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Making a Sweater Trimmer

ltontheqt

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Recently, in a thread I can't find, a member wrote about taking his sweaters to a knitting tailor for adjustment when they are too bulky. He said it was inexpensive to do, and the results have been good. In this case, the tailor was in San Francisco. How does one find such a specialist locally? Is this alteration an easy process? I am talking about taking in the sides. Will this make it out of proportion to the sleeves? I'd like to experiment with a sweater in which it won't kill me if it doesn't work out as I wish. Advice?
 

Mr. Lee

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Never heard of such a thing. I think most tailors would not even contemplate taking on the work.
 

AB01

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Many sweaters are bulky. I had to turn down a nice one today because it was way too big in the gut area. Otherwise it was amazing. Knowing I could get anything slimmed would be easier.
 

gdl203

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Throw it in the washer/dryer
 

Newlaw

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Originally Posted by gdl203
Throw it in the washer/dryer

This... you really don't even need to wash it. Just needs to be soaked in water and then thrown in the dryer. Just check/watch it CLOSELY.
 

alliswell

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Originally Posted by Mr. Lee
Never heard of such a thing. I think most tailors would not even contemplate taking on the work.

Thanks for playing.

OP-

Take it to a tailor that works with women's clothes. They tend to have experience with a great range of fabric than Mr. Lee can imagine. You should be able to get both the body and sleeves taken in. Shrinking will shrink in every dimension, not just width.
 

potemkin_city_limits

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I took a knit cardigan to a tailor here in Toronto and they altered it no problem. It fits great now. I think I paid around $15 to have the sides taken in. Ive been contemplating taking my Norwegian LL Bean sweater in sometime to have the same thing done. Its either that or Ill just shrink it in the dryer and then stretch out the arms again.
 

impolyt_one

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Originally Posted by Newlaw
This... you really don't even need to wash it. Just needs to be soaked in water and then thrown in the dryer. Just check/watch it CLOSELY.

I don't even know if you need to tumble dry it, just lay it flat and air dry it. We put a cheap uniqlo turtleneck in the dryer and it came out the perfect size for my 20 lb beagle. =\\
 

sephlod

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I usually have to size down when I buy sweaters because of the extra baggage. Historically, I've been pretty lucky with a high heat dryer cycle
 

westinghouse

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Originally Posted by gdl203
Throw it in the washer/dryer

Quickest way to destroy a wool sweater. You can easily shrink it too much, but even if you don't, you will cause the sweater to felt.
 

Newlaw

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Originally Posted by impolyt_one
I don't even know if you need to tumble dry it, just lay it flat and air dry it. We put a cheap uniqlo turtleneck in the dryer and it came out the perfect size for my 20 lb beagle. =\\
Haha, this has happened to me before. I take it out well before it is totally dry, and then lay it flat and let it air dry as you described. It really depends how much shrinkage you need. I lost about 25 pounds, so many of my sweaters were much too large. I figure getting them damp and using the dryer to shrink them was worth a shot... I definitely wasn't going to wear them as they looked like potato sacks, so I had nothing to lose with the dryer.
 

Green Lantern

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My dryer came with a flat insert that is for drying sweaters and other items that don't need to be beat to death in the drying cycle. I simply submerge item in HOT water and allow to dry on flat surface..
 

Green Lantern

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I had to fire this maid who totally ruined 3 of my Malo cashmere sweaters!! I had also told her to NEVER machine dry my Raleigh Jeans.

e39403fb4692ab9663ac450b5b339ceb.jpg
 

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