How to shorten a sweater? ETA "in conclusion..."

This is a question for the seamstresses/sewists in the YLF community. I have pretty good sewing skills and good sewing machine, and do most of my own alterations. Several decades ago I made a lot of my own clothes including some coats.

I just received a turtleneck sweater I really like, and while the body fits well, it's too long. I'm considering trying to shorten it. If I can't do that it's going back. It has a half-inch black trim around the collar, cuffs, and hem that I want to keep, and a subtle hem welt.

I've read lots of internet DIY instructions that say you can cut off the welt and reattach it higher up the body to make the garment shorter. (You need to make the cut a little above the top of the welt to have fabric for a seam allowance). I've tried this with a sweatshirt and it worked fine. When I've tried it with a knit sweater, the seam where the welt is attached, even when flattened with topstitching or similar, ends up bulky, rippled/bunched up, and generally unattractive. Steaming with an iron did not help. I used a zigzag stitch which has some stretch to it. I've read that putting tissue paper between the fabric and the presser foot (and removing it later) could prevent this bunchiness, which sounds logical because it would prevent the fabric from stretching during the stitching process but still allow the zigzag stitching to stretch after the alteration is complete. I think I have something in my donate pile that I can use for practice.

Do any of you have ideas, suggestions, or success stories for similar alterations?

Thanks in advance!

Macy's

Calvin Klein Marled Turtleneck Sweater

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3 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

There used to be a mother-daughter team who upcycled sweaters. They had a shop near me. I think they used a serger.

Here is the hem on my sweater from them.

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Janet

(website)

I recently had two knits shortened — both were lightweight and smooth, so it was a pretty painless operation. One had a raw hem before, which curled up, so it was an improvement all around. The other had a sewn hem to begin with, so cutting and rehemming was an easy task for my tailor. I’m not sure how well it would work with the style you show here.

Anonymous

I simply wouldn’t . I’m pretty good with sewing and knitting and this is a tough one to get looking good . Sweaters are always too long on me too , so I feel ya .

lozz_oz

Hmmm, this may be a tricky one to get right. Is the body of the sweater a 2 x 2 rib? The welt would also be a rib, so they would need to align perfectly in order for it to work.
Rather than cutting off the welt and they reattaching, why wouldn’t you fold up the welt so right sides are facing with the sweater, then stitch in the ditch between welt and sweater and then overlock/serge the excess material. Then fold back down the welt and steam press.
I’d do a practice on a thrifted rib sweater first to see if it works!

Brooklyn

I think the way Lozz suggests is how I’d do it.

approprio

Another thumbs up to lozz’s solution. I was thinking something similar.

Stagiaire Fash

lozz_oz, does a cross section of the bottom look like a “W” (or an “M”, depending on perspective) in your method?

Chris987

Rachylou, I have heard that sergers are really good for stitching
on knits. What you say here seems to confirm that.

Janet, interesting about your smooth sweaters. I think the ribs make it
more challenging

lisa p - I'm thinking I may agree with you taht this particular sweater
is too tricky. I may be better off just looking for somethign differnet.

lozz-oz good questions - the welt has very narrow ribs and he body has slightly wider ones so aligning it all would be very tricky. Also there is a taper in the overal shape from the body down to the welt. What you described could work but I'm not sure it alleviates the bumchiness/ripple effect at the area where the seam goes. I've tried this sort of thing a few times in the past and the steaming did not take care of the bunchiness.

One thing I forgot to mention is that I got this sweater to be a tonal match to a skirt that I'm definitely keeping. It also needs shortening but will be easy. (Find below)

Thanks for all the great suggestions, they really helped my thought process! This sweater is going back and I'm going to keep looking for something similar. Meantime the skirt already works well with black an grey tops I already have.

NEXT!

Calvin Klein Plaid-Knit Midi Skirt

Yes, I think that it works much better with a thin, flat knit. Here are detail photos of the hems on each of my newly-shortened pieces. As a fellow short-torsoed person, I feel your pain! And I can’t wear petite tops unless they are sleeveless because long sleeves end up being too short!

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Could you just sacrifice the welt, maybe tuck it in?

Staysfit

https://www.google.com/url?sa=.....=2ahUKEwjd

I hope this link works. Here is what I would do…if it doesn’t work, it’s a You Tube video from Sew Anastasia, and she shows how to crop a knit sweater and keep the hem.

... trying a few experiments... will report back ...

I promised to report back so here I am. I realized that I was spending so much time analyzing possible alterations that I had lost track of whether this sweater and it's accompanying skirt were really going to work in my wardrobe. I realized the answer is no, not right now, so I've returned them.

I tried the method in the Youtube video and it was very similar to what I was already planning with the big difference being that it involved straight, not zig zag stitches. Plus her sweater looked a lot thicker and looser than mine so a seam around the top of the welt would not be so visible as it would in my thinner ribbed sweater.

I did learn something very useful.

The combination of how heavy and stretchy the fabric is, how tight you want it to fit, and whether you choose stretchy or non-stretchy stitches seems to be something you'd have to experiment with for each garment. The sweet spot is where there is enough stretch to fit over your head and lie properly at the hem area, but not so much that the added seam is a rippled/bunchy mess. Good to know!

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