How to Block a Sweater

Hi there. I'm Corrina Ferguson from The Knitting Circle. In this video, we're going to learn about blocking a sweater, including blocking one that has ruffles. So let's get started. So, right now we're going to talk about blocking sweaters. This is a schematic, which is measurements for all the pieces of a sweater. And this one is for the Helaine tee, of course. And this is what you're going to use when you have the pieces of your sweater before you seam them, and you're ready to block them into the shape that you want them to be. So what you can do is, you can use this and you can say, for example, and I'll hold this up so you can see. I'm going to take the sleeve, It should be this many inches wide for my size, this tall, and I should block it out to this. That way, this piece will fit into this piece properly when it's time to seam it together. So, you use these as a guide. I always suggest that when you're using a schematic, or any kind of pattern, actually, that's printed out, grab a highlighter, highlight your size. If you're doing the second from the last size, you go through and highlight all those numbers so you can see clearly and easily which numbers you're going to use. But, the Helaine sweater is actually a little different than other sweaters when you do the blocking, because it has ruffles. So I want to talk about blocking supplies, and then how we block sweater pieces to the measurements, but then what we do when we have ruffles. This is a cutout of garage mats. Like, they sell them at Sam's or Costco, you can get them online, and automotive stores. Don't buy the cutesy baby ones, 'cause it's the same exact thing, but it's way more pricey. And they fit all together, so if you have big items, you can lock them together. This is just a piece of one that I use in classes. But this is a nice spongy thing that you can put pins and things into. So that's one supply that we need, is we need something to block things on. Other thing is your ruler, because like I said, you're gonna block it to the measurements. I find that when it's bigger pieces, those big plastic fabric rulers work really well. And, the other thing is that we have here is we have pins. They're called T pins. If you're looking for them in the store, and you want to make sure you get the ones that are rust-proof, because normally your fabric is damp or wet, and you don't want rust on your stuff. The other thing is wires help you do straight lines. Again, you want to make sure these are rust-proof. And then the final thing, and the thing I love the most, that has like changed my life because I block a lot of things as a designer, is these blockers. And they come in different sizes. The set that I have has this size and this half size, and it's got little pins in it. So it's very easy to block straight lines. Now, if you're blocking things like points, you're gonna want to use individual pins, but for this and you're blocking straight lines, these are magic. Get you some of these. So, we're going to grab a little swatch that I have dampened up of my flower, not with a ruffle. And like I said, you're always gonna be blocking the pieces to whatever measurements it happens to tell you. And this one, I want to specifically talk about how to block the ruffle, or not block it, as the case may be. So what I'm going to do is, I'm going to start out here. I like to put one pin in the end of this, and go like this. And if you were using just regular T pins, let me get a few out and show you, you would just be stretching out a little bit, and putting the pin in just like that. But I find that when you're blocking a straight line, it's just so much easier just to stick one of these in, because the T pins can also distort things a little bit if you're doing a straight line. So then I grab this over here, I say, okay. And if you're wondering if I made these the size of the blockers on purpose, I did, just because it makes it easier. And then I just grab, and I get everything the way I want, and I smooth it out. And then when it comes to the ruffles, I don't block the ends of the ruffles. I block right above the ruffles, and go right here and block. And I leave the ruffles alone. Oops that one's going to be too big, Let's use a smaller one. And, when it comes to the ruffles, I just pull them out a little bit from this line that I have, and it's the line where all the decreases or all the increases have occurred, where it goes from a certain fabric to the ruffly fabric, and I just place these right there, and, that way the ruffle just does what the ruffle does. And ruffles do what they want to do. And then the one thing that you'll have with this is, I started with a wet fabric. Never, ever, ever remove your blocked fabric until it's completely dry. I mean, like, put a white paper towel on it and see if you can get any dampness up. If you live in Florida, like I do, You gotta take the weather, and stick your thumb out the window and see how the wind's blowing. But never, never take them up when they're still damp, because when they're still damp, they can stretch and fold and do different things you don't want them to do. So, you want to make sure it's perfectly, perfectly dry before you actually, and again, like I said, you'll use these measurements, and you'll just go and do what the measurements tell you to do. And then when you sew all the pieces together, you'll have a perfectly fitting sweater. Thank you so much for learning with me. Check out our website for more great videos.