[pippi]

I am making my first raglan and it’s great! What a fast sew! One thing I am curious about though is stabilizing the neck band? I have noticed on almost every RTW knit garment there is either an extra piece of fabric sewn over the back of the seam of the neck band/should seams or clear elastic into the seams. I haven’t noticed this mentioned in this or other knit patterns or tutorials online… any experience with this? Maybe it would help things from getting stretched out over time?? Or maybe no one really has a problem with neckbands stretching out over time? Any special techniques for sewing these in?

Just looking for some thoughts on this as I plan some more knit garments.

Thanks!

[with love Heidi]

I haven’t used anything to stabilise neck bands. About 2 years ago I made 2 of my friends kids a tshirt, not Oliver and S, and the neck bands still look lovley after lots of wear.

[Liesl Gibson]

Pippi, that tape used to finish the neckline is really for aesthetic reasons–to cover the merrow/serger stitching. I suppose it might also stabilize the neck a bit too, but the fabric itself is mostly responsible for the neckline. A knit with good recovery (it bounces back to its original shape after being stretched) will do fine. Knits without great recovery can stretch over time. You could try using a complimentary fabric with good recover for just the neckline if you’re concerned, but otherwise it should be fine. Knits can really vary a lot, and you can have very different results from similar knits. I’ll blog about his soon and show some examples that we’ve been working on in the studio. I hope that helps!

[Lightning McStitch]

Hi Pippi. I’ve been wondering about doing some cotton bias binding around the back neckline too. I’ve made many Field Trip T’s now and only one had a dreadful neckline and it was like that from the start (I blame too stretchy ribbing). None of the cotton/lycra ones have changed with time. So it seems Liesl’s right (as if she ever isn’t!) It’s cosmetic.

I like the look of the finished neck band and I’ve noticed it’s often done with a minimally stretchy cotton bias binding or even twill tape. I’m nervous both about how limited my neckband stretch would become (could I get it over a kid’s noggin) and I’ve also wondered how I could be sure of lining up the seams so that it’s in-the-ditch on the outside and just right edgestitching on the bias tape on the inside.

One day I’ll do it, if only to see if I can. I’m sure it will look neater but will it be worth the trouble?….

[pippi]

GREAT! Glad to hear that it is not something to worry about! I suppose those contrasting colors covering the seam do look nice when a shirt is on a hanger, but hardly worth the effort if you don’t have it on display. 🙂 I used a regular rib knit for my raglan neckline and it came out just right!

[rebecca]

I’m making my raglan (for my daughter) out of organic wool jersey; but that stuff curls horribly! I can manage for the hems, but on the neckline, it’s too many curling pieces (and small pieces!) to manage.

How would y’all recommend dealing with the curling on the jersey? [I’ve seen the recommendations for starch, but because it’s a protein fiber, I’d rather find an alternate solution. Is there some sort of fusible?? I feel like there’s *got* to be a tip/trick out there, but I just haven’t found it, yet.]

Thanks, y’all!

[Lightning McStitch]

Hi Rebecca, I sew with merino jersey quite a lot and find it behaves quite well with steam ironing. Better behaved than cotton Lycra in my hands.
Steam press it into submission!

[Nicole]

I am with @lightningmcstitch on this one. I made my baby girl some wool jersey Hopscotch nighties in the smallest size. Can you imagine how tiny those front yokes were?

I found a good steamy press made them behave long enough to stitch.

[rebecca]

Okay; finally tried this, yesterday. No luck! Those suckers wouldn’t lay flat. I had already felted the fabric, so no need to worry about felting it (again)…

I realized I have two options; leave it off completely, or hand-sew it. It’s pajamas…guess which one I chose. 😉 She woke up saying last night was her most “confident night” (meaning comfortable…). So, mission accomplished. Thanks, y’all!