A step by step tutorial on joining two knitted pieced together with the mattress stitch
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The mattress stitch is an invisible way to seam knitting. It only works with knit stitches (so stocking stitch or ribbing) but in these cases it's perfect. You only need a tapestry needle and you are ready to go.
Here's the transcript:
The idea behind the mattress stitch is simple. You can fold a stocking stitch along these lines of knit stitches. And if you take a closer look here, you will see a little ladder of ribs connecting these adjacent stitches. So, what we are going to do is basically “folding” the pieces on both sides along such a knit stitch line and sow them together through these little ribs.
Before you start seaming you may want to block your knitting for a neater finish. I’ve already done this. Then you can use the cast on tail for the seaming or a separate yarn. I’m using contrasting yarn here, but you should probably use the same color. Thread the tail on a blunt tapestry needle and you are ready to go.
And then you have to identify the first row of knit stitches on the right swatch. You can start on the left as well, but I always start on the right side. And then find the little rib at the very bottom right above your cast on connecting the two knit stitches and go underneath it with your tapestry needle.
Pull the yarn through and then go to the other side. Find the first row of knit stitches and then go underneath the first rib here as well. Don’t tug on the tail yet.
Instead, go back to the right side and go through the little rib that is directly above the one you already went through.
From here, go back to the left, find the bar that is directly above, and go underneath it as well.
And that’s basically it. You simply have to keep going underneath these little ribs here on both sides. Once you covered an inch or so. You can simply tug on the tail and the seam will close.
Now here’s the thing. Usually, you will try to go under each little rib separately. But if you have a big project on small needles, you can also go underneath two ribs at the same time. Don’t do this if you are knitting with 10 mm needles, but for size 0 or 1, I usually find it quite acceptable.
Also, I’m holding the seam with my fingers. I find it makes it much easier to identify the little ribs and it makes the mattress stitch so much faster.
Once you are finished with the seam. Give the tail a good tug. Now, don’t pull too tight. This will make the seam buckle and you don’t want that. If that happens, you can simply massage it back into shape.
If you take a look at the wrong side. As you can see the mattress stitch leaves a little ridge. And this ridge will become bigger the further in from the edge you place your mattress stitch. I start seaming after the first knit stitch, but you can also do it after the second or third. This can be helpful for some last-minute size adjustments, though you will probably have to do something about the much bigger ridge on the wrong side.
If, for whatever reason, you made a mistake, then you can also pull out the whole seam by pull a bit harder. If you didn’t use an extra yarn for seaming you would have to pull here at the bottom. And woosh, just like that the pieces come undone. If your seam is really long, this might not work anymore and you’d have to unravel it one stitch at a time.
And there is one last thing I would like to mention. I showed you the mattress stitch going in between two knit stitches, but in reality, you will find these little ribs between the V of a single knit stitch as well. You can use these for the seaming too. Just make sure you pick the same kind of ribs on both sides and you will be fine.
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