Altering Sweaters

Most tailors won't work with knits. You might need
to find a weaver or a dressmaker who makes knit dresses.

+1

This has been a west-coast secret for many years. If you are willing to send your sweater to Seattle and WAIT your turn, this is the place. All they do is knits. Just don't be in a hurry because they have more work than they can handle.

It ususally takes about two months when we send something to them. So, this Winter will have come and gone before your merino would be back in your hands. There is always next winter and the job will be perfect!

I've never seen better work on knits. Their prices are reasonable. Maybe one of the Seattle forum members know about this establishment and would care to comment.

http://www.knitalteration.com/index.html

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If BR=Banana Republic you are better off buying a smaller size as the alterations cost would not be feasible

MrR

Of course, quite doable and at a low cost here in Beijing. Shipping would probably make up for the savings though.

I suppose the only real purpose of stating this is that if you are coming through China, I advise that you bring clothing of all types to be altered. The price is generally about 1/4 of the US for good work. Some things are especially inexpensive. That jean operation (taking them up the proper way) can cost as little as 1.50.

Why dont you just take the sweater to a good tailor and ask HIM..??

fwiw, I've had a BR and JCrew sweater taken in successfully but it depends on the kind of knit as other sweaters I've wanted to have work done he said it wasnt possible.

I don't know why I forgot to mention it in my previous remarks (above). Forget alterations altogether!

Any good full-service dry cleaners can do knit blocking. With such an inexpensive garment and your desire to use it immediately, just ask the cleaners to "block" your sweater. Essentially, they can shrink it down overall or just in certain areas as necessary. This is good for only about one size. They can also stretch a knit up approximately one size. The person that does the blocking will measure you against the sweater's dimensions and block the sweater accordingly.

Blocking is quick, harmless, reversible, and relatively cheap. This is the way to go for a Banana Republic sweater. Knit alterations would cost more than you originally paid for you sweater.

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What does "knit blocking" involve?

I looked into Knit Alteration for myself only a week or two ago, and they seem very good, but obviously the wait time is a downside. So far I haven't tried them; if I get my hands on some nice sweaters after the cold weather has mostly passed (probably mid-April or earlier for Florida), then I might give them a shot. As for knit blocking: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blocking_%28knitting%29.

Since you remarked previously that you already own the sweater and it is too big, shouldn't your concern be how to make it fit correctly, quickly, permanently, and at a fair cost to you?

If you have a good relationship with your tailor and both of you are confident he can do what you want, twenty-five dollars is certainly fair in my neck of the woods.

I cannot speak for your dry cleaners' comment about upsizing being easy while downsizing might not be so easy. All I know is that a skilled knit blocker can almost always go up or down one full size without problems. Perhaps they know something about your sweater you didn't mention in your posts? A good knit blocker won't likely charge any less than your tailor.

Either method is mere speculation until you present the sweater for examination by the tailor and/or the knit blocker. Good luck!!

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If I want to have a sweater taken in on the side seams, is there a non destructive way to do this? Like if I want to let it back out in the future?