Woven Knit fabric

One of the questions I often get via email or Facebook is whether a given pattern can be made in a different fabric from the suggested fabrics. And the answer is – it depends. So let’s delve further into the issue and I’ll give you my best rules of thumb for fabric substitutions.

I’ve made a little flow chart for the most common question – can you make a pattern that calls for knits in a woven fabric, or can you make a pattern that calls for woven in a knit fabric?

Let’s break that chart down a little.

Can I make a woven pattern in a knit fabric?

The short answer is, usually. If the woven pattern is very structured – say, a tailored blazer – and you want to keep that structure, be prepared to interface all the fabric. And if the interfacing will make your knit too thick, then that’s not a switch you should make. If, however, you want to make that blazer look slouchy and unstructured, you may only need to interface the areas for the closures. But remember – your blazer in substituted fabric won’t look like the original.

If the pattern is not particularly structured, say a peasant top, then if you switch to knit you need to worry about the weight of the fabric. Knit is generally heavier than woven fabric, which means it may pull at shoulders and necklines that weren’t designed to support it. But strictly speaking, you’ll be able to put the garment on (which is not necessarily the case with switching a knit garment to woven), though you may find that the addition of stretch from the knit fabric means you need to size down. And once again, remember – your pattern in substituted fabric won’t look like the original.

A good example of a pattern that can be made in either woven or knit is my Shoreline Boatneck. The faced neckline is stabilized no matter which fabric you use, and it is unstructured enough that the switch to a different fabric doesn’t drastically change the style. This flexibility might be why I have so many of these in my closet!

Can I make a knit pattern in a woven fabric?

This proposition is more complicated, and it starts with a consideration of how fitted the knit pattern is and how the pattern gets it’s shaping. A loose fit knit pattern can usually be sewn from a woven, but you should pay attention to armscyes and necklines to make sure they don’t need to stretch to fit on the body. For example, even though a crew neck t shirt might not be very fitted, typically the neckline does need to stretch to get over the wearer’s head, so if you switch that to a woven, you’ll need to widen and/or deepen the neckline or add closures so that the wearer can put it on. And remember – your pattern in substituted fabric won’t look like the original. Knit fabric typically drapes and clings more than most wovens.

If the pattern is very fitted however, the substitution becomes less possible. The first thing to look at to determine if this is possible is whether the garment has closures. If it does, next look for HOW the knit is shaped to the body. If darts or seams are used, that’s a good sign that you could possible switch to knit. If the pattern is shaped to the body with negative ease and stretch, though, you’re not going to be able to substitute.

Let’s look, for example, at the self drafted t-shirt I’m wearing above. This shirt is very fitted through the shoulders and sleeves, which means this would not be a good candidate for switching to woven.

Because of those changes, the button front Marbella dress is actually a good candidate for switching to woven fabric – as long as you consider the sleeves. The sleeves as drafted are very fitted, and they need that stretch to be comfortable. If you want to switch the Marbella to a woven fabric, you would need to widen the sleeves quite a bit to keep them comfortable to wear once the stretch is removed. And remember (say it with me) your pattern in substituted fabric won’t look like the original.

However, the popover version is not a good candidate for switching, because the fitted waist in that version relies on stretch to fit over the bust – if you did the popover in woven, you might not ever get it down past the ladies. The same principle would apply to pull on skirts that don’t have an elastic waistband – you couldn’t pull a woven skirt cut to fit your waist over your larger hips.

Can I switch one kind of woven for another woven or one kind of knit for another kind of knit?

Generally, the answer to this is yes, but (you guessed it) your pattern in substituted fabric won’t look like the original. The main thing you need to keep in mind if you’re doing this is how different the two fabrics are in thickness. For example, if you switch a pattern that calls for jersey weight fabric to a thick stretch fleece, you’ll probably need to size up to accommodate those thicker seams.