HELP! Closing the front of a cardigan vest!

#1

Hi all:

What a great forum! I am so glad to have found you! I just finished a cardigan vest that I love but I’d like to close the front and make it into a pullover. It has no buttonholes or buttons but does have a decorative edge so I can’t sew it together. I was wondering if I could pick up stitches all along the vertical edge and then do a double needle bind off?? Would I BO from the WR or the RS? What problems am I going to encounter with this? Is there a better way?? Thanks! I’m really looking forward to some feedback!

Ann

#2

I hope this isn’t rude, this is my first forum and I’m very new to the “netiquette” of posting.

I didn’t recieve an answer to my question and I didn’t want it to disappear into page 2 so I’m bumping myself.

I have been lurking here for a while and I am just amazed at information on these boards! Thanks again for any help someone can give me.

Have a great day!!!

#3

Hi, I saw this the other day and wanted to help, but didn’t know what you should do. I think others may not know either. It is not rude for you to bump it up, and I wanted you to know that some of us have thought about your problem at least, so I’m replying.

What kind of decorative edge does it have? Is it a color band of a different color, or something else? A three needle bind off, which I think you meant above, is possible, but it would leave an obvious seam. You would do it with the right sides facing each other unless you wanted to just flaunt that seam and make it a decorative feature itself. Then you would want the seam on the outside and you’d put the wrong sides together to do that.

I think you may be able to butt the two sides together and sew it from the outside as invisibly as you can.

Can you take a picture of it with a digital camera and post a picture of your vest here? That would give us more of an idea of what you are up against.

I like your little poem about counting stitches instead of sheep.

#4

Hi and welcome to KH :yay:

Like MerigoldinWA, I’m just not sure how to go about that…I think the 3needle would work too but I wonder what it would look like when you were finished… I wondered about a crochet join as well…just not sure :think:

:hug:

#5

Thanks so much for your reply!

It’s a seed stitch border in the same color. I am terrible at sewing the pieces together so I’d rather pick up stitches and do a 3 needle bind off (thanks for correcting me)

I have checked some knitting books out of the library and it looks like it would work but I have another question,… When you pick up stitches, how do you fasten them at the ends so they don’t slip through or get all loose when you bind off??? I thought about going down one side and then up the other so there is a “U” at the bottom, which would leave me with just one loose end. Any suggestions???

Thanks again. My husband bought me the yarn for this and it was kinda expensive and he is so excited that I am almost done so I really don’t want to screw it up. I want it to look nice on me so I will want to wear it a lot!

#6

I don’t think bumping is rude.
It’s better than making a new post and/or chastizing everyone for not answering you :wink: (I’ve seen it done on some forums, and not days later but minutes later.)
I think you did OK. I totally missed this thread.

You finished the design like it was written for buttons but sans button holes?
I think I would sew buttons on it through both layers. Kind of a false button row.

I don’t know what kind of decorative edge it is to give an opinion on whether some form of seaming or BO would be better.
I tend to not like BOs so if it was me I’d look at all other options first, but that’s me.

#7

Thanks for all the help! :cheering:

I don’t want buttons (you’d think that as a jewelry designer I would love the opportunity to make buttons???) if I can help it. I made it wo button holes and just wanted it to hang straight but I don’t like the look. It would be great looking on me if it was a pull over sweater vest. I should also mention, I can’t really sew it together because, as a newbie vest knitter, I started with the left side, then did the back and then did the right side. As you can probably guess, by the time I got done with the right side I was a WAY better knitter than when I started and, even after blocking, the left side is looser (and slightly longer) than the right. I thought that binding it off would help even things out. Maybe I should just wear it as is…or just throw caution to the wind and do it!

#8

Is the seed stitch edge something that you knit right on the vest as you made it, or did you pick up stitches and work it perpendicuar to the front edge?

#9

It’s knit right into the edge. The pattern was something like:

k1 p1 4 times, place marker, k to end
k to marker p to end

It would look nice running down the front of a vest.
I took some pictures, I hope I can figure out how to do this…


does that work???

#10

That may have supposed to have been seed stitch along the border, but it is not. You ended up with ribbing. Seed stitch alternates the knits over purls and the purls over knits on every row. Ribbing lines the knits over knits and purls over purls and that is what you have done.

I think you need to learn to do a mattress stitch seam. That will sew it together quite nicely. You may have to experiment a little, but you may be able to get it to look pretty much like it was knit closed to start with if you do it just right. Here is a link to a site that has some good pictures of how to do it. (But it is not for ribbing) If you hate sewing don’t get too worked up. Sewing in knitting is very different than sewing fabric.

I have been working on a sample of how to sew up ribbing. You need to draw together a half of a knit stitch from each side. I am trying to get some pictures ready for you to look at, but am having trouble. I am going to go ahead and post this for now.

Do you have the same number of rows on each front, but the looseness just made one longer than the other? Or do you have more rows on that one side?

#11

I have not done a lot of sewing ribbing up, but here is my effort.

This picture shows the piece after I sewed a few stitches.

I was trying to show you how you need to pull it together and sew it so that you take half a stitch from each side and make one whole stitch from them so that it looks like the pattern of K1, P1 ribbing continues right across the piece.

The stitch on the left was a bit tricky and I wasn’t 100% sure where I was supposed to place the stitch, but what I did worked. I was working into the middle of the first stitch on the left.

This is where I took the stitch on the right side. I worked into the centers of the first row of knits.

This is how it looked when I had almost all of it done. I didn’t really want to end off the yarn at the top and waste it. It will be pretty easy if both of your sides have the same number of rows and you are able to get the half stitch that should go together from each side. If the number of rows is off you will have to fudge it and I don’t know how perfectly you can get that to turn out. Sewing up knitting can be pretty forgiving, so it may work. Don’t do all the fudging in one short space. At least you usually don’t want to do it that way. It will not take that much fudging to get it too work probably.

There may be other sites where you could get some better pictures and explanations of how to sew ribbing. You might try a search for them, or even start a new thread and ask if folks know of one. Often someone will know of a source for any information needed.

My sewn together halves created a row of knits that were a little smaller than the regular rows of ribbing. If I was using a good wool yarn I could pull the stitches in that area every which way and that would help to even them out. (It even helped with my cheaper yarn–not pictured after stretching) A little wet blocking might help too.

I hope you figure out something that you like and are able to do. Another idea would be to take it to a yarn shop and see if they can help you learn to sew it up. Or if you can’t do it, pay them to do it for you. (last ditch effort) I hope this helps.

#12

A jewelry designer? As in the person who designs rings so every stone falls out when they’re sized down? :poke: :stuck_out_tongue:

I agree, mattress stitch will work fine and it’s not hard to do.

#13

I am completely grateful!! :muah: Thank you so much, your pictures were perfect and I think I will sew it. I need to work up some nerve but I will post pics when it’s done.

And, about the jewelry. I think you are thinking of a goldsmith, which I can do as well. I worked at a jewelry store for a while doing custom work and repairs. I have an MFA in jewelry design as well. And, yes, if an inexperienced goldsmith sizes your ring down, the stones will all come loose!! Never happened to me!!! Hahaha

Thanks for all the help!!