Sewn bind off

Today I want to share with you the technique I'm really fond of. It's  the sewn bind off technique. I described it in Antalia pattern but it's so useful that I decided to make a separate blog post about it. This type of bind off yields an elastic edge that gives ease to the garment. Besides it looks very professional, almost like finishing you see in factory-made garments. But sewn bind off is not a good choice if you need firm edges, not elastic ones. This technique is not a must, it's just an option :-)

Here's how to make elastic edges (if you decide to go for it) - once you finished knitting the edge, neckband or any other part you want to bind off using this technique, cut the yarn leaving a piece three times longer than the length of the edge you'll bind off. For example, if the edge is 10" (25.4 cm) long you should leave 10"*3=30" (25.4 cm*3=76.2 cm) of yarn before cutting it. Thread this yarn “tail” into a tapestry or sewing needle and sew the stitches as shown on the scheme. You might notice that it looks a lot like a backstitch hand seam.

This way of binding off takes a bit longer than the traditional way but the result is definitely worth the effort.  Happy knitting :-)