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Seaming to create the Armholes | Rose Cardigan CAL
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Jul 12, 2023
Learn how to seam your cardigan to create an almost invisible seam using the mattress stitch as you create your arm holes. The video tutorial begins with placing the panels wrong side together and using stitch markers to secure the spaces for the armholes. View the Rose Cardigan CAL details here: https://www.cosyrosieuk.co.uk/easy-crochet-cardigan-pattern-free JOIN THE COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CosyRosieCrochetCommunity JOIN THE NEWSLETTER - and get updates when the next square design is released: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/y7s4x3 NEED MORE CROCHET INSPO? Find me here: Website: https://www.cosyrosieuk.co.uk/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cosyrosieuk/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cosyrosieuk 00:00 Seaming to create the Armholes 00:33 Wrong sides together 01:50 Secure Shoulders 04:26 Mark armholes
View Video Transcript
0:00
So welcome back to the cozy rosy crochet rose cardigan crochet along
0:05
And today we are getting ready to seam our project. You should now have a back panel and two front panels
0:14
And you should also have noticed if I squish all the way back to the bottom here
0:20
what I meant about these lines here. If we had made our decreases on the same side, one of our panels would have
0:29
been facing the wrong side. So before we even start this, it really is important to recognise
0:36
which is the right side and the wrong side because we want all the wrong sides on the inside
0:42
while we make the marks for our armholes. So for me, I have the final row, kind of look, or the
0:52
first row that we made looking in and then the second row is the out for my ribbing. And on the back panel
1:00
I have the same. So when I join the side and the back and the side panels, they will be easy to line up because the rows will be facing the same way
1:10
So when you're looking at the inside of your cardigan, your panels should be looking like you've got the bottom row should be coming in towards you and the second row going in
1:23
When you place your side panels onto the front, it will be the opposite so that this is the right
1:29
side, wrong side, wrong side together and the right side facing you. I hope you can see what I meant
1:38
about your neckline, giving you that nice kind of sweetheart look and a beautiful open area across your
1:47
decoletage. Now we do need to make some armholes and the easiest way that I've found to do this
1:55
is to start by securing your top of your panels. Now I've left that
1:59
thread there. That should have been, sorry, that should have been woven in, because I'm going to use that to sew my shoulder up. But if you don't have any thread, don't worry, you are going to need some stitch markers, a darning needle and a pair of scissors today, because we are going to be actually sewing up our projects. And we're going to be using the mattress stitch. So we are going to be covering the mattress stitch. You can do a whip stitch if you want to. But firstly, let's pin together our shoulders
2:29
So we're going to start by finding on our back panel that first stitch and the corresponding stitch on our front or side panel
2:42
And I'm just going to pin those together with a stitch marker through all stitches and both layers
2:51
Now we need to work out the count along the same number of stitches from the front and the back
2:58
So one, two. three that's number 24 and 24 for me obviously depending on which size you have would determine the number of stitches you need to count across and i'm just going to pin through those two as well so that we have the same number of stitches across the shoulder and the neck and we need to repeat that on the other side
3:29
So once they are both done, they are secure and there is your neck opening
3:34
We need to repeat the process at the bottom here just to join the two sides together
3:40
So you need two more stitch markers and we're just finding that first and corresponding stitch
3:48
And just securing them together with a stitch marker for now. Don't need to do that one obviously because that's open
3:55
we do need to do the same on the other side. I will admit that I would never sew a project up
4:05
without securing the most important places first because it's going to mean that when I move my project around
4:13
they are always going to be locked together. If I had more lockable stitch markers, I would use those
4:19
because we're going to seam up here, but only until we get to where we want our armhole
4:25
to be. So the size of an armhole is most definitely subjective. There are standard, I did that in
4:32
inverted commas, standard armhole sizes depending on which size. You know yourself, which is a more
4:39
comfortable if you ever had a top that is just too tight on your armpit It is not comfortable to wear So it is entirely up to you what size armholes you have I going to stick with the standard armholes and I will put them on the screen for you here based on what size you are making
5:00
So you can literally just grab your tape measure and measure down your first panel that's closest to you to what the suggested armhole size is for your size
5:10
So for an extra large, it's going to be a nine inch armhole
5:15
So I can mark that on this side. Oh, wow. So I'm going to measure down from the top, nine inches
5:24
and just mark that on my panel that's closest to me. I can then remove the tape measure
5:30
because as you can see, for me, that's going to be in one of the stitch rows
5:38
So what I can do is count down the number of rows to where my mark is
5:43
and count down the same number on the other side. So you can do the same for your armhole size
5:49
make it as large or as small as you want it to be as long as it's going to be comfortable
5:54
And I'm just going to count my V-stitch rows down. So one, two, three, and it's in the row at the bottom
6:02
So we've got one, two, so I need to join it right there
6:06
and that will give me the same number of rows either side of my armhole
6:12
So now that we have the bottom of our armhole, if we want to, we can simply seam all the way down the side
6:19
down to where we've joined at the bottom. If you have made a longer length cardigan
6:25
you may want to move your opening up at the side if you want maybe a little bit more room in the hips
6:33
So for me, I am going to do that because, you know, kind of blessed in the trunk
6:40
So I'm going to actually move my marker just up a few rows, just kind of a nice four-inch block
6:49
up to the bottom of my, sorry, the top of my V-stitch on this side
6:54
and do the same here. So I can use the corresponding rows
6:59
And I'm going to join it through there. So I'm going to leave that section open
7:03
for a little bit more movement in my cardigan. and I'm going to seam between these two points here
7:10
Before I go any further, I'm going to mark the same rows on the other side of my cardigan
7:17
So I know which row I've marked on. So I was three, these stitches down
7:23
So wherever you've marked your armhole and your clothes for the bottom
7:28
that needs to be repeated on the other side of your project. You can count down the same number of rows
7:34
so I know that I was in the first row of my V-stitch coming down on both the front and the back
7:43
I can mark that row and do the same. One, two, three on the back
7:52
And secure that one. And at the bottom, I can double check where I've marked, which was at the top
8:00
Or I can just do what we did before and mark the bottom here. I'm going to get a lockable stitch marker because I found another one
8:08
And I was going through the top of my V-stitch row here and the same on the back
8:22
Oh, I would recommend giving this a quick try on, just so you can feel where your armhole is and if it's comfortable for you
8:31
You can adjust it if you need to before. you start sewing it's going to make life a lot easier. So go and have a quick try on and I'll meet you back so that we can get sewing up
8:42
So we're going to start our stitching on the easiest point which is going to be our shoulders. I've undone the first of my
8:51
stitch markers just here at the edge. I've got length of the corresponding yarn kind of three times the length of my shoulder
8:59
The reason that I'm starting to show you the mattress stitch through stitches as opposed to through the edging
9:06
just so you can get used to the technique. It really does give you the nicest join, especially across your shoulder
9:13
There's no seam whatsoever. You can, of course, do a whip stitch and you'd need to do your whip stitch with the wrong side of your project facing
9:20
but we're going to do the mattress stitch with the right side of our project facing
9:24
So once you have threaded your needle with your strand of yarn we going to start to start in the stitch closest to us and simply put the needle through our first stitch
9:37
pulling all the way through, just to leave the length to weave in later. And just to secure it, I'm going to tie a single knot
9:44
in that first corner. So the mattress stitch works differently to a whip stitch. A whip stitch, you just kind of go in and under and round and round
9:56
With the mattress stitch, we're going to insert our needle back through that first stitch
10:01
I'll come up close if I can, kind of going from the wrong side back out to the right side of our project
10:07
That's just the first kind of stitch to secure it. I kind of bring that knot back through
10:17
I need that side. We can undo that and weave that in later
10:22
And we're literally sewing these two pieces together. working through the stitches
10:28
So let me rearrange myself so you can see what I'm doing. It is easiest to do this on a flat surface
10:34
and probably not with your cardigan pin together. But what we're doing essentially is coming back through that next stitch
10:41
on our shoulder, back out the other side. So whichever side you've started from
10:49
you're going back out through a corresponding stitch. I tend to hold my project a bit like that so I can see my stitches really clearly so that I know that I'm working through the right bit
11:08
Once you've worked through both those first stitches, the next stitch to go through is here and we come again back out away from the project
11:23
and then we're repeating it, so kind of zigzagging all the way through
11:30
So we go back through the next one. And we're going to continue to repeat that the whole way across
11:45
until we've sewn through all of our stitches. once we pull this thread tight it creates almost a seamless join
12:00
to make sure it's tight and you cannot see where you've sewn the stitch almost disappears
12:07
completely so just continue to work through all your stitches and then pull tightly or
12:15
because I must admit I'm very lazy. I will go kind of just weave through the stitches
12:21
and then pull together at the end. Just making sure that you're working through the actual stitch
12:29
through the V, picking up both loops of your stitch. You can just do a couple and then pull it tall
12:39
But just making sure that you're going through the same point on your stitches
12:44
making sure you're capturing both loops. But as I said, you don't have to pull it tight
12:52
Always making sure you grab both the loops of your stitch. When you're ready, you can just cinch them all together
13:05
and that seam is pretty much unnoticeable. So it continues to repeat that all the way across
13:13
until you've worked all the stitches on your side panel and I'll meet you there we can get these ends woven in
13:22
Once you've seamed all the way across your shoulder and both panels are joined you can simply go back through
13:31
and tie a very small knot. I'm a great fan of knots and you are ready to weave in that end
13:38
literally no one can determine where that seam is. It's near flawless
13:46
Once you've sewn up one of your shoulders, you can go ahead and sew up the other shoulder
13:50
and then I'm going to show you how to sew up the sides
13:55
Again, with your sides, you're going to need probably two times, if not three times the length of the project that you're joining or seaming
14:06
and thread your needle just the same. The concept is exactly the same
14:10
We going to be working from one side of the project to the other and you can start at either end Just make sure that you have the same starting point if like me you joining not from the
14:24
absolute bottom. If you're joining from the bottom of your project, to the bottom of both
14:30
side panels, you can just attach the yarn in the same way by kind of working through both sides
14:37
Just by securing that with a gentle knot ready to weave in, I'm going to start mine a little bit higher
14:43
just to give me a little bit of movement at the bottom of my project, making sure and double checking that my needle is going through at the same point
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So I am in VV in here. I'm just going to pull that all the way through
15:05
making sure I've got a length left to weave in. at the end and tying a little knot just to secure it ready for weaving later
15:13
I've removed my stitch marker so I need to remember where I'm joining
15:17
which is in the corresponding stitch for me which is just at the top of my second V-stitch row
15:24
So I'm going to come, going to go in one side and out the other. So much like we did with our shoulder, we're joining from one side to the other
15:33
But the good thing about this is you've got your rows as a
15:37
guide. So if you have the top of your arm hole secured at the top, you can make sure that your
15:44
rows are matching up when seeming. I know that when I was first learning to join and make
15:50
garments, seeming was the biggest challenge, which is why I use this stitch in this pattern
15:55
so that we can see if our rows are going a bit skew with. So I'm going to make sure that
16:00
they are lined up perfectly. So that first one, and you can see which rows are
16:07
should be matched with which and it's a really good visual guide. If you're sewing up from the
16:12
bottom this actually is a little bit easier to sew the whole way up but you know that once you've
16:18
anchored into that place you are ready to start and you have the top of your project secured
16:24
where the top of your armhole is. So you know where to stop. Otherwise you'll seam the whole
16:30
thing and have nowhere to put your arms. Make sure that your rows are in the right place and you're
16:36
Instead of working through stitches, this time you're going to be going through the row above where you've just seamed
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So I'm going into an in row and in this case going into the in row opposite and just bring your yarn up and through
16:55
Just to keep them lined up, you can then go through the next row, always making sure that you're coming out in the opposite direction and do the same
17:06
same, making sure you're going through the corresponding row. And once again, it's just going to
17:13
really create a beautiful seam that no one can see. It's making sure that you're
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going through the same point on your rows to keep them in line
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So as you can see there is pretty much no seam whatsoever
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You can't see where they've joined. It just looks like a continuous row all the way across
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Making sure that your rows are in the right place is really going to help that kind of continuous
17:57
look of this project. So just as you did with your shoulders, continue to work all the way up the side of your
18:04
project, adding your mattress stitch, or mattress seeming all the way up
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Just double checking that you're working through the right rows every time
18:14
because it is easy to race ahead and then inadvertently sew through the wrong place
18:21
and then you'll lose that beautiful continuity and it's really not worth rushing this process
18:27
It will take a little while, which is why this video came out a little bit earlier than our sleeves
18:35
so we can get this section done and then we can work our sleeves onto our cardigan
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So you can carry on with your seaming, work up both sides, make sure your shoulders are done
18:48
both your sides are done, and then I will see you back for the next video where we're going
18:53
to be learning how to work our sleeves onto our project
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