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Sewing Pieces Together

Once you finally have all the pieces of your knitted project off the needles (see Binding or Casting Off Techniques) it is time to sew them together.  As I mentioned earlier, this is the part that can really make or break a piece.   It might look something like this:


A sweater generally off the needles except for the neckline

In the photo above, you can see the left sleeve is ready be inserted into place. It also appears the shoulders are either already sewn together or more than likely the entire body was knit from the back to the front.  (One should start the putting-together process with the shoulders so that the front and back are align.)   But you'll notice several finishing touches are left to do, for example, the entire left side seam of the sweater needs work and the right side seam is left undone as well.  So how do we go from above to this?

A well-finished sweater

Most knitting pattern designers believe you should know how to do this so most are very, very short on details.  Find a good book to help you with finishing techniques if you want something to hold.  Otherwise use the Internet, there are many, many good sources.  Here's my abbreviated version.  It will give you a start on how to finish a sweater.

Since the knitting pattern on the sweater above looks to be similar on both the front and the back, a simple mattress stitch will work on the side seams.  Check  Mimi Kezer's great video to see how she hides red yarn to sew together a gray seam.  Or if you'd prefer an illustrated version of these instructions, check out Lion Brand yarns' take here. Done right the mattress stitch is sewn with the right or front sides placed side by side and yet the stitch is completely hidden.  You'll want to practice this on some swatches before you start sewing a sweater together but with a little practice it can be done and done well.   Or be like me and practice finishing lots of knitted food.

So you have the sides sewn together how do you go about setting in the sleeves.  The stitches are running vertically on the body and horizontally on the sleeve.  To begin the process one locates the middle of the sleeve and pins it to the shoulder seams.  Then the ends of the sleeve are pinned to the bottom of the armhole on each side.  (Remember neither the side seam nor sleeve are sewn together at this time.)   Use the mattress stitch again to sew the sleeve in place working in ease if necessary.  However, don't take my words for it, watch this video for details.  You also will get some great tips and tricks just in case everything isn't quite perfect as you sew.  Or if you want another review check out this website.

We'll stop here for today.  Next will be a discussion about picking up stitches to finish off both the button band and neckline.


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