Introduction:

A full-fashioned sweater is a pullover or cardigan which has been shaped, in some

way, during the actual knitting process. The shaping is done by increasing and decreasing the
number of stitches or rows across the width or length of the knit piece and allows the finished
garment to have a better fit. This method is vastly different from the method of shaping used
in cut-and-sew or even seamless, tubular sweaters. Although commercially produced, full-
fashioned sweaters are assembled by machine, they are usually more expensive because it not
only requires more time to produce individual garment pieces but it also requires more time
for assembly of the finished sweater or cardigan.

At a minimum, each item of knitwear requires four basic shaped pieces of knit fabric – the
two sleeves, the front, and the back piece. Separate neckbands may also require shaping. A
cardigan has 5 shaped pieces with a front band which may be knit in several pieces. Mass
produced knitwear generally uses the cut and sew method of construction where all the
shaping is done after the knitting process, by literally cutting out and sewing together the
individual pieces of knit fabric. The remaining scrap pieces are referred to as “waste”
knitting. The term “full-fashioned” actually has more than one definition. When applied to
knitwear, it can refer to the method used in shaping the garment but it can also refer to the
distinctive characteristics of the full-fashioned decreasing or increasing method. How can you
tell if an item of knitwear is “full-fashioned”? First, look for visible increases and
decreases on the outside of the sweater, then look inside!

Turn the sweater inside out and check the seams. A full-fashioned sweater will have fully
formed stitches along the very edge the sweater piece. The manufactured cut n’ sew sweaters
will have open, cut stitches along the side covered by an over-locked type seam. Technically,
an over-locked seam should not ravel. However, you can literally pick little bit of yarn out of
the seam…pick a little more and your seam disappears. A scary thought! This visible full-
fashioned shaping is created by a variety of symmetrical edge decreases or increases. Some
of these decreases and increases can be extremely decorative, with most of them specifically
designed to be visible and an integral part of the overall look.

These decorative increases or decreases are usually worked one or two stitch in from the
selvage stitch as SKP and SSK decreases or increases. Think of the classic cashmere twin sets
from Pringle’s of Scotland. The visible hallmarks of a quality item of knitwear are the
decreases along the armhole and shoulder lines! There are several reasons why full-fashioned
sweaters claim a number of advantages over cut—and—sewn or seamless sweaters and why
these features increase their sales appeal.

Why would you want a full-fashioned sweater? Here is just one very important reason – not
only do they fit better but each sweater piece is knit and shaped to conform to the wearer’s
body rather to any body…

As knitters, we have the ability to further customize the shape of each piece for a perfect,
personal fit – the ultimate custom knit garment! There are no bulky and irregular sewn seams
such as those found in less expensive, mass produced cut and sew sweaters. There is no
wasted yarn, especially when you use the more expensive fibers such as cashmere and alpaca.
Definition of Fully Fashion Knit:
Knitting is a method by which thread or yarn may be turned into cloth. Knitting consists of
loops called stitches pulled through each other. The active stitches are held on a needle until
another loop can be passed through them.

Knitting may be done by hand or by machine. By hand, there are numerous styles and
methods. Flat knitting, which can be done on two straight needles or a circular needle,
produces a length of cloth, while circular knitting, which is done on circular or double-
pointed needles, produces a seamless tube. Different yarns and knitting needles may be used
to achieve different end products by giving the final piece a different colour, texture, weight,
or integrity. Using needles of varying sharpness and thickness as well as different varieties of
yarn adds to the effect.

Knit Structure
Courses and Wales

Like weaving, knitting is a technique for producing a two-dimensional fabric from a one-
dimensional yarn or thread. In weaving, threads are always straight, running parallel either
lengthwise (warp threads) or crosswise (weft threads). By contrast, the yarn in knitted fabrics
follows a meandering path (a course), forming symmetric loops (also called bights or
stitches) symmetrically above and below the mean path of the yarn.These meandering loops
can be stretched easily in different directions, which give knitting much more elasticity than
woven fabrics; depending on the yarn and knitting pattern, knitted garments can stretch as
much as 500%.
Knitting was initially developed for garments that must be elastic or stretch in response to the
wearer's motions, such as socks and hosiery. For comparison, woven garments stretch mainly
along one direction (the bias) and not very much, unless they are woven from stretchable
material such as spandex. Knitted garments are often more form-fitting than woven garments,
since their elasticity allows them to follow the body's curvature closely. By contrast,
curvature is introduced into most woven garments only with sewn darts, flares, gussets and
gores, the seams of which lower the elasticity of the woven fabric still further. Extra
curvature can be introduced into knitted garments without seams, as in the heel of a sock. The
effect of darts flares, etc. can be obtained with short rows or by increasing/decreasing the
number of stitches. Thread used in weaving is usually much finer than the yarn used in
knitting, which can give the knitted fabric more bulk and less drape than a woven fabric. If
they are not secured, the loops of a knitted course will come undone when their yarn is
pulled; this is known as ripping out, unraveling knitting, or humorously, frogging. To secure
a stitch, at least one new loop is passed through it. Although the new stitch is itself unsecured
("active" or "live"), it secures the stitch (es) suspended from it. A sequence of stitches in
which each stitch suspended from the next is called a wale. To secure the initial stitches of a
knitted fabric, a method for casting on is used; to secure the final stitches in a wale, one uses
a method of binding off. During knitting, the active stitches are secured mechanically, either
from individual hooks (in knitting machines) or from a knitting needle or frame in hand-
knitting.
Complete Garment Knitting
Complete garment knitting is a next-generation form of fully-fashioned knitting that adds the
capability of making a 3-dimensional full garment. Unlike other fully-fashioned knitting,
where the shaped pieces must still be sewn together, finished complete knitted garments do
not have seams. The knitting machines' computerized instructions direct movement of
hundreds of needles to construct and connect several tubular knitted forms to create a
complete garment in a single production step.

The complete garment system's advantages lie in 1) a further reduction in materials beyond
even fully-fashioned production by eliminating seam allowances and 2) faster time to market
by eliminating the need for sewing any components. These factors increases cost-
effectiveness (especially important when using high-performance materials such as aramids
for composites). One might also argue that cutting down on wased by-product selvage makes
complete garment better for the environment.

Examples of structures that are most often made with the complete garment technique are
clothing (sportswear to sweaters) or technical textiles (car seat covers which also incorporate
additional structural elements such as metal and plastic fasteners, composite preforms). The
machines can produce a variety of topologies that were more difficult or impossible to create
with knitting machines before, including: connected tubes, circles, open cuboids and even
spheres (for helmet shells and other performs).

Complete garment knitting requires two needle beds for three-dimensional structures (such as
clothing). As is the case with all fully-fashioned knitting, machines require individual single
needle selection (through electronic control) and presser feet (to hold down formed loops).

Aspects of complete garment knitting such as changing the fabric width or diameter and
connecting two sides of the structure together are also possible with a single needle bed for
two-dimensional or 'flat' structures -- and are achieved by:

 Changing knit structure (e.g. rib to interlock)

 Varying the structural elements (stitch length, weft insertion, knit, tuck, float)

 Shaping through loop transfer

 Wale fashioning by 'needle parking,'

 Segmented takedown for varying rates of takedown across the width of the fabric.
Fully Fashioned Knitting

Fully fashioned knitting machines are flat knitting machines that produce custom pre-shaped
pieces of a knitted garment. Instead of knitting a whole rectangular sheet of fabric,
instructions from a knit pattern on a punch card or computer file guide a fully-fashioned
knitting machine's needles to add or drop stitches to create custom two dimensional shapes
appropriate to the desired finished garment structure. The pieces emerge from the machine
ready to be sewn together.

Fully-fashioned knitting cuts down on the amount of material required to make a garment by
eliminating selvage, the remnants that would be left after cutting from a rectangular fabric
sheet. For example, a sweater requires at least four pieces of fabric: two sleeves, the front
piece, and the back piece. Prior to fully-fashioned machine techniques, a full sheet of material
would have to be produced, each of the four pieces would be cut out, and the remaining
fabric would be discarded. With full-fashioning, the machine produces only the four required
pieces.

The necessary techniques for changing the fabric width or diameter are achieved by:

 Changing knit structure (e.g. rib to interlock)

 Varying the structural elements (stitch length, weft insertion, knit, tuck, float)

 Shaping through loop transfer

 Wale fashioning by 'needle parking'

 Segmented takedown for varying rates of takedown across the width of the fabric.

These knit options above may also be used to change the structure of each piece to create
limited curvature (such as convexity at the bust of a sweater) in the relatively 2-dimensional
output. A new generation of fully-fashioned machines, called complete garment knitting
machines, output seamless 3-dimensional garments by knitting connected tubular forms.