eleynagomez asked how I made the thumbhole bands on my Nettie bodysuit, thank you so much for asking!
I didn’t take any pictures while I was making the real thing but I sat down this weekend and ran up a little mock-up band … basically it is the exact same procedure as if you are adding a neckline or armhole band to a Tshirt but just on a much smaller scale!
Firstly, when you cut your Tshirt or bodysuit pieces cut the sleeves long enough that they will cover over your hands, as above. Make the Tshirt.
Try on and mark with a pin where you want the thumbholes to sit on the sleeves.
Now, measure around the base of your thumb and cut 4cm wide bands to fit, adding 0.5cm seam allowance onto each short end.
Sew the band in a ring, press the seam allowance open.
Fold in half, long edges together. Cut an on-grain slit in the sleeve at where the thumbhole is marked; make it just a bit shorter than the length of the folded band. It is best to make it a bit short, you will stretch the hole to fit the band as you are sewing. If the hole turns out to be too small to stretch out sufficiently to fit the band; you can always nick the end of the slit a little bit longer while sewing. But if you make it too long to start with then the thumb-band might stretch out and be too loose around your thumbs.
And no one wants *horrified gasp* floppy thumb-holes!
Pin from the band side, since stitching is to be done with the band side up.
Also… important: whenever you do sew a ring or a tube of fabric like this, be sure to always sew from inside the tube rather than the outside; to avoid sewing down the opposite or underside by mistake!
Because it is such a tiny weeny little band; just go slow, keeping an even distance from the folded edge of the band at the left of the needle, and checking constantly to make sure the slit edge is being caught underneath into the seam. Stretch out each end of the slit to fit the band as you go.
If desired, the seam allowance can be neatened by overlocker.
Also, I mentioned previously about sewing the joining seam in a band on the bias… I did say I would write a how-to, but this really only qualifies as a “tip”, I think!
When sewing a jersey band onto the neckline or armhole or any aperture really! of a knit garment, I’ve generally gone for a straight seam just because it’s easy.
But because there are almost double the number layers of fabric sitting at that joining seam point compared to elsewhere along the band this area is can sometimes be a bit bulky and you sometimes end up with a slight bump no matter how carefully you guide that seam through the machine. Seriously, getting a nice smooth and even-width band all the way around is often the hardest part about making a Tshirt!
So lately I’ve been cutting and sewing the join on the diagonal, reducing the number of layers at the joining seam, and I think it’s been an improvement with almost no bumpy bit at all!!
It is a particularly good idea for bands like a cardigan button band, on which slight bumps and irregularities in thickness and width are particularly noticeable.
You do have to be careful while sewing that joining seam, since the fabric is on the bias along that edge you have to watch out that you’re not stretching the fabric at all while you’re sewing that short seam. If you’re in any doubt as to whether the fabric will distort during stitching it would help to pin and sew to a backing piece of tissue paper, which can be ripped away after it is sewn.
Later edit in response to an email question; just to be clear, the band is NOT a bias-cut band, it is still cut cross-grain just like you normally would and it is just the short joining ends that are being cut on the diagonal 🙂
And yes, the thumbhole bands I described above are so tiny it was really too tricky to mess about with bias joining seams and I just cut those on the straight. Choose your battles!
