Knit Binding Tips

Knit Binding

Nicki begins by talking about what binding strips are and how they should be cut. She talks about other common bias binding that you might be familiar with and how it is made. She then explains why knit binding needs to be made slightly differently in order to ensure that it will hold up well not only while you are sewing it onto your garment, but also throughout the life of the garment.

With knit binding needing to be cut on the straight of grain, Nicki explains several ways that you can find and cut along that straight of grain to get your binding strips. Depending on where you are adding your knit binding strip, you may need to cut multiple strips and sew them together to make one long strip. If you decide to make your strip from a woven fabric instead, learn how to create continuous bias binding to make it quicker and easier.

Nicki then shows several examples of where the knit binding can be used on a shirt, including along the lower edge of a T-shirt as a way to hem the bottom, and along the armscye openings and neckline of a tank top. If you are needing to bind the edge of something like the upper edge of a skirt and want additional stretch, using fold-over elastic binding can be a fun alternative.

Nicki then shows how to sew the knit binding to the neckline opening of a shirt. She explains how to measure and know what length of strip to cut and how to stabilize the fabric before sewing, if needed, using a knit stay tape. She then shows how to sew the knit binding in place, explaining what stitch and machine settings to use.