VIDEO: How to find stretch percentage in knit fabric

One of our awesome Citrine testers - new to knit sewing - asked me during testing how to find the stretch percentage of a knit fabric. An excellent question!

VIDEO: How to find the stretch percentage of a knit fabric

The video above shows my favorite technique for finding % stretch, but just in case the video isn’t working for you, here are the broad strokes:

  • Find the direction of stretch of the fabric - this is perpendicular to the selvages

  • Cut a strip of your knit fabric 10” long, along the direction of stretch

  • Anchor the end of the strip, then stretch it firmly until you reach a comfortable maximum length.

  • Whatever the difference between the new length and 10” is, multiply that difference by 10 to get the stretch percentage.

  • Cut a 10x10 square to measure both vertical and horizontal stretch

Example: If your 10” strip stretches to 17” - that’s 70% stretch, because the difference is 7". If it stretches to 14.5,” the percent stretch is 45%, because the difference is 4.5.”

Get it?

PS. This works for metric too - just cut your swatch 10 cm wide instead of 10 inches!

tutorial, knitsRae Hoekstrasewing with knits, citrine, jade, isla, flashback tee