the armhole, and it will act like a woven bias binding. If you need stretch you’d be better off with a narrow cuff, or perhaps an excuse to buy a coverstitch overlocker! 🙂

I hope that helped rather than confused further.

[Jamie]

Thank you SO much, ladies! The game plan is now to cut the rib knit on the cross grain & sew it with a straight stitch. I don’t really need any stretch, just didn’t think it would look right to use a woven binding on a knit garment & I can’t recall seeing knit seam binding anywhere for purchase.

Since I don’t generally work with knits, this is a giant step outside my comfort zone. Thanks for taking time out of your day to help me.

Best,

Jamie

[Sarvi]

Be sure to report back with how it went! It’ll be very useful to those of us who haven’t tried it before. Going outside of your comfort zone is great!

[Sarvi]

Be sure to report back with how it went! It’ll be very useful to those of us who haven’t tried it before. Going outside of your comfort zone is great!

[Maggie]

I have for finished several tops with contrast binding. Since knits don’t unravel, there is not need to bind as you do with bias binding. Cut a strip from the cross grain, fold in half lengthwise, press. Then sew this to the edge you want to bind with a narrow zigzag. If you like, you can top stitch with your narrow zigzag to ensure the cuff doesn’t flip up.