Part 2 of our series on different Options of how to finish knit fabrics on neck lines, armholes & hems. Part 1 was 2 weeks ago – check it out here if you missed it.
Option 4: Binding with a knit strip where the binding is visible on the outside.
Soft, thin ITY knit made using JALIE pattern featured on this blog last summer. See link above in first paragraph.
The binding is sewed right side of binding to wrong side of garment & then turned to the right side of the garment. The edge of binding is turned under, pinned or clipped with Clover clips & then stitched down in place on the right side of the fabric. In a way, this is similar to doing a single binding on a quilt.
Close up of shoulder showing the binding was applied to neck & armhole openings.
Wrong side showing very neat finish with no raw edge. Note the stay tape which was clipped to shape around the neck opening.
Option 5: Similar to option 4 in that the knit binding strip is sewed right side to right side but is then turned over to the back. But instead of turning the edge under on the inside, just turn over from the front side again to enclose the seam and stitch on the right side in the ditch. Use the JANOME DITCH QUILTING foot to make this task a lot easier. The raw edge of the knit binding can be trimmed away close to the ditch stitching afterwards. It will not fray as it is knit.
Same Jalie dress, similar soft ITY fashion knit….but different binding option
wrong side showing raw edge which won’t unravel and the stitching which was done in the ditch on the right side.
Janome Life 
The link to the first part of the article is broken. It tells me “You are not allowed to edit this item.”
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Hi Emily,
I have checked several times and it is working so I’m not sure why you are getting that message.
Liz
JANOME CANADA
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Beautiful dresses! They look comfy besides dressy.
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Thank you for sharing these options. I might have missed it but which of these do you prefer? Which is easiest, which “turns out” the best?
Thanks.
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Hi Ceil,
Hard to say as it depends very much on the pattern, style and fabric type I am using and which edge we are talking about (neck, hem, armhole, sleeve cuff?). Sometimes I leave the edge raw when I do not want to affect the soft, draping effect of a thin, soft ITY knit. But on a pair of Ponte knit pants, for example, I would absolutely hem the pants with a Coverhem on my Janome CPX serger. I like flat, neat edges at neck edges & armholes so I tend to use one of the binding type edges. On sleeve cuffs at my wrist, I favour a coverhem again…..all dependent on the style & fabric I am using.
So, it is not one method for everything which is why I have spread this over 3 parts (part 3 is coming up on 4th May).
Liz
JANOME CANADA
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