Five Seaming and Weaving Tips
You’ve reached the end of your project. Now what? Well, you’re not exactly done until you add those last touches: weaving in the ends or seaming those last few pieces together. How you finish is what will make your project look either handmade or homemade. This year, let’s aim for more completed projects and fewer WIPs!
Sometimes we may dread the final process. We may even resort to ideas that can speed up the process—I know the world was going crazy over the gorilla glue incident—I thought I’d share my story. Now, some of you may know this already. But for those who do not know, you won’t believe what I did the first time I had to weave in the ends… I used a little super glue.
Yes, I have come a long way. Take my advice. Don’t. Do. That. I used super glue because I had no idea how to keep the ends in place, but you don’t have to!
Here are my tips on all important topics of finishing, enjoy!
01 Weaving in Ends
The first rule of thumb when you finish your project and you have the tail left, never clip immediately! That will undo your work. Weave in those ends – the right way. I remember clipping away because I did not change directions when weaving. I found myself clipping until there wasn’t any tail left. Big Mistake.
Find the best and most recommended way to clip the tail end here: How to close the gap with the tail
Visit the pages below to learn more tutorials on how to weave in ends. I have one tutorial on Skimming and another on Closing The Gap.
02 How to Seam Your Shoulders
Seaming shoulder may “seam” a little intimidating at first, but this tip will give your sweaters a slick finishing touch. I always tell my students that the shoulder seam should be strong and seamless.
Find my easy steps by clicking here.
03 How to Chimney Graft
There is a fun seaming technique called the Chimney Graft. Sometimes you want to add a little something extra to the sleeve of your shirt or sweater. Depending on the design, like a lace edge, you have to work on the extra part separately. This is the time when we need to graft two pieces of knitting together. Check out the before and after!
04 Seaming Garter Stitch
Garter stitch is created by knitting every row (flat), so what appears on the face of the fabric, is a row of knits and a row of purls. A method to seam the work together is the mattress stitch. It creates an invisible seam in the stockinette. However, I recommend working with “smiles and frowns” because it creates an even more invisible seam.
For a more seamless look, here is my step-by-step tutorial.
05 How to Mattress Stitch a Selvedge Edge
In this tutorial, I explained one of my least favorite knitting myths “always slipping the first stitch.” Find out why I disagree with this myth and learn how to create a mattress stitch here.
I hope these tips will help you get over any fear of finishing and help kick your projects up to the next level. Which tip are you going to try next? Share with us!
Save this post for when you need help with finishing your projects. Plus, here is the link to even more tutorials!
