In this tutorial, I am going through step-by-step the process of hand sewing a ribbon backing to the edges or seams of your knitted garments using a whip stitch (also known as the overcast stitch).
By lining & stabilising the edges on your knitwear you prevent them from being distorted and stretch out over time, and it’s also a perfect way to hide threads in a steeked garment or a “cut & sew” piece that you might have made on your knitting machine.
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This technique you can also use to attach ribbon backing to reinforce button bands – just make sure to make your buttonholes BEFORE you attach the ribbon to your knitted garment.
Click here to watch the video, or click on the thumbnail above. Or if you prefer you can keep on reading…
I knitted the dressing gown above on my knitting machine around 9 years ago as part of a University project. I really love it but I haven’t worn it since, and now when my other dressing-gown is fully worn-out I thought: “Why do I not wear it?“
One of the issues with this dressing gown has been that the knitted fabric I made is very stretchy and can easily distort if you are not careful.
Another factor why I think it looks extra distorted is that the knitted fabric used on the main parts of the dressing gown is much more lightweight and stretchy compared to the collar and the back panel on the back of the dressing gown. This has caused that the bottom of the knitted dressing gown has become a bit distorted and as such I will attach a ribbon backing here as well.
In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to attach a ribbon backing to one of the sleeves. I’ve already stitched a ribbon backing to the bottom of my garment using orange thread at the bottom edge and white thread at the top.
I have also attached ribbon backing to my other sleeve and as I’ve found the edge not fully straight and tidy-looking I have folded it slightly in under the ribbon for a neater look. This method is great to hide cut ends of yarn and prevent curling if you didn’t add ribbing to the edge.
To attach ribbon backing to knitwear you will need:
- A sturdy ribbon e.g. cross-grain or Petersham ribbon
- Contrasting or matching thread – Or you can do like me and go for both. I decided to use both colours in my garment (white and orange) as I thought it would match the design better.
- Sharp needles
- Pins
- Measuring tape
- Scissors – both embroidery scissors & fabric shears
To start we will need to measure out how long the ribbon will be. Lay your finished and blocked garment on a flat surface. It is very important that your piece is blocked so that your ribbon is cut to the correct length. Add 1/2 inc inch (12 mm) to your measurement so that you can fold the edge under for a neat finish. As the ribbon I am cutting now will be going around the edge of a sleeve I’ve stitched the edges together with a zig-zag stitch on my sewing machine so that a circle is created.
Now it’s time to pin the ribbon in place, but first, as I will need to fold over the edge on my sleeve. This step is, of course, optional and only needed if you have a not so straight edge like me, or have a steeked garment or a garment that you have made from “cut & sew”.
Once I had pinned the edge over I baste stitched the fold in place before pinning the ribbon backing to my sleeve. Now it’s time to stitch your ribbon to the garment. First double thread a needle (I picked my orange coloured thread for this side) then tie both ends together in a knot.
Poke your needle up through the ribbon layer and pull the needle through leaving the knot in between the ribbon and the garment. Start your stitch 1/4 (6 mm) to 1/8 (~3 mm) of an inch from the edge. I went with a bigger 1/4 inch stitch, but you can choose any size you want.
Continue by poking the needle through your garment layer, but only at the top of your knitted fabric, do not go all the way through. You do not want the thread showing through to the right side of your garment. I like to fasten my thread a bit extra by creating a second stitch in my previous stitch and then tie a thread.
After creating my first stitch 1/4 inch from the edge I pulled the needle in under the ribbon catching the top layer of my knitted garment and then poking the needle through at an angle so that it comes up approximately 1/8 of an inch from the previous stitch, making sure that my previous stitch is around the same length (1/4 inch) as my previous stitch.
Then continue to make another angular stitch through the ribbon and through the top layer of your knitted piece making sure to have them as evenly sized and placed as possible. It is important to note that the stitch itself should not appear angular rather it should be straight up and down along the edge being parallel to the first stitch.
Then continue in this manner until the first edge of your ribbon backing is attached.
A tip: Make sure not to have too long threads as that will cause tangling. Rather cut shorter threads and once you run out of thread fasten by tying a knot in your previous stitch and then attached a new thread.
Once you’re done with the first edge tie a finishing knot by drawing the needle through the last stitch that you made and hide any loose threads by pulling the needle through in between the ribbon layer and the knit layer.
Once the first side was done I found it helpful to attach pins to the other side of my ribbon to help it lay flat.
On this side, I attached the ribbon with white thread, but you can continue using the same thread as you did on the previous side if you like.
Then I continued in the same manner by double threading a needle and tie both ends together. Pulling the needle through the ribbon layer, hiding the knot and then making 1/4 inch whip stitches 1/8 of an inch apart along with the whole ribbon backing. Once you come to the end fasten by pulling the needle through the back of the last stitch then tie a knot to hide any loose threads by pulling the needle through in between the ribbon layer and the knit layer. Cut off any excess threads and now it’s done.. or almost! I found pressing the ribbon backing area after this created a much neater and finished look.
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