FALL 2007 A PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN SEWING GUILD VOL.XII, NO.4

INSIDE THIS ISSUE 2 From the Board 3 From Headquarters 4 Chapter News and Views 20 Sew ‘n Tell: Dream Machines Knit One, Sew Too! by Susan Lazear 22 Sew ‘n Share: Needle Felting 26 he current interest in hand and the wonderful Sew ‘n Tell: Chronicling the Tyarns that have evolved have brought lots of people, Apron both young and old, into the world of textile arts. It only 28 seems logical then that and knits should meld forces with Sewing Hall of Fame sewing and allow us to create magical mixed-media garments. The combination allows you to express yourself through your 30 choice of colors, textures, and stitch patterns. The result is a Sew Young one-of-a-kind garment that you will never see walking down 34 the street on someone else, as you have in essence become a Sew for the Gold designer of a unique outfit. 35 Combining the Two Mediums ASG Community Service Whether you are an accomplished knitter, a novice knitter, or a non-knitter who 35 simply loves yarn, you can find wonderful ways to incorporate yarn into your Give the Gift of the clothing projects. Consider: a coat with knitted sleeves and a chunky knit collar; Guild! a knitted hat and jacket with matching knit trim; a Chanel-style jacket with 36 custom-knitted edgings; a funky skirt with a knitted border; a child’s coat with ASG Creativity knitted cuffs and hood; a tweed jacket with cable knit inserts; or a cut-and-sew Contest 2007 cardigan with knit borders. 38 ASG Conference So, where to begin? There are several factors you need to consider. The first 2007 decisions are the creative ones. What look are you after? Will it be casual, 40 sophisticated, or funky? This will dictate your choice of fabric and yarn. Meet the ASG Award Deciding what type of yarn to use to complement the fabric is probably the Winners most creative decision and thus the most important step 42 in the process of planning your garment. I usually start Book Beat – Book Briefs with the fabric, and then head to the knit shop to find a yarn that com- plements the fabric in texture, color, feel, and overall look. The weight 44 of yarn after it is knitted needs to be evaluated as you generally want Product Previews the knit pieces to be similar in hand and weight to the fabric pieces 45 you are combining it with. Fleece is a great fabric to use when Industry Insider mixing fabrics and knits. Its weight and hand are similar to 51 knits and thus all parts work together well. Chapter Calendar Your second group of decisions is the more practical one. 54 Consider the fragility versus the stability of your fabric and Advertiser Index knit pieces. If you are using a heavier, more rugged material, 55 such as upholstery fabric, knitting a delicate lace pattern ASG Creativity Contest 2008 would not be appropriate. Attempt to keep the weight 56 and hand of the fabric and of your knit the same. This Members Only generally results in a successful garment.

(continued on page 48) Knit One, Sew Too! ing the stitch and row of the (continued from page 1) yarn and stitch pattern. Then meas- ure across the bottom of the pat- Think ahead tern piece, and cast on the about the care appropriate number of procedures stitches. Then begin knit- for both the ting, and as you progress, yarn and the lay the knit piece down on fabric. They the pattern to determine should agree with each when to or stitches. other. Wool would not be an appro- If you are computer comfortable, priate choice to mix with a fabric that you can use software to assist you in you know you want to throw in the obtaining the knitting instructions. I washer and dryer. An acrylic that use Garment Designer, the software looks like wool would be a better program I designed and produced. choice. Since I have knit and sewn since I was Consider the time you have avail- a child, my software is capable of cre- able for making the garment and ating both sewing patterns and choose a sewing pattern and a stitch knitting instructions. I begin pattern that are appropriate. Lastly, by designing the garment consider your skills in knitting and I want. I choose my size sewing and putting the two together. (using a standard size or If you are comfortable with all parts my body measure- of the building process, you can tack- ments) and then I le more advanced projects. If you begin to style want to keep things simple, choose to the garment for knit the sleeves or a simple collar for my sewn and your garment. These pattern pieces knit combina- will have the simplest shaping and tion, choosing thus don’t need a lot of math to calcu- the appropriate late the knitting instructions. style options of neckline, Nuts and Bolts armhole, So, where do you get a pattern that sleeve, etc. allows you to build some parts of the When I am garment with fabric and other parts happy with my with hand knits? You have a few choices, I print options: the paper pattern on 1 You can choose a sewing pattern multiple 8 ⁄2" x 11" pages and tape that is rather simple in its design, so them together. I then print out knit- that chosen pieces can easily be trans- ting instructions for the pieces I want lated to knitting instructions using to hand knit. I often print out the basic math and stitch and row gauge. paper pattern for the knit pieces as Drop shoulder styles, square arm- well, so I can use them as a template holes, and other basic shapes work for my pieces when I have well to allow you to easily chart out finished knitting them. the knit section of the garment. There No matter which approach you use is no escaping knitting a test swatch to generate the knit pieces, your goal to determine your gauge, so be pre- is to replicate the regular pattern pared to do this. piece by its shape. Once If you are a bit brave, you can use a you’ve finished knitting and before more intuitive approach and knit to a you move on to join it with the other template using your pattern pieces as sections of your garment, you must a guide. Begin as above, by determin- block it to set the shape. The easiest

© American Sewing Guild • www.asg.org ASG Notions • Fall 2007 way to do this is start with a brown • Knit bands can be attached to paper copy of the pattern section. woven edges. For inspiration, check Place the knitted section on top. out “Knitting on the Edge” Working on your ironing board by Nicky Epstein. The book or other well-padded surface, is a collection of more than gently steam it and manipulate 350 knitted edgings, bor- it with your fingers until it ders, and trims that will matches the brown paper add a special touch to your shape. Use non-rusting pins to garments. secure it to the ironing board • Knitted cuffs attached to and leave it alone until it is fabric sleeves to finish the thoroughly dry. is the garment. exception to all of this. Do not block • Knit collars are a great way to ribbing; its ability to stretch and accent a garment. The collar can be recover will be destroyed. a simple rectangle. Measure along the opening of your neckline to Joining Hand Knits to Fabrics determine how long the collar There are several ways to join your should be. Then cast on the appro- hand knit pieces to the fabric pieces. If priate number of stitches and knit a you are not a knitting “purist” (which rectangle to your desired I suspect most sewers aren’t), you can depth/width. You can use the simply sew the two pieces together. I sewing machine to attach the collar. like to work with a Teflon foot or a • Knit I-cord, or use roller foot and place the knit piece on one of the I- top as I sew. If I am working with a cord machines rather thick knit, I position it so that to create a 1 1 when I sew, I only have ⁄8" to ⁄4" seam mini tube of 1 allowance on the knit and ⁄2" seam knitted yarn allowance on the fabric. So, in other which can then words, the raw edges do not align. be couched or This might seem a bit tricky at first, stitched to the but it is actually pretty easy to do, and surface of your it eliminates extra bulk in the seam fabric. If you aren’t familiar with allowance caused by a hand knit. how to create I-cord, visit www. An alternate technique is to hand- chicknits.com/tticord.shtml, where baste a line of stitches on your fabric you’ll find animated directions. using sturdy thread. Then with your If your skill set runs to crocheting: knitting needles, pick up into the • Use yarn to crochet a trim on fabric stitches and knit down from them to edges. You can run a hand basting create the attached knit piece. No stitch and use it as a base to crochet sewing machine is involved. You can into, or on fabrics like fleece, you also use a crochet hook and chain can poke into the fabric with your stitch into your fabric (if you can poke crochet hook. holes in it), and use this as the base • Crocheting a collar onto a garment row for picking up stitches. When can also be a quick and easy way to you are finished knitting, remember trim a garment. Again, measure the to stop and block the section. neckline opening. To make a ruffled collar, chain stitch a strip of stitches More Wonderful Ways with Yarn the same length as the neckline, If you don’t want to knit an entire then single crochet into each chain garment section, there are lots of stitch. On the next row, double-cro- other ways to use wonderful chet twice into each single crochet, with your fabrics. Here are a few sug- gestions: (continued on page 50)

ASG Notions • Fall 2007 © American Sewing Guild • www.asg.org TIPS FOR KNITTING WITH Knit One, Sew Too! KNIT SHOP FABRIC (continued from page 49) Choose a lightweight fabric that feels F. A. Edmunds & Co., 6111 S. Sayre flexible, not stiff. and on the last Avenue, Chicago IL 60638 Choose a fabric that is printed with row, create two 773-586-2772 the design showing through to the treble crochets www.faemunds.com reverse side of the fabric. into each dou- Strip-It Fabric Stripper cuts fabric 1 1 3 1 Try knitting a fabric swatch to find ble crochet. into ⁄4", ⁄2", ⁄4", 1", and 1 ⁄4" widths. your knitting gauge. Easy—and The tool clamps securely to a table edge, Once you know your knitting charming! allowing you to pull the fabric through gauge, you can use other patterns that and cut up to four strips at a time call for a similar gauge. (For example: Knitting with Fabric 1 strips cut approximately ⁄2" will knit Yarn isn’t the only medium you can Knit One, Crochet Too, 91 Tandberg to the approximate gauge of knitting use. Narrow strips of fabric can be Trail, Unit 6, Windham ME 04062 worsted yarn on a U.S. #10 needle.) treated just like yarn. Choose a light- 207-892-9625 The finished fabric will be a little weight fabric that feels flexible, not www.knitonecrochettoo.com heavier and somewhat stiffer so you stiff. Rayons and soft cottons are good PJ’s Fleece Ribbon: pre-cut fleece strips need to choose patterns appropriate- choices. Lightweight fleece also in 50 gram (88 yard) balls suitable for ly, but it is fun to experiment. works well. You can purchase pre-cut knitting on #10 needles You can cut your fabric strips with strips (see Knit Shop) or cut your , a rotary cutter, or you can own. For tips on knitting with fabric, Books even rip the fabric into strips. check out the sidebar to the left. “Fast, Fun & Easy Fabric Knitting” Cut the fabric along the lengthwise by Cyndy Lyle Rymer grain in order to obtain longer strips Knit Now! C&T Publishing, 48 pages, color pho- to knit. Combining hand knitting, yarns, and tos/illustrations, ISBN 1-57120-303-6, Attach strips to each other by sewing allows you to express your $14.95 sewing (most time consuming), tying creativity in new ways. You have together (a little knotty), looping (cut more elements to combine and the “Knitting on the Edge” a slit in both fabric strips, layer results can be fantastic as you broad- by Nicky Epstein matching slits, and insert opposite en your world of color, texture, and Sixth & Spring Books, 160 pages, color end of new strip up through both slits fibers. Even if you don’t knit, you photos, hard cover, ISBN 1-931543-40-2, and pull all the way through), or use could choose to collaborate with a $29.95 fabric glue (easiest). friend who does, or you can simply You can use a ribbon needle to raid her stash to bring some new ele- “Knitting over the Edge” weave ends of fabric in or to sew ments to your work. The results will by Nicky Epstein pieces of knit fabric together. be truly unique and the process is Sixth & Spring Books, 160 pages, color If you plan on making matching rewarding. photos, hard cover, ISBN 1-931543-75-5, napkins for a knitted placemat, or lin- $29.95 ing a knitted bag with matching fab- Susan Lazear is a professor of fashion at ric, choose fabric with colors and a Mesa College in San Diego where she pattern you like. If you’re just using teaches various fashion courses on com- the fabric to knit, choose fabric for the puter design. She designs wearable art colors—you won’t be able to see and unusual fine art crafts and is much of the pattern. It makes it inter- a computer graphic artist. In esting to see how some fabrics turn addition to her teaching, she out. More color, more fun!! combined her skills to create Don’t forget to embellish! Add a line of software for sewers beads, add buttons, add ribbon. Use and textile artists under the more than one fabric for stripes (no Cochenille Design Studio in ends if you glue strips name. www.cochenille.com together). Most of all, use your imag- ination! Reprinted with permission from www.cranstonvillage.com

© American Sewing Guild • www.asg.org ASG Notions • Fall 2007