What Is The Difference Between Sewing & Crochet? – Our Guide!

If you are looking to take up a new hobby, you might be wondering what the difference is between sewing and crochet and if the two needle-based hobbies have any advantages over one another. 

Sewing is the act of joining two materials together in order to make a seam or stitch, while crochet comes under the examples of knitting, and consists of tiny knots without using a sharp needle.

Down below in our guide we will take you through what sewing, knitting and crochet are, the difference, advantages and disadvantages plus some tips for taking up each hobby as a beginner. 

What Is Sewing? 

Sewing is an excellent craft for joining two pieces of crafted fabric together, used mostly for mass-produced clothes and sewing garments. You simply just need a needle, pre-made fabric pieces, thread and a sewing machine or sharp needles for sewing. 

Sewing is different to crochet or a form of knitting because you are using knitting needles which are thicker and joining loops of yarn together rather than making a common stitch. 

Advantages 

• Easy when using industrial sewing machines.
• Best for seams on clothing items. 
• Perfect for intricate pieces.

Disadvantages 

• Less craft since you are only joining fabric together.
• Straight stitches can be hard to make.

What Is Knitting? 

Knitting can create cool items and is done by joining loops of yarn through either a purl stitch or a knit stitch. You can use different yarn sizes and materials to create items like baby blankets or hats with a knitting pattern.

The main difference between knitting and sewing is that you choose a spool of yarn to create an item rather than pieces of pre-made fabric that you are joining together, this is all done by a series of yarn loops through weft knitting or can even be done by a machine.

Advantages 

• You can create your decorative pieces from yarn. 
• Easy to do. 
• Unlimited types of pieces. 

Disadvantages

• It can be slow. 
• Takes time to get used to the knitting needles.

What Is a Crochet? 

Crochet is a form of knitting making it different to sewing, the difference between crocheting and knitting is that you use a hooked tool to join loops of yarn together, finishing each stitch before you start the next. 

Crocheting for beginners is easy once you know how to use the hook tool, allowing you to create comfy blankets or even doll clothes. All you need is some bulky yarn and a hook.

Advantages 

• Easy to remove mistakes in knitting projects. 
• Good for making bulky items. 
• Fast.

Disadvantages

• Takes more yarn for knitting projects. 
• Hard to make intricate patterns.

Which Type Of Craft Hobby Is Best For Beginners?

If you’re looking to get into sewing or modern knitting, you might be curious as to which craft project is better for beginners.

Sewing and knitting are very different so it’s hard to compare which hobby is easier, some people might find making connected loops harder in yarn while others struggle to make a straight stitch when sewing.

In terms of knitting, most knitting fanatics will argue that crocheting is easier than knitting thanks to the crochet hook and the fact it’s easier to fix your mistakes when knitting.

Tips For Sewing As A Beginner

If you’ve chosen sewing as your new craft hobby, you want to make sure you are mastering the basic stitches before moving on to more complicated patterns, we’ve listed some tips for sewing as a beginner down below. 

• Use a magnet – Pins are important for sewing, to make sure they don’t go everywhere and you lose them, keep them attached to a magnet.
• Practice well – Sewing is not easy and it can take time before you master the needle, in the meantime, we always suggest practising your stitches on a spare piece of fabric before starting your main pieces.
• Measure well – Always measure twice before you start any kind of sewing to avoid mistakes, and never forget a seam allowance when sewing to make clothes.
• Start with easy fabric – We suggest starting to sew with easy fabric like cotton and avoiding fancy fabrics which are harder to sew like silk or velvet.
• Don’t force fabric through a machine – If you’re using a sewing machine and your fabric gets stuck while sewing, never try and force the fabric through the machine, instead turn it off and assess.

Tips For Knitting As A Beginner 

Knitting can be an overwhelming hobby to start if you’re switching from sewing since the two crafts are not similar despite both sharing a needle usage. 

We’ve listed our best tips for knitting as a beginner below.

• Buy cheap yarn – Cheap plain yarn is what you should start with rather than the expensive luxury bulky yarn, this is for the first few projects till you get the hang of knitting with it, choose acrylic yarn when possible.
• Learn the knit cast-on method – The cast-on method is less popular than the longtail method when knitting but is easy to learn as a beginner and will teach you how to do a successfully knit stitch.
• Knit continental style, not English – Learning to knit continental style not English is much easier if you want to transition to crocheting at some point, this is where you hold the yarn in your left hand and then scoop the needle with your right hand, it is much faster than English style knitting.
• Buy the right interchangeable needles – You must choose knitting needles that you are comfortable with. Before deciding on buying any, we suggest trying a few out first or going with some lightweight 8-inch bamboo needles which have interchangeable heads, this will allow you to have any needle size head you need in the future.
• Don’t worry about the tension – Rows and stitches will look bad as you first start with knitting, even experienced knitters can have problems with tension, but this will get better over time.
• Begin with a swatch – As much as you might be tempted to start knitting a scarf, we suggest starting with a swatch first, this is so you can try out your knit cast and get hold of any issues you are having before starting the real project.

Tips For Crochet As A Beginner

Crocheting is easier than knitting, but knowing both can be useful for craft, we suggest learning to knit continental style if you’re used to crocheting to have an easier time.

• Learn the gauge – The gauge in crocheting is very useful, it will tell you how many stitches and rows will fit a pattern and the number of inches inside. Every pattern has these metrics listed, make sure your gauge matches this and you will be on your way!
• Try out different yarns – A worst weighted yarn which is smoother is much easier to use and doesn’t split, try out different yarn materials until you can see what suits you best.
• Keep stitches loose – It can be tempting to hold your hook tight as a beginner, we instead suggest keeping your stitches loosely, this will make it easier to insert your hook for a better result.
• Practice – We suggest taking your crochet pattern and getting your hook and yarn then practice a few times till you master the stitch in the pattern, this might take a few times, but it’s worth it for a better result.
• Use a variety of tools – If you struggle to catch the loop when crocheting then we suggest trying out different crochet hooks, you might need a hook with a pointer head or deeper mouth to be successful.

Frequently Asked Questions About Sewing Vs Crochet 

Which type of garment can be made with crochet? 

Some examples of crochet garment patterns could be anything like skirts, sweaters and cardigans.

Is sewing or crochet a better craft for children?

Sewing is typically easier than knitting for children since it’s less hand work, we would then transition to knitting and crocheting last.

What type of hooks are there for crochet?

There are different types of crochet hooks such as steel, aluminium, bamboo and plastic. They also differ in size from 2mm up to 16mm.

Can you sew crochet items? 

Yes, you can sew crochet items together in order to join fabrics, this will be done with lots of stitches in order to establish a strong seam and can be done by hand or in a sewing machine.

What are crochet stitches?

The six basic crochet stitches are; chain stitch, double crochet stitch, single crochet stitch, treble crochet stitch and slip stitch.

What is frogging in crochet?

Frogging refers to essentially ripping out your crochet work in order to remove mistakes and then fixing them again.

Last Words

Overall, sewing and crochet are very different, with sewing being done with a sharp needle to join two materials together and crochet being a form of knitting, done with two knitting needles in order to make a fabric with yarn. 

Both types of crafts have their pros and cons, however, crocheting can be easier than knitting, and sewing is the first choice if you are looking to get used to using a needle.