This stitch has the fabulous ability to attach a LINING to KNIT FABRIC in such a manner that the lining does not rip out of the knit garment as soon as the knit garment is stretched.
In a poll on this blog back in October, many, MANY knitters have indicated that they would like to learn to LINE their KNITTING. We have been easing into this subject -- TECHknitting has already given directions for lining a hat with a Polar fleece headband. And this is just the beginning of this complex topic--in the future, a whole series will be illustrated, showing just how to design and cut a custom lining out of lining fabric. However, all of this--simple linings and complex ones--hinge on the ability to SEW the lining in. And for this kind of sewing, the OVERCAST stitch is (as my kids say) "da bomb."
The illustration below shows a green lining being overcast stitched to a blue knitted fabric by a right handed sewer. (Click picture to enlarge.)
The close-up illustration below shows why this stitch works.(Click picture to enlarge.)
As you can imagine, attaching a lining to knitting is a challenge because lining is often made of WOVEN CLOTH, and woven cloth, as we all know, does not stretch very much. Knitting, on the other hand, is extremely stretchy. The stitch chosen to attach such dissimilar fabrics must have the following qualities:
1. It must be able to hold the woven cloth in place, even when the underlying knitted fabric is stretching
2. It must not stop the knitted cloth from stretching
3. It must provide a flexible connection between the woven cloth and the knitted fabric.
The overcast stitch gets a "A+" on all three factors. As stated in a previous post, the overcast stitch "tethers" the fabrics together rather than "nailing" them together. If you will look closely at the stitch in the close-up above, you will see that the lining fabric is actually "hanging" from the knitted fabric--in other words, the overcast stitch is acting as a little string from which the lining is "swinging." This "swing" allows the lining to adjust to the stretch of the fabric.
As the final illustration, below, shows, there is also quite a bit of thread reserve in the overcast stitch--the path of the thread resembles a coiled spring, and this coil of thread has the reserve to stretch when stressed.
We are leaving to a future time and a future post, the issue of how to cut the lining, how to provide "ease" in the lining (ie: how to make the lining enough bigger than the knitting so the lining has some "give" to it), how to seam the lining and how to hem the lining. In other words, today we have looked ONLY at how to SEW the lining, and--again--for this task, the OVERCAST stitch is unsurpassed.
--TECHknitter (You have been reading TECHknitting on: The over cast stitch--part 5 of "hand sewing for hand knitters.")