If you sew with knits often, you know just how much the stretch of the fabric can affect the final garment. The most obvious place that you can see this is in the neck. If you make your neckband too tight, you can’t get it over your head and if you make your neckband too loose, it looks sloppy and unprofessional.
This is where our handy stretch chart comes in! You should cut a 4″ square out of the fabric you want to work with and hold it up to the printable chart while stretching it. Once you determine how much stretch your fabric has, you can cut your neckband according to the notes under each stretch amount.
You can also use this chart to simply calculate the amount of stretch your fabric has. You stretch it the same way but ignore the neckband calculations below each section. This is great for knowing if your particular fabric is right for your next project.