Knit Wear | glevion

MACHINE KNIT

December 2012

Knit Wear Project

A fully fashioned or combined cut-and-sew look using Machine Knit and/or cut-and-sew fabric.

For Fall Semester 2012, I was required to take a Machine Knit Wear class. I learned how to use the machine's many techniques to create original designed swatches and later garments.

Techniques learned: Open Stitch, Lader/Drop Stitch, Hook Up Stitch, Punch Card, Fairisle Pattern, Motif Pattern, Double Length Patter, Tuck Stitch Patter, Skip (or slip) Stitch Patter, Weaving Pattern, Hold Stitch, Hem, Cording, Plating (Reversible) Knitting, Beading and Embellishment, and Gauge Calculations for Garment Patterns

Inspiration: The silhouette and texture of winter trees

Techniques: Open Stitch, Hold Stitch, Regathering / Hook Up Stitch

Fabric & Yarn: Knit Jersey, Yarn 70% Viscose / 30% Cotton

PROCESS

To create my full fashioned knit wear piece I first had to make sure that the under dress fit the model perfectly. The dress weighs 10 pounds due to the amount of yarn needed to create the skirt. If the underdress did not fit the model it would pull and sag on her body. I created 7 knit muslins of the underdress, fitting and refitting the model. After each fitting, I would then subtract the gauges from my original pattern. The open stitches at her sides made it difficult to judge how much to subtract without unbalancing the knit portion of her front and back. Open stitches also meant that the underdress would stretch out more easily.

Having finally fit the under dress I then hand stitched the four sections of knit pieces to create the skirt. A hop was added to create more volume.