Sewing ribbing fabric / using ribbing scraps

Dear Community,
What should you keep in mind when sewing ribbing fabric? What do you do with leftover ribbing fabric?

Scraps of ribbing fabric are often perfect for making cuffs on doll clothes. I’ve used very small scraps of ribbing to sew skirts, tops, and pants for little fashion dolls. It works really well because the stretchy fabric means you don’t need a complicated sewing pattern.
See for yourself: 
 

And if the ribbing fabric is very stretchy, it’s also great for making hair ties.

 

When sewing ribbing fabric, you need to pay attention to its individual stretchiness. When you buy a sewing pattern, it usually says to multiply the measured ribbing length by 8. But there are different types of ribbing fabric; some stretch more than others.



I’ve written a blog post on the topics of “ribbing” and “sewing on ribbing.” If you’re interested, feel free to read more about it here. In general, I always recommend trying the garment on directly with the specific ribbing fabric. If the ribbing is too loose, the garment will never fit well in that area.

Of course, I save any leftover ribbing fabric. For doll clothes, you only need short pieces, so there’s usually enough left over… check out my baby doll clothes—everything’s in miniature size. I describe exactly how I sewed these items in my blog here on CP.

Best regards, Ina