Made: another onesie by Ottobre
Project Notes: This project turned out less than a success and was made even sadder by the fact that I was intending it to be the take-home outfit for my soon to arrive son. In the end I think it will be wearable, and I think I learned some good lessons, so the final result isn’t all negative. Also, it’s probably a size too big for a newborn (well based on my last one, and ‘average’ size) so I’m going to try one size down and go for some redemption!
I was using some super soft and lovely mint colored single knit fabric for the main fabric. I loved, loved, loved this stuff the second I saw it in the remnants pile and took all they had. All they had was not enough, sadly, to try a second time. For more about the fabric choices and how it definitely impacted my project, read on!
Mistakes/Complications: Single knit was not a fabric type recommended for this pattern, which actually only suggests interlock. But I reasoned that interlock also varies in weight, an that this would probably still be ok for me. What is tricky, they say, about single knit, is that the edges like to curl up. This of course would make it hard to line up edges or even once pinned, to gauge the seam allowance for sewing. I did 2 things to counter this: 1) I cut the pattern pieces as needed, so that they were often sewn shortly after being cut. I think this helped. 2) I used lots of pins. No brainer, there. I also started the pins very, very near the cut edges trying to help battle the curl. Naturally when sewing I did a lot of leaving the needle down, lifting the presser foot up and smoothing down the curl.
The real mistake was my binding technique. It’s been a few months since my knits class and my successful onesie made in that class. Since then, I’ve made 2 knit projects but bound them with FOE. And I also had my failure when I did go back to knit binding. Once again, with this project, I had trouble with the neckline. I dug up the first onesie I had made this time, and compared it with my newer project, and realized that it was the back piece that was the real issue. I had done the binding too tightly, and it was curling up a little, so that it was not laying flat enough to create a large enough neck opening. (Again, I should have taken a picture but I since remedied the issue, mostly.) By this time I had already finished adding the sleeves and sewing the sides, so I couldn’t redo it and frankly, I didn’t want to.
I took my iron with the steam on to the binding, and this actually mostly fixed it. So yay! I learned the power of the steam iron, and the power of binding it poorly 
Note that initially I pinned the binding on the first edge I found (a sleeve), and removing the pins as I went, I would pull on the pinned piece slightly so that it all was flat for the machine sewing. On the next edge I decided to pull all the pins out once I had the first few stitches sewn, so I was freer to pull just the binding as I went. I’m not sure if this latter technique was a mistake. A couple times when I did this I had excess binding after sewing and trimmed even more away, so clearly I was pulling pretty hard.
Now the amount you need to pull must vary with the property of the binding you are using. I was using something new to my stash - a fairly heavy and elastic rib knit. In fact when you pull it you can see the shiny elastic in the fabric. So now I’ve learned to look a little harder at the stretch and recovery of the knit I use as binding. Not that I necessarily know enough to know what I’m looking for! But hopefully time and experience will help. I also think that once you first attache the binding, right sides together, if you look at the seam allowance from the wrong side, if it’s gathered so tightly that the seam allowance is starting to stick out - making it hard for you to keep it lying flat when you fold the binding up and over it for the next stitchline - then it is probably too tight. also - if the piece you just attached the binding too curls up, and won’t really lay flat even after some ironing, then it is probably too tight. In fact if it is curled up so much it is hard for you to successfully press the newly attached binding up with the iron, it’s too tight!
One other mistake I made - I had appliqued a sweet bunny from a kokka print onto the front of the onesie, using wonder under. I had not fused it so that it was completely dry (with wonder under you use a damp cloth between the project and the iron when fusing) so when I was stitching the whole thing was slightly damp and kind of stuck to the machine a bit and was hard to turn. I should have started over once I realized but I’m a ‘fight through it’ mix of stubborn and lazy.
I also sewed in a few pleats here and there. I think I did a careless job checking that the fabric I was attaching the binding too was laying flat beneath it as I went. This is a simple but critical habit to get into for general machine sewing.
As a crowning touch, when trimming the binding around the bottom, I cut not one, but two holes into the main fabric! Amazing! >.< I mended them by hand, but I'm not sure how wearable the whole thing is anymore. Definitely not a very successful project!
Notes for Next Time: Re-sew the binding if it appears too tight after the first stitchline (by looking at the back SA for one thing, but also if the piece just bound is curling up and not laying very flat). Pay attention to the stretchiness/recovery of the knit used for the binding. Remember to keep checking if the main fabric is laying flat underneath the binding as sewn.
Fabric: The main fabric was a single knit, very soft and certainly lightweight. The binding was made from a fairly heavy rib knit. It was stretchy but also rather stiff - I guess it had a lot of recovery. I think this, combined with joining it to something much, much lighter, contributed to my binding woes. Fabric choices and how they’ll impact my sewing is something I’ll try to give more thought to next time, at least when it’s going to involve any binding.
Stitches: I mostly used a 2.5 length/1.5 width zigzag to join, a 3.5/2.5 to topstitch and also to reinforce seams. I used my new (used) machine’s blanket stitch for the applique. My old machine did not have this. I love this stitch!
Tags: binding, knits, onesie, Ottobre
