Just finished watching the leadership debate for the BC May 14 election. Well that was something to behold; time to move on to something more serious.
When we last left off with finishing skills casting/binding off and sewing together had been discussed. These are both huge topics whose surface has barely been scratched in my ramblings. Do use the internet to help fill in gaps in your understanding. Getting these two skills down will really help you improve the final look of your finished project.
To round out this discussion I want to talk about adding a button band and how to hide all the loose ends. The button band is created by a process called picking up stitches, a technique used to added knitted work to a piece that is already been completed. So if you are adding a sleeve, collar, heel of a sock, ear flap, fingers on a glove or in our case a button band, you use this technique. The added part is knit in a different direction and thus creates a distinct look.
Picking up stitches can be done in several ways. Here's a less than two minute video using a knitted-on process. Or should you review the first minute or so of this video you'll notice the knitter picks up stitches and then knits them. Either way of approaching this works; but frankly, I prefer to use a crochet hook to pull stitches through finished work as seen in this short video.
The instructions or your garment will tell you how many stitches to pick up and it often gives suggestions about skipping a stitch after adding a set number so that the work is even. If it doesn't you'll need to use those rusty math skills to determine the appropriate spacing. It is a bit fiddly and can be rather time consuming, so I try to do this after a good night's sleep rather than at the end of a long workday. Done well the seams look terrific.
Once the band is done there's the final bit of hiding all the loose ends. Here's a photo of a baby blanket I've started.
As you can see it has a pinwheel effect with three colour changes. Each new colour is added by picking up stitches creating plenty of loose ends to hide. Hiding loose ends is done by using a tapestry needle to sew on the wrong side. As you can see from this video the loose end is wrapped around stitches. I generally like to change directions once because it helps anchor the ends a bit more, but perhaps that's just me adding insurance so the ends won't come undone. So here's my piece of blanket after a bit of time, note all the ends are now hidden. This technique does allow for wearable clothes that do not unravel. Done neatly the receiver will never know how many ends were created making the garment.
So there you have it, a brief but appropriately highlighted approach to finishing skills.
When we last left off with finishing skills casting/binding off and sewing together had been discussed. These are both huge topics whose surface has barely been scratched in my ramblings. Do use the internet to help fill in gaps in your understanding. Getting these two skills down will really help you improve the final look of your finished project.
To round out this discussion I want to talk about adding a button band and how to hide all the loose ends. The button band is created by a process called picking up stitches, a technique used to added knitted work to a piece that is already been completed. So if you are adding a sleeve, collar, heel of a sock, ear flap, fingers on a glove or in our case a button band, you use this technique. The added part is knit in a different direction and thus creates a distinct look.
Picking up stitches can be done in several ways. Here's a less than two minute video using a knitted-on process. Or should you review the first minute or so of this video you'll notice the knitter picks up stitches and then knits them. Either way of approaching this works; but frankly, I prefer to use a crochet hook to pull stitches through finished work as seen in this short video.
The instructions or your garment will tell you how many stitches to pick up and it often gives suggestions about skipping a stitch after adding a set number so that the work is even. If it doesn't you'll need to use those rusty math skills to determine the appropriate spacing. It is a bit fiddly and can be rather time consuming, so I try to do this after a good night's sleep rather than at the end of a long workday. Done well the seams look terrific.
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| Got to love the contrasting look of the button band and collar |
Once the band is done there's the final bit of hiding all the loose ends. Here's a photo of a baby blanket I've started.
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| Wrong side with all the loose ends ready to work |
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| Right side without ends showing |
So there you have it, a brief but appropriately highlighted approach to finishing skills.
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