Knit fabric needs three changes and none of them is a new machine: a ball point needle so the point slips between the loops instead of cutting them, a stitch with give in it — a narrow zigzag or a stretch stitch — because a straight stitch snaps when the fabric stretches, and ideally a walking foot to stop the top layer being dragged into a wavy hem.
Why knits behave differently
A woven fabric is a grid: threads running lengthwise and crosswise, interlaced. It does not stretch much, and if you cut it, it frays at the cut edge but does not come apart.
A knit is a single yarn looped through itself, row after row — the same structure as a hand-knitted jumper, at a much finer scale. That is why it stretches, why it does not fray, and why a broken loop runs: pull one loop out of the chain and the ones next to it let go too.
Every problem beginners have with knits comes from one of those three facts.
Problem 1 — holes and runs along the seam. Fix: the needle.
A sharp needle point cuts through a loop rather than pushing it aside, and a cut loop unravels. That is what those small holes running along a new seam in a T-shirt are.
SCHMETZ's jersey / ball point needle is 'designed for sewing on knits and some stretch fabrics', published in 70/10, 80/12, 90/14 and 100/16 plus an assorted pack. The rounded tip separates the loops instead of severing them. Use 80/12 for ordinary jersey and interlock.
For very elastic fabric — swimwear, activewear, anything with a lot of elastane — SCHMETZ publishes a separate stretch needle, 'designed for synthetic suede or elastic knitwear', with 'a deep scarf to prevent skipped stitches'. The scarf is the groove above the needle eye where the bobbin hook passes; on very stretchy fabric the cloth moves as the needle enters and the hook misses the thread loop, and a deeper scarf gives it more room.
The ranking
Quick picks
Ranked against the published criteria below. Tap a row to jump to the full write-up; the price button goes straight to Amazon.
T-shirt fabric and anything that stretches
Jersey / ball point needles
The needle that stops a knit from laddering — the difference between a T-shirt seam that holds and one that runs the first time it is stretched.
A knit fabric is made of loops, not a grid. Push a sharp needle through a loop and you sever it, and a severed loop unravels — that is what a run in a T-shirt is, and it is why a first attempt at hemming a jersey top so often produces a line of small holes along the stitching.
SCHMETZ describes the jersey / ball point needle as 'designed for sewing on knits and some stretch fabrics' and publishes it in 70/10, 80/12, 90/14 and 100/16, plus an assorted pack. The rounded tip slips between the loops rather than through them.
There is a second needle worth knowing about, because people buy the wrong one of the pair. SCHMETZ also publishes a stretch needle, 'designed for synthetic suede or elastic knitwear' with 'a deep scarf to prevent skipped stitches'. The scarf is the groove above the eye where the bobbin hook passes. On a very elastic fabric the material moves as the needle enters, the hook misses the loop of top thread and you get a skipped stitch; a deeper scarf gives the hook more room. So: jersey needle for ordinary T-shirt knits, stretch needle for swimwear, activewear and anything with elastane.
If your machine has been skipping stitches on knit fabric, change the needle before you change anything else. It is the cheapest fix on the list and it is right more often than any tension adjustment.
What works
- Pushes knit loops aside instead of cutting them, which is what prevents runs and holes
- Fixes most 'my machine skips stitches on T-shirt fabric' problems without touching a setting
- Cheap enough that there is no reason not to own a pack before you sew your first knit
What does not
- Wrong needle for woven fabric — the rounded point struggles to pierce a dense weave
- SCHMETZ lists a separate stretch needle with a deeper scarf for elastic knitwear and synthetic suede; for very stretchy fabric that is the better tool
- Not a substitute for a walking foot or a stretch stitch — it solves the needle half of the problem only
Quilts, knits and anything with layers that shift
Walking foot (even feed foot)
Feeds the top layer at the same rate the feed dogs move the bottom one — the single accessory that turns a rippling quilt sandwich into a flat one.
Every sewing machine has feed dogs — the little serrated bars that rise through the needle plate and pull the fabric backwards a stitch at a time. They only touch the bottom layer. When you sew two layers together, the bottom one is being actively pulled and the top one is being dragged along by friction, so the top layer travels a fraction less far on every stitch. Over a two-foot seam that fraction adds up to an inch, and that inch is why the ends do not line up.
A walking foot is a second set of feed dogs mounted in the presser foot, driven off the needle bar so they move in time with the ones underneath. Both layers get gripped and both travel the same distance. That is the entire idea, and it is why it fixes quilt sandwiches, wavy knit hems and plaids that refuse to match.
Where it matters most is quilting, because a quilt is three layers with a compressible one in the middle. Without a walking foot, batting compresses unevenly under the foot and squirts forward, and you finish a quilting line with a fold pushed up ahead of the needle.
Two buying notes. First, shank type: home machines are mostly low-shank, but not all, and a walking foot for the wrong shank will not sit at the right height. Your manual says which yours is. Second, this is the one accessory where the machine manufacturer's own version is usually worth the premium — a walking foot has moving parts, and a cheap one develops play that shows up as an uneven stitch.
Brother includes a walking foot with the CS7000X. It does not include one with the XM2701, the LX3817 or the XR9550, and Singer does not list one with the M1500 or the Heavy Duty 4423. If you are comparing prices between machines, this is the accessory that changes the arithmetic.
What works
- Solves the layer-shift problem mechanically, which no amount of pinning fully does
- Also the best fix for wavy hems on knit fabric
- Makes plaids and stripes match across a seam instead of drifting
- The Brother CS7000X includes one, which is a large part of why it is our top pick
What does not
- The most expensive common presser foot, and the one most often bought in the wrong shank type
- Bulky, noisy and slow — it is not a foot to leave on for ordinary seams
- Generic 'universal' walking feet vary in quality; the machine maker's own is the safer buy
The first machine most beginners should buy
Brother CS7000X Computerized Sewing & Quilting Machine
The only machine on this page that arrives with the two feet a beginner ends up buying anyway — a walking foot and a quarter-inch foot — plus an automatic needle threader and a drop-in bobbin, so the two jobs that make people quit are the two jobs it makes easy.
The CS7000X is the machine we point a first-time buyer at, and the reason has nothing to do with its stitch count. It is the presser feet. Brother lists ten of them in the box — zigzag, buttonhole, zipper, button sewing, overcasting, blind stitch, monogramming, quarter-inch, quilting and walking — plus a quilt guide. Two of those, the walking foot and the quarter-inch foot, are the exact accessories a beginner ends up ordering three months in, and they are not cheap bought separately.
The second reason is the threading. Brother's published specification lists an automatic needle threading system and a quick-set drop-in top bobbin. Threading the needle and setting the bobbin are the two jobs that make people put a machine back in its box, and this one turns both into a lever pull and a drop. On a front-loading machine you are removing a case, seating a bobbin in a particular orientation, and hoping.
It is a computerized machine, which means stitch selection is a mode key and a shift key against an LCD rather than a dial. That is a genuine trade-off, not a straight upgrade: a dial is legible at a glance and has nothing to fail, while an LCD tells you the stitch width and length the machine has actually selected. For someone learning, seeing the numbers is worth more than the simplicity of a dial.
The extras matter more than they sound. The detachable wide table turns a small free-arm machine into something you can push a quilt across, and the hard protective cover is the difference between a machine that stays out on a table and one that lives in a cupboard collecting dust. Brother also publishes a 25-year limited warranty and free phone and online technical support for the life of the product.
We have not sewn on this machine. Everything above is from Brother's own specification page, and the price on the button is live from Amazon rather than anything we typed. What we can tell you is what the box contains and what that saves you buying — which, for a first machine, is most of the decision.
What works
- Automatic needle threader and a drop-in bobbin — the two setup jobs that defeat most beginners
- Ten presser feet including the walking foot and a quilting foot, which the cheaper machines make you buy separately
- Detachable wide table and a hard cover are in the box, not extras
- Adjustable sewing speed control, so a first seam can be run slowly
- Brother publishes a 25-year limited warranty on it
What does not
- Seventy stitches is far more than a beginner will use; you are paying for decorative stitches you may never touch
- Computerized machines have more to go wrong electronically than a dial-and-lever mechanical
- At 10.5 lb it is light enough to walk across a table at speed unless it is on a firm surface
The kit it pairs with: It already includes the walking foot and quilting foot, so its starter kit is short: needles, bobbins, thread, shears and pins.
Problem 2 — the seam pops. Fix: the stitch.
A straight stitch has no stretch. Sew a knit with one, pull the garment over your head, and the fabric extends while the thread does not — so the thread breaks, usually at the shoulder or the neckline.
Use a narrow zigzag — around 1 mm wide and 2.5 mm long. The zigzag path is longer than the seam it covers, so when the fabric stretches the stitch straightens out rather than snapping. Every machine we cover can do this.
Better, if your machine has one, use a dedicated stretch stitch or lightning-bolt stitch, which is a narrow zigzag with a triple-stitch construction that is both stretchy and strong. Brother's machines carry stretch stitches within their stitch libraries.
Problem 3 — the wavy hem. Fix: the foot.
The classic knit failure: you hem a T-shirt and the hem comes out rippled like a lettuce edge. That happens because the feed dogs pull the bottom layer while the presser foot holds the top layer back, so the top layer stretches as it is fed. On a stable woven you would never notice; on a knit it stretches and stays stretched.
A walking foot fixes it properly, by adding a second set of feed dogs that move the top layer at the same rate as the bottom one. Brother includes a walking foot with the CS7000X and does not include one with the XR9550, XM2701 or LX3817. Full explanation.
Without one: reduce presser foot pressure if your machine allows it, support the fabric with a hand behind and in front of the foot without pulling, and sew slowly. A strip of lightweight fusible knit interfacing pressed into the hem allowance also stabilizes it, at the cost of a little stretch.
The twin needle hem
That double row of stitching on the hem of a shop-bought T-shirt is one pass with a twin needle — two needles on one shank, sharing the top thread path but running two spools, with a single bobbin thread zigzagging between them underneath. The zigzag underneath is what gives the hem stretch.
Two cautions. Your machine must be able to take a twin needle, and there is a maximum width — your manual states it. Never sew a zigzag at full width with a twin needle: it will swing into the needle plate and break both needles. SCHMETZ publishes twin needles in universal, stretch, denim, embroidery and metallic types, and Brother includes a twin needle in the box with the CS7000X, XM2701 and XR9550.
Do you need a serger for this?
No. A serger makes knit seams faster and neater, and it cannot sew a plain seam, a buttonhole or a topstitch line — so it cannot be your only machine. The full comparison. A ball point needle and a narrow zigzag will get you a T-shirt that fits and lasts.
Answers
Questions people ask
What needle do I use for knit fabric?
What stitch should I use for stretchy fabric?
Why is my knit hem wavy?
Can I sew knits without a serger?
How do I get a professional-looking T-shirt hem?
Where this came from
Sources
About the author
Scooter M.
An enthusiast who is genuinely into this. I read the manuals, compile the published specs, and do the arithmetic. No lab coat, no test bench, and no machines I am pretending to have used — which is exactly why every claim here carries a source.
Published by Slate Mill Group. Published September 1, 2026; last updated September 1, 2026. Editorial policy.
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