Comments on: Knitwear alterations

By: Vibeke in Oslo

Vibeke in Oslo — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:01:17 +0000

I have sewn quite a lot of my clothes over the years – also knits. Of course you can alter knits just like any other clothes. It’s actually amazing what can be done with clothes. Dying – refashioning – resizing – relining – turning and embellishing or reembellishing – you name it. Check out war-time “make do and mend” pamphlets or dressmaking- and sewing books for references and ideas. It would be great if more people realized this instead of just thowing away perfectly usable materials.
Vibeke in Oslo

By: Angie

Angie — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 04:02:56 +0000

Sure. I go to Madison Cleaners and the name of the owner is Chung. She does my alterations. They are on the corner of Madison and Martin Luther King. Hope you get sorted!

By: missjulied

missjulied — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 03:41:52 +0000

Angie, care to share the name of your tailor? (I’m in Seattle too.)

By: Kristina

Kristina — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:22:10 +0000

If you have a sewn edge on the hem or the sleeve (such as a tee shirt), a tailor with a coverlock machine would be able to shorten the sleeve. If you have a fine-knit like a sweater, I think you MIGHT still be able to have it shortened while preserving the ribbing at the hem if the garment can be taken in at the shoulder (this would probably require a set-in sleeve), and if you don’t mind losing some of the sleeve’s looseness. I think it would be very tricky, but depending on the garment, might be doable.

By: Lex

Lex — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 06:11:57 +0000

I’m a handknitter, and yes, hems and sleeves can be done with thicker knits or handknits pretty easily. As Therese says, commercial knits are trickier. They’re often very fine and need to be done by a seamstress. However, as C says, hemming them is bulky.

In other words, I can’t see how it could be done with fine knits while also preserving the ribbing edge at the hem and sleeve cuff.

By: Therese

Therese — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 23:37:42 +0000

You can, of course, do all of that. A knit piece is like any other garment. A skilled knitter (check your local yarn shop for recommendations) can generally assist you in reshaping a piece successfully and attractively. I’ve had different results in having commercial knitwear reshaped. My my mother’s godmother, who is a skilled knitter, used to alter all of the family’s sweaters to fit and to eye — there was no sign of any seaming, and the stitches all matched up nicely. (She also taught me how to knit, which has been more useful in fixing pulls in sweaters than actually knitting garments.) I’ve had less success around China — the knitting stalls in China prefer to completely take apart a piece and re-seam it to fit, whereas the tailors here prefer to just sew over the seam, which can be bulky in some places (e.g. the cuffs) and do not work well with roll edges (which need to be reknit to work successfully).

By: Joelle

Joelle — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 03:24:53 +0000

This is an interesting post. I’ve taken knitwear in at the waist before and was happy with the results, but the only time I’ve ever shortened knitwear was when I took up the hem of a jersey knit dress about 2 inches. Since I didn’t shorten it that much I didn’t have to cut it, just left the original hem on and folded it to the length I wanted. Overlocking would prevent any problems with unraveling (at least on fineweight knits). I would think that the only time you’d have a problem shortening knits is when it’s made of chunky yarn or when there is a ribbed hem or cuff.

By: Angie

Angie — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 00:09:40 +0000

That’s amazing, Carissa and C. I had no idea that knitwear could be altered to such an extent. Good to know.

Kristers, I’m afraid I have no before and after pics to show you at this late stage. There is no more “before” because my jumper has been tailored already. Next time.

By: Kristers

Kristers — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 17:21:40 +0000

You wouldn’t happen to have a before and after picture of this garment [either with you in the sweater or laying flat]?

By: C

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 23:27:38 +0000

Donna – knit fabrics are no more prone to raveling sideways than woven ones. They only run downward (though it is hard to tell ‘up’ from ‘down’, and things are sometimes knit upside down)

So, use the same precautions you would with a woven side-seam – which would vary based on whether the thread was slippery or fuzzy, &c.

I see no reason knit couldn’t be hemmed either – it’s just more tricky. Cutting off the excess is generally a bad idea due to the vertical raveling, so the extra bulk might be a problem if it is a thick garment. Also, you need to use special stitches so the new hem stretches appropriately.

If you have a very bulky garment, a skilled hand-kntiter may be able to re-work a surprising amount around cuffs, but it’s not exactly simple, and isn’t always possible.