Sew your own ribbing fabric

For a lot of patterns you need a knit fabric, like a jersey or wool plus some ribbing to finish the sleeves or sew a neckband.

I know it can be difficult to find a matching ribbing for the knit fabric you want to use. I have bought cotton and acrylic ribbing in bright colors when I was making sweaters for my kids but I never found a wool ribbing.

If you can’t find the right matching ribbing you can make your own faux ribbing, using the same  knit fabric, and a twin needle.

I learned that technique from a Threads magazine article “RIBBING” FOR ANY KNIT FABRIC”
by Dorothy Amo back in 1996 April/May issue 64.

Years ago I made a wool jersey sweater and made the ribbing from the same fabric using a twin needle size 4.0×75

I made the neckband from a folded pin tucked piece of the wool.

After the pintucks were sewn I measured the needed wide and sewed the band together with a regular stitch and finished the outer edge and attached the band around the neckline with a 3 thread serger/overlocker.

I topstitched the band seam allowances around the neckline again with a twin needle.

For the sleeve cuffs I sewed pintucks for a length of 20 cm and finished both edges with a 3 thread serger and traced the part of the sleeves which I wanted in pintucks , sewed the ends together , attached to the sleeves and used 4 cm for the hem wide and hand stitched the hem since I did not want to use a visible line of stitching.

As you can see the sweater is old but it is only to show what is possible if you make the matching ribbing your self.

I made a new sample from a purple knit

I marked the knit fabric on 10 cm and starting to sew pin tucks, the wide between the pin tucks is 4 mm and I have 13 pin tucks for the 10 cm wide fabric which leaves me with 8 cm wide faux ribbing.

The size of the stitch length I used was 2,5 and the tension on high at 8. I used my normal sewing feet and set the needle on 4 towards the right.

I used my sewing foot as a guide for the previous sewn pin tuck.

wrong side

I used the sample to make a cuff for the sleeve .

The amount of stretch depends on the stretch factor and stretch recovery of the fabric plus the amount of pin tucks. In this case the cuff 10 cm wide and it can stretch towards 14,5 cm.

It is best to make a sample first.

but did not finished the edges as you can see inside the sleeve.

If you want to explore more about this sewing technique try to find a copy of Threads magazine issue 64 which shows detailed pictures and a lot more information.

   or find a copy of the “Book Sewing with Knits” by Connie Long , she also covers this type of sewing ribbing in her book.

Lead weight hem

Wearing a linen blouse in summer is very weather friendly if you can stand the wrinkles, which of course are a characteristic of wearing linen fabric.

I love to wear linen blouses but I do not like the wrinkles and pleats of the back hem. I wear a long blouse so it creases a lot at the back hem due to sitting.  I wondered if there was a cure to prevent any more bunching up the hem.

So after some brainstorming I came up with the idea to use a lead tape inside the hem, to keep the hem hang straight even after sitting.

Lead tape is mostly used in curtain hems but I did use the lead tape inside my blouse hem and it works like a charm.

I bought some lead tape the lightest weight the store had was 35 grams per meter , but that was a bit too heavy to use in a blouse hem. Unfortunately the store did not have the lightest weight tape which is 15 grams per meter. The 35 gram tape was not the right weight to use in my blouse hem, it was too heavy and it showed a ridge in my hem seam allowance, due to the larger diameter.

detailed view of the lead weight tape, partly uncovered to show the lead weights:

Lead tape is available per meter here in The Netherlands in different weights and I needed a lightweight lead tape 15 gram per meter which is the lightest weight.

See the difference in size and diameter for 35 grams at the top and 15 grams at the bottom. I removed some of the cover so you can see a detailed view what is inside the tape.

So I remembered that I had some polyester organza curtains in my stash , which were a big mistake, color was wrong, but I could re-use the lead tape. One hour later I had ripped the lightweight lead tape 15 grams per meter and used that tape to stabilize my linen blouse hem.

I wore my blouse for a day and the hem is still looking good and no bunching up hem.

Eureka that was the best solution to keep my linen blouse hem stay put.

I secured the lead tape at the inside of the mitered corners of the blouse hem at center front and side slits with some hand stitching.

The tape is laying loose in the hem allowance and should withstand washing. I am going to hang dry my blouse so the covered lead tape will not harm my linen fabric.

I made  a sample for pressing/ ironing and noticed that if I move the tape a bit upward I can press the hem fold without showing a small ridge, due to the tape which is inside the hem allowance.

So there is no need to press the hem touching the tape because it can move due to the hem allowance ( 1,5 inch) I used for this blouse.

Since I had no information if this tape was available in the US I asked fellow diva MaryBeth and she directed me to a US source for this tape  amazon.

If you love to wear linen and want to prevent any bunching up of the hem, this is a way to keep the hem hanging straight.

Fine Men’s Tailoring: Pants Hemming

 Do you recognise a European tailor made or High End RTW men’s pants or trousers by the way it is hemmed?

 

 

 Since I never found any information about this way of hemming outside Europe I thought it would be interesting to show you.

 

 The hem has a tape sewed on at the hem allowance partly covering the hem fold by 1 mm or 1/24 inch to protect the hem from wearing out, and for reinforcement.

 

 Grey pants example detail  : which shows the 1 mm ridge which is peeking out but is hardly noticeable by others , or you must be lying on the ground so your eyes are on the same level as the pants hem. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Detail outside view black pants

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Inside view black pants

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This tape is sewn by 2 stitching lines after the hem fold is steam pressed and the ridge should peep out  for 1 mm ( 1/24 inch) 

 I used a non matching thread for better view.

 

 

 

 

 This polyester or cotton tape is 15,5 mm wide (5/8 inch) and has a small ridge at one long end.

 

 The tape which is called “Stootband” in Dutch, “Trouser Kick Tape” in English, “Hosenstossband” in German,  “Talonnette” in French, “Slidbånd” in Denmark, “Cinta Talonera” in Spain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visible ridge 1 mm, 1/28 inch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This way of protecting a hem from wearing out is mainly used in men’s pants/trousers but I also heard that in theater clothing it is used for floor-length gowns or skirts to protect the hem from wearing out.

 

 I have sewn this tape too in a pair of wide legged pants for myself.

 

 This tape is available in several colors like dark blue, black, beige, grey and brown and can be purchased at European well stocked notion stores, it is sold per meter or at prepacked cards which consist of 2 meters (2.18 yards)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I bought a few cards from a store who was selling out their inventory

(1 grey, 2 1 beige, 5 3 black and 5 3 dark blue) which I can part off if anybody wants to try them out.

 

 The price per card is Euro €1,25 plus shipping.

 If you are interested in a card contact me at diva-els  hotmail dot com