Wovens Vs. Knits

If you’ve never worked with clothing closely this information is probably new to you but I find myself explaining these 3 basic fabrics types to people when discussing, clothing, fit, and commissioned projects so they can get a better understanding of why certain things can’t happen in the fabric, fit, and design world. So I just thought this little piece would come in handy, whether you’re planning on working on any sewing projects or not.

Wovens:

To start off a woven fabric is woven, as in a weave….Duh.

Remember doing those paper weaves to make placemats or something in 1st grade?

It’s that same concept but on a super small scale. Instead of paper individual strands of thread are woven together to create the fabric. The tighter the weave, the thicker and more dense the fabric. Sheer fabric has a very loose weave. And, of course, the thickness of the thread will affect the fabric weight too.

Now there are also different kinds of weaves to create different looks or different types of woven fabric, but let’s just keep it simple for now.

Woven fabrics don’t have stretch so they cannot be used for garments that are meant to be very fitted. They will always require some sort of closure to get on and off, like zippers or buttons, due to the lack of stretch.

They also will fray once cut so the edges always need to be finished. There are many ways to do this but using a a serger, zip zag stitch, or French seams for sheer fabrics are some popular edge finishes.

Woven fabric attributes:

• No stretch (although sometimes they can have elastic fibers in them and contain a little stretch)
• Frays when cut
• Most common uses: Button-up collared shirts, dress clothing, upholstery fabric, outerwear
• Examples: shirting, twill, chiffon, satin, poplin, taffeta, velvet

Knits (cut & sew):

And at this end, knit fabrics are knitted…another duh

The knitting is in a similar way that a sweater is knit, but the fabrics you buy to make cut & sew knits contain finer yarns and so they are knitted tighter than a sweater.

‘Cut & sew knit’ essentially means clothing that is made from knit fabric that you cut out the pattern pieces with and then sew, as opposed to the way sweaters are knit (see below). If you haven’t noticed this stuff is pretty self explanatory, you just may not have heard these terms before.

A popular type of knit fabric you’re probably already familiar with is jersey, which is what tee shirts and most of your knit clothing is made with. Jersey is the stitch. Just as woven fabrics have different weaves, there are also different stitches knit fabric can come in, however jersey is the most popular.

This fabric has stretch. Depending on whether it contains elastic fibers like spandex, it can have a lot of stretch too. So these fabrics are used for fitted clothing (though elastic fibers are non-recyclable so they’re not that great, environmentally speaking). Clothing made with knit fabrics usually don’t need fasteners, unless they’re complicated styles, because the stretch allows them to slip on and off easily.

Knit fabric doesn’t fray but needs to be sewn with a stretch stitch in order to maintain the stretch in the seams after it’s sewn. Generally the industry uses a serger to sew these fabrics, but most home machines have stretch stitches on them too.

Since it doesn’t fray you can cut it without finishing or hemming the edges, but keep in mind the fabric may roll at the edges.

Knit fabric attributes:

• Stretches
• No fraying
• Needs to be sewn with special stitch for stretch
• Most common uses: tee shirts, activewear, casual wear, fitted clothing, swimwear
• Examples: jersey, fleece (sweatshirts), french terry (sweatshirts), scuba

Knits (sweaters):

Sweaters are of course knit, but on a different machine than the knit fabric.

Sweaters have their own type of machine and use thicker yarns. The thicker the yarn, the looser the knit and the chunkier the sweater. The thinner yarns create lighter (fine gauge) sweaters that sometimes have the same appearance as cut & sew knits (gauges are another discussion since sweaters can be very complex, but essentially the lower the gauge the chunkier the sweater).

Sweaters also have different stitches like the fabric. But they also can contain multiple stitches in one piece by transferring stitches without having to cut and piece them together. Or seamlessly as you might say. 🙂

Sweaters are knit in the shape of the garment’s pattern pieces and then any seams are linked together with yarn. Therefore they are not cut & sew because there is no cutting or sewing machine involved.

Sweater attributes:

• No sewing
• Knitted garment patterns all in one piece including all finishings
• Most common uses: sweaters, socks/hosiery, winter scarves, gloves, hats
• No examples because a sweater can contain many stitches in one garment, even the edge finishes are different stitches in themselves

I could definitely go into greater detail on each fabric construction, but hopefully this just gives you the basic knowledge you need to help you pick out the correct fabric type for your next project or to understand what your clothing is made of a little better.

If you have any questions please comment below!