Fully fashioned knitting produces sweater panels to predetermined shapes and sizes. Front, back and sleeve sections are subsequently linked together, leaving characteristic fashioning marks parallel to the seams. The machines are also called cotton machines after inventor William Cotton, rather than because they require cotton fibre.

Fully Fashioned Knitwear Takes Shape Before Assembly

Many examples produce plain knit structures, so ribbed cuffs and welts are made separately and attached later. V-bed alternatives move a yarn-carrying carriage across opposing needle beds, offering another route to shaped wool knitwear.