Lining a Knitted Pouch or Pocket.

As I've finished my New Earth Bag, I thought I'd go over my instructions for making the lining my way. I like to make the lining stitches invisible and this is how I do it.

1. Make a lining pocket just slightly smaller than the inside measurements of your pouch. Clip corners and iron seams open. Fold top edge out 1/2" and iron down. Make sure to keep right side of fabric on inside.
2. Insert lining into bag and pin generously. Those yellow things are my pins.
3. With needle and thread, come in from wrong side of lining (between lining fabric and knitted fabric) and secure the knot.
4. Begin stitching, coming up through the top edge of the lining fabric and going out through your knitting. Go under a stitch (here a purl bump) and through another before you go back into the lining. Wiggle the thread as neccessary to hide it. Remove the pins as you get to them.
5. Continue in this manner all the way around. Knot your stitching in your favorite way and hide the knot. Cut thread and put away the needle before somebody steps on it and blames you for their bad luck.
6. Admire your handiwork.

If this process doesn't appeal to you, I've decided to offer my services to do it for you. That's right. I can be bought. Well, rented, anyway. Just contact me here on my blog and we'll have a chat.

Beading on Knits Tutorial

What you'll need:

1. A finished piece of knitting or crochet--why, I just happen to have one here! (Yes, I finished knitting the New Earth Bag for Pretties and sewed up the sides.)


2. Beads of appropriate size and color--it's okay to audition various types. I find that just laying them on top of the fabric will tell me if I want 'em.


3. A needle that will go through the beads with room to spare for the thread


4. Thread. I got mine in a very special way: I happen to be working with a yarn that is really eight strands twisted together. I untwisted the end and pulled out a strand at a time. I threaded my needle with two strands and that worked just fine. You could also use sewing thread or beading thread, depending on how much wear your finished piece will be getting. Mine will get very little so I can go easy.

Now to the work: This is for a piece that will be lined, with fabric covering the inside. For this reason, I will leave knots and not bother with burying the ends.

1. Tie a knot in the end of your thread, leaving a tail of about 1". Anchor your thread in the back of your work.
2. Come up through the fabric where you want your beads to start.
3. Thread your beads onto your needle. Here I used four.
4. Here's a tricky part: slide the beads down to your fabric and lay them down as you want them to be sewn. Take the needle under the knitted stitch at the end of the bead row. Go under more stitches until you get to about the center of the bead row. (For this project it was 3 purl bumps and 2 beads.) You may notice that I moved the unanchored beads away so we can see where the needle is going.
5. Draw up the slack in the thread, gently! Don't tighten it. Now you can see the thread coming out about halfway on the bead row.
6. Take the needle back through the first half of the bead row. This will keep the beads from flipping around.
7. Go down through the fabric and back to step #2.

Continue like this until you can say, "Aw done!" If you're lining the piece, as I am, you don't have to weave in the ends. Don't cut 'em too close, though. Leave tails on the back for extra security.Jasmin suggested I add beads to the front, so I did. Just a little, under each bobble. The center one doesn't get a bead because it acts as the toggle in the loop closure. As a very obvious person, sometimes I like a little subtlety.And here it is! Ready for lining. I may just do a photo tutorial on that later.