The only thing I know about sewing is that using jersey/knit fabrics is very difficult. Good luck! I don’t sew but I’d love know the answer to this question.

I’m going to contradict Maggie and say that sewing knits is not all that difficult . Make sure to add that reinforcement tape in the shoulder seams, and everything else is similar to cotton. Now, about the biasing. I think biasing occurs not because the fabric wasn’t cut on grain, but because the thread used to knit the fabric wasn’t balanced. In other words, if you take a rectangle of knit fabric, put it through the washer and dryer, you’ll end up with a parallelogram. Remember when you taught me about balanced yarn?? Hee! But of course you want to cut on grain regardless… that can only help. I actually do what you started to do – fold in half selvedge to selvedge, stand in front of the mirror and reposition the two layers against each other until everything hangs perfectly without any pleats or wrinkles. And of course put the fabric through the wash before beginning… to see if there’s any bias surprise at the end!

Looks like you have done a splendid job so far. A lot more, honestly, than I would have done for a t-shirt, but that’s beside the point. I think a lot of knitted fabric skews one direction or another. I don’t think it’s balance, it can happen with some handknitting, I have noticed it in some of my own knitting with certain yarns. I personally wash the fabric first – then fold along a general lengthwise central fold – regardless of my selvages and I adjust the fold while holding it up to eyeball the drape. It’s all about how it hangs, so let it hang and trust your gut. I am not crazy about sewing with knits, but I have. Yes, reinforce the shoulder seams. I think you’re on the right track. Make one and let’s take a look at it. Then you can make several. Oh, and get started on your Mommy Snug.

You did what I usually do to find the grain. In my experience, trying to align the selveges in knits can be a recipe for disaster since they are frequently stretched out and wonky from being wound onto the bolt. Luckily being close–within an inch or so–is good enough for most tshirts.

And the Sandra Betzina books are my go-to fitting books for the rare occasions when I pull out the sewing machines.

June, I’ve sewn for many years, and what you’re doing is correct. Grumperina gives good advice too — be sure to wash the fabric so you have no surprises after sewing. If you have a serger, I recommend using it for the actual sewing except for any top stitching. If you don’t have a serger, you may want to use a zigzag stitch and be sure to use an appropriate machine needle for knits. Universal needles usually work well, but if you’re using a wool jersey, for example, or slinky knit, you may want to use a ballpoint needle.

Topstitching should be done using either a double needle (which will make a zigzag stitch on the back) — watch your machine’s tension with it — not too tight, not too loose, do a sample on leftover fabric from cutting it out — or just a straight stitch.

Your pattern looks fine and it looks as if you’re using the French curves appropriately to smooth out the shaping.

If you have a self-healing mat and a rotary cutter, that makes it easier to cut out knits (and just about anything) in my opinion. You can use weights or even canned food to weigh the pattern down on the fabric instead of pinning (you probably know all of this from Threads).

Okay, I’ll shut up for now. It looks great — good luck!

All I’ve ever sewn with was cotton or flannel, so no help. You’re super-brave to sew your own maternity clothes (although I admit that from the selection out there, I’ve considered it myself too!) For T-shirts, I’m just buying bigger sizes, and I also ordered a “geek inside” (like “Intel inside”) maternity T from thinkgeek.com. My best maternity finds (I’ve been obsessed with pants) have been at Ross and Kohl’s.

You did great!! What a mind. :>)

Nothing to add on the sewing topic, but just a little tip about pants: if your current trousers/jeans whatever have a button close at the waist, you can loop a hair elastic through the buttonhole and over the button to give some expansion for the early days when zipped all the way & buttoned is too tight. Tunics will cover that nicely. That way, you’ve still got those pants when you’re ready to wear them post-baby. I preserved my favorite jeans when I was pregnant 34 yrs ago, when maternity clothes were definitely matronly (and I was NOT a matron).

I, also, just wash and smooth out the fabric. I don’t bother pinning along the grain. After it’s smooth you’ll notice that the cut ends are askew. That just confirms Grumperina’s observations that the threads are not balanced, but your t-shirt will hang properly.

I really can’t offer any advice on finding the grain of knits – I usually work with prints, which generally makes it a bit easier, and I also pretty much only do kids’ clothes, so it’s not so noticeable if it’s wonky. I just kind of lay it flat and do my best to eyeball it, I guess. But I’m a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants sort of sewist.

And there is nothing cuter than tiny little newborn diapers. I sewed one up for a gift this summer and almost cried from the babylust it induced. Sad, I know.

I sewed a bunch a maternity t-shirts when I was pregnant, based on a Burda pattern and a favorite commercial made maternity t-shirt. My favorite thing about the t-shirt was that it wasn’t as big in the back as it was in the front. In other words, the front piece was much more a-line shaped than the back, since the front is where most of weight gain is. I think the back was a little wider than normal t-shirts to accomodate wider hips, but I didn’t feel like I was wearing a tent in these t-shirts.

You probably already know this, but it’s good to use a slight zig-zag stitch when sewing your seams so they stretch with the fabric.

I don’t know much about sewing, but I wanted to add a tiny note of caution — you say you picked the size on your current bust measurements and a shirt that fits you well in the upper torso. It sounds as though you’ve added some ease in that area already, which is good. Sometimes, as in my case, this part of the body can change over the course of a pregnancy rather quickly and drastically. So allow lots of ease in the bust area, more than you think is necessary.

My stay-at-home-mom friend has an in-home business distributing cloth diapers and all the accoutrements (sp?).

http://www.thenaturallifestore.com/

Just in case you haven’t read much about fabrics, the fabrics used for cloth diapers are important, as well as what you use to wash them with (many (especially “earth friendly”) detergents leave residues that cause wicking), not having lotion on your hands (which will keep the fabric from absorbing, etc.).

There is information on her website about these issues that I think you’ll find helpful when you’re choosing fabrics, etc., as you make your own cloth diapers.

And way to go, June! Cloth diapers are the way to go!

Wash and dry the knit fabric once or even twice. Making sure you have a nice big area for your cutting surface, just carefully fold the knit in half or thirds leaving the fold itself sort of still rounded. Then smooth the rest of the fabric down. Look for any tendency to create wrinkles radiating from the center. If it smooths down easily with no wrinkles, you’re close enough to true grain on a knit to work.

On a single knit you might want to fuss a little more for true grain, but double knits areso structured vertically that they fall naturally almost to a true grain.

I’ve been sewing tshirts and boxers and pants from knits of all descriptions for years and can tell you that there really isn’t any reason to overthink or overengineer them.

Your chestal appendages will grow enormously and become very sore during the months of your pregnancy. The girls who start out with the littlest ones often see the most growth. Not that you’ll make centerfold quantity, but after being so tiny to start with, swelling up 2 or even 4 cup sizes can be startling. The easy way to add room for extra bits is to add an inch or so of extra length right at the bust point and ease the side seam in that vicinity. A little gathering at the center can help keep it under control. Think about altering some tops for nursing too. If you think about convertible flip-top mittens, you can do pretty much the same thing with tees, especially with the princess line that is popular now.

The whole trick with knit fabric is in the sewing. I’m going to break every rule out there and tell you I HATE sergers. with a passion. like you can’t believe. The biggest reason is because they stretch the sewn edge and make everything hang funny. I use a sewn zigzag stitch set with a very short stitch length and not too wide a zigzag for the seam. Then because I’m insanely anal, I finish the seams with the same stitch, sewing directly over the raw edge. After you sew the seam the first time, press the raw edges out and then sew them down in a cheap imitation of a flat fell seam. Believe me, they will hang nicer and wear better than serger seams. You can make your own funky fake ribbing too, using a twin needle and sewing little pintucks into a piece of the plain knit fabric. Matching rib fabric to most plain knits is tough to impossible.

Now, because I am a bad person I am going to tell you to go to the Mill End Fabric Outlet in Rochester. They have 7 or 8 stores now, a bunch up around the cities and one out by Fargo and one in Wisconsin, I think, but the one in Rochester is the BEST. Having a certain difficulty with cheapness, I managed to accumulate several thousand yards over the 7 years I ran Minnesota and never left the bargain yards tables (unless they had everything on 30%off or more). And I have a LOT of knits. Tell the girls that the crazy truck driver from NJ misses them and their sales.

lin