An Easy & Free Sweater Pattern to Sew with Knit Fabrics!

I recently sewed up this adorable Vega Sweater by Ikatee patterns for my granddaughter. The pattern is quick, easy to sew, free and one of the beginner patterns that I recommend in the Just the Basics: Sewing with Knits Mini Course. As I was sewing up the sweater, I made what I hope are some helpful construction notes. They are written out below, or you can scroll to the bottom and listen to the video.

First, I chose to sew my sweater in this adorable French Terry from Raspberry Creek Fabrics. (This is an affiiliate link. I receive a small commission if you purchase through the link at no additional cost to you.) The French Terry is 95% cotton, 5% spandex and is 240 GSM.

The schooolbus pattern is part of their custom printing line. This was the first time that I ordered custom printing and I will definitely be doing this again. My granddaughter loves school buses - where else would I have found a schoolbus print? With the custom printing it is even possible to scale the print. Since my granddaugter is just 2, I chose to scale the print down slightly to better fit her proportions. Although custom printing can be a little more expensive, sign up for their newsletter - they offer sales quite often.

General Construction Tips for Sewing the Free Sweater with Knit Fabrics:

For sewing the pattern in a knit fabric, use a ballpoint needle, lengthen the stitch - I set mine to 3 and lessen the presser foot tension. This is not the thread tension, but the presser foot tension. Lessening the tension allows the bulky knit to better feed evenly. I constructed the sweater with a straight stitch since the pattern does not rely on the stretch of the knit. I did use a slight zig zag to attach the neck binding and the bottom sweater band.

Changes to the Sweater Pattern:

1. The pattern has 1/4" seam allowances. I find when working with a knit fabric that 1/4" seams are just too narrow. If constructing the sweater on a serger, the 1/4" seams may be fine, but I prefer the precision of my sewing machine and therefore used 3/8" seam allowances.

2. I interfaced the back shoulders to provide stability and make sure that they didn't stretch out over time.

   
   

   

   
   

3. I interfaced the entire button placket with 1" strips of interfacing rather than 5/8" strips as the pattern instructed. This made sure my buttonholes were entirely interfaced and provided a crisp turning edge for the placket.

   
   

   

   
   

4. I turned the top of the pocket right sides together and stitched it at the sides to provide a cleaner finish for the pocket. I did not snip the seam allowances of the pocket but used the gathering technique listed in the pattern. Snipping weakens the knit.

   
   

   

5. The pattern doesn't specify the width of the neck binding. I cut mine 1 1/2" wide. I was using a 3/8" seam allowance. 3/8" times 4 is 1 1/4". The additional 1/4" is to provide for the turn of the cloth - the additional fabric needed to go up and over the width of the bodice pieces. I am glad I included the extra 1/4". If I make this pattern again, I will cut the binding 1 3/4" wide. I was struggling with the 1 1/2" wide binding to cover the origianl stitching line.

   
   

   

   
   

6. I made all 4 buttonholes horizontal. The pattern specifies that the top buttonhole be horizontal and the rest vertical. There was no way I was going to get a good vertical buttonhole in the bottom band and realized it needed to be horizontal as well. Two vertical and two horizontal buttonholes seems odd, so I made all horizontal.

   
   

   

   
   

I hope these construction notes help and that you try sewing this free pattern with knit fabrics. For more help with knits, check out the Basics Mini Course or the Enjoying the World of Knits Book and Fabric Pack!

Here is the video if you would prefer to listen!

Happy Sewing!