Mattress Stitch Demystified

If you could totally avoid seaming your knits...would you?

Seams actually do a lot for a sweater - in addition to adding structure, they have the benefit of keeping a sweater from stretching out. And for me, it's sometimes easier to work in small pieces, rather than turning a whole sweater around all the time!

All you need to seam a sweater is a tapestry needle, either bent or straight. I also really love these little clips that hold the pieces together (you can also find them in the quilting aisle of the craft store). Scissors are always a must, and if you want to do a deeper dive into finishing techniques for knitwear, I highly recommend the book Finishing School by Deborah Newton.

When it comes to seaming knits, mattress stitch is my favorite technique. In this video, I seam the sleeves into the armholes of my scrappy stranded colorwork sweater.

​But...I didn't stop there. I made a bunch of swatches to demonstrate different scenarios you might face in using mattress stitch. 

Note that these swatches are at a looser gauge than I'd normally knit. The goal was for the camera to be able to pick up the spaces between stitches and for you to be able to see exactly what I'm doing. 

First up - the basics. When everything lines up, and you're just sewing two pieces together. 

The biggest thing to remember when working mattress stitch is that you're working with the right side of the garment facing you. The seam will curl to the inside to give the garment structure. This is a little different than most sewing, which is done with the "wrong" or inside of the garment facing you. 

Next - seaming a cast-on or bound-off edge to a vertical edge (selvedge) of knitting.

Followed by seaming cast-on to cast-on edges, or bound-off to bound-off, or cast-on to bound-off.

What happens when things don't line up perfectly? That's the topic of the next video. 

And lastly, what happens when you're working at an angle because of shaping in the garment? This one does require a little bit of advance planning, but by now you should be an expert in mattress stitch!