<p>Yes, you can sew knit fabrics with straight stitch. Notice t-shirts, they are made of knit jersey. When you sew woven fabric on the bias, that creates stretch on an otherwise non stretchy material. Here are tips, when I get somewhere with a better signal, I will upload pics to demonstrate.</p>

<ol>
<li>You want to be sure to use a ball point needle for knit fabric.</li>
<li>Where you sew, will have less stretch the shorter the stitch-see pics not stretched and stretched.
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/Kgun0.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Kgun0.jpg" alt="not stretching "></a></li>
</ol>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/JyCOI.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/JyCOI.jpg" alt="stretching"></a></p>

<ol start="3">
<li>Fray. The part that worries people about sewing knit fabric without a zig zag or overlock, is that it may fray. A few options - French seam, double stitch, use fray check </li>
<li>If you’re concerned about jamming your machine, do not pull the fabric or it will become wavy. You can use stabilizer to strengthen the seam.</li>
</ol>

<p>Hope this helps. Here’s a pic of a jersey knit skit I made as well. 
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/zjZ08.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/zjZ08.jpg" alt="jersey knit with woven ruffle"></a>
It’s an elastic waist and the ruffle at the bottom is woven eyelet fringe.
It’s great.
Good luck!
   </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-02T19:16:42.860Z
2020-03-03T16:20:54.207Z
2020-03-03T16:20:54.207Z
Not The Face
<p>My sewing machine, a Singer Featherweight, only has the option of a straight stitch.  I can adjust the length and tension, but can't do a zig-zag stitch.  Is it possible to sew a stretchy knit fabric on this machine? My goal is to make a dress with a thin Rayon knit fabric.</p>

<sewing><sewing-machine>
How to sew a knit fabric with a straight stitch machine?
Allana236
# How to sew a knit fabric with a straight stitch machine?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-02-28)

My sewing machine, a Singer Featherweight, only has the option of a straight stitch. I can adjust the length and tension, but can't do a zig-zag stitch. Is it possible to sew a stretchy knit fabric on this machine? My goal is to make a dress with a thin Rayon knit fabric.

**Tags:** sewing, sewing-machine


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-03-02. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Yes, you can sew knit fabrics with straight stitch. Notice t-shirts, they are made of knit jersey. When you sew woven fabric on the bias, that creates stretch on an otherwise non stretchy material. Here are tips, when I get somewhere with a better signal, I will upload pics to demonstrate.

1. You want to be sure to use a ball point needle for knit fabric.
2. Where you sew, will have less stretch the shorter the stitch-see pics not stretched and stretched.
   [![not stretching ](https://i.sstatic.net/Kgun0.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/Kgun0.jpg)

[![stretching](https://i.sstatic.net/JyCOI.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/JyCOI.jpg)

3. Fray. The part that worries people about sewing knit fabric without a zig zag or overlock, is that it may fray. A few options - French seam, double stitch, use fray check
4. If you’re concerned about jamming your machine, do not pull the fabric or it will become wavy. You can use stabilizer to strengthen the seam.

Hope this helps. Here’s a pic of a jersey knit skit I made as well.
[![jersey knit with woven ruffle](https://i.sstatic.net/zjZ08.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/zjZ08.jpg)
It’s an elastic waist and the ruffle at the bottom is woven eyelet fringe.
It’s great.
Good luck!


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