Teach Yourself Visually Knitting

Now that you are familiar with several different ways to attach knit pieces to each other, you can
assemble a simple sweater. How a sweater is made—whether it is knit in the round or on straight
needles, how the sleeves are created, whether it is a cardigan or a pullover—determines not only
how it is put together but also the order in which the pieces are assembled.

How to Assemble a Sweater.

Sleeve Sleeve

Back

Right

front

Left

front

ORDER OF ASSEMBLY

Generally, sweaters that are knit flat in pieces are joined

first at the shoulders. Then the sleeves are attached.

Finally, the side and underarm seams are sewn. You use

long straight pins to pin pieces together before seaming.

You should neaten up seams by lightly steaming with

an iron as you go.

Type of Seam Use It to Join Examples

Invisible horizontal seam Two horizontal edges Bound-off shoulder seams

Backstitch seam All edges Shaped shoulders, side seams, add-on collars

Invisible vertical seam Two vertical edges Sweater sides and underarm seams

Invisible vertical-to-horizontal seam A bound-off edge to a side edge Joining a sleeve cap to an armhole

Grafted seam Two horizontal edges Unshaped shoulders, toes of socks, mitten tips

WHICH SEAM TECHNIQUE

FOR WHICH PART?

Sometimes knitting instructions specify the best seaming

technique for a given join. If no specific technique is

indicated, you can always safely use the backstitch seam

for the shoulders, whether they are shaped or not. If the

shoulders are not shaped, you can try using the invisible

horizontal seam or the three-needle bind-off. The

invisible vertical seam is an excellent choice for side

and underarm seams; but again, a backstitch seam is

perfectly acceptable for those joins.