To steek or not to steek
February 14, 2010 5:27 PM Subscribe
I recently completed work on a knitted tunic, which came out rather...less than ideal.
The top was the rather notorious Dahlia from Knitty, which I had made to wear to an Oscar party. Unfortunately, the "deep scoop" neck hit me below my breasts, which gave the pullover less of a Regency look and more of a maternity top look. Which was not what I was going for.
In my dissatisfaction I started playing with the excess fabric and was able to find the neckline I had originally intended. My options seem to be:
1. Frog the piece at a smaller size, and incorporate a few of the modifications from the other folks on Ravelry who have been more sucessful at making this than I have. Given how quirky the pattern has been written, I'm concerned that I may not get it right the second time.
2. Steek it myself, which I haven't done, or
3. Bring it to a tailor and have them steek it.
Because most of the excess fabric is through the shoulders, steeking gives me some pause. I've heard that if a top doesn't fit through the shoulders, it doesn't fit, and I can't quite figure out how one could cut into the fabric without it being too conspicuous. Additionally, any steeking I could do is hampered by my lack of a sewing machine.
I've been poking around on Ravelry and asking questions here and there. Because there are a decent number of knitters here on MeFi, I thought I'd ask here, too.
The top was the rather notorious Dahlia from Knitty, which I had made to wear to an Oscar party. Unfortunately, the "deep scoop" neck hit me below my breasts, which gave the pullover less of a Regency look and more of a maternity top look. Which was not what I was going for.
In my dissatisfaction I started playing with the excess fabric and was able to find the neckline I had originally intended. My options seem to be:
1. Frog the piece at a smaller size, and incorporate a few of the modifications from the other folks on Ravelry who have been more sucessful at making this than I have. Given how quirky the pattern has been written, I'm concerned that I may not get it right the second time.
2. Steek it myself, which I haven't done, or
3. Bring it to a tailor and have them steek it.
Because most of the excess fabric is through the shoulders, steeking gives me some pause. I've heard that if a top doesn't fit through the shoulders, it doesn't fit, and I can't quite figure out how one could cut into the fabric without it being too conspicuous. Additionally, any steeking I could do is hampered by my lack of a sewing machine.
I've been poking around on Ravelry and asking questions here and there. Because there are a decent number of knitters here on MeFi, I thought I'd ask here, too.
I wouldn't steek for something like that -- it will leave a very rigid seam that won't stretch like the rest of the fabric. It's great for opening up necklines or even adding gussets to make something wider but probably not ideal for taking things in at the seam. I wouldn't trust a tailor with it, either, as few of them have experience with cutting into handknits.
What I would do is steek on each side of whatever piece you're taking in, and then sew a new seam by hand, with yarn, a few stitches in from the steek. It might not be the most comfortable thing ever, but it will at least give a stretchy seam that moves with the rest of the top.
(I also just finished a sweater and was terribly disappointed by the fit -- I'm putting it away for a bit before I decide whether to add underarm gussets or just find a tall friend with a flat chest to donate it to)
posted by OLechat at 6:11 PM on February 14, 2010
What I would do is steek on each side of whatever piece you're taking in, and then sew a new seam by hand, with yarn, a few stitches in from the steek. It might not be the most comfortable thing ever, but it will at least give a stretchy seam that moves with the rest of the top.
(I also just finished a sweater and was terribly disappointed by the fit -- I'm putting it away for a bit before I decide whether to add underarm gussets or just find a tall friend with a flat chest to donate it to)
posted by OLechat at 6:11 PM on February 14, 2010
I would not steek this. Here's a long shot suggestion which might or might not fix the problem at all: Instead of trying to reshape the fabric, what about picking up stitches all around the neck and then adding a decorative pattern to fill in some of the scoop. You'd have to pick something to work that would still work while decreasing stitches, maybe a relatively extended band on which you would add the picot edging? It's hard to tell from your pic, but I'm wondering if just a little more emphasis at the top may balance the garment out. It wouldn't be your ideal, but it might look good. However, if you're just going to be pissed everytime you wear it that it doesn't look right, then donate it or frog it and move on.
posted by kch at 8:40 PM on February 14, 2010
posted by kch at 8:40 PM on February 14, 2010
Are the sleeves picked up and knit after you finish the body of the sweater? If so, I'd frog just the sleeves, steek just the very narrow shoulders and pick up and knit the sleeves again in a smaller size.
It seems, though, from the pictures, that you maybe didn't finish the neckline as in the pattern? I don't recognize the little bobbles that are there in the Knitty pics. The finished edge on a neckline can pull everything up and in to a substantial degree, so if you didn't get that far, that might be a lot of your problem.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:48 PM on February 14, 2010
It seems, though, from the pictures, that you maybe didn't finish the neckline as in the pattern? I don't recognize the little bobbles that are there in the Knitty pics. The finished edge on a neckline can pull everything up and in to a substantial degree, so if you didn't get that far, that might be a lot of your problem.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:48 PM on February 14, 2010
In my vast experience (of screwing up handknits!), this isn't going to be very comfortable to wear if you steek it. One of the places I think you're having a problem is where jacquilynne suggested- like she said, it looks like the bobble-y edging part helps pull the neckline into place and stabilizes it a bit. But if it's too big on top of that, the edging won't fix the problem anyway.
Depending on how brave you're feeling, you could also insert a lifeline (scroll to the middle, I can't link directly to what I want) at the point that you want to save and then cut it above that and reknit the top. Then graft it back together when you're done. But that way you only have to redo the part that isn't sized correctly. If you graft it neatly, you shouldn't be able to see the part where you reattach the two halves.
It looks like you could probably get away with cutting it off right under the bust and just redoing that part.
This is sort of a pain in the ass though, and I only save it for things that either I dread reknitting or things that are partially screwed up where time prohibits frogging and starting over. You might lose a few yards of yarn, too.
Whatever you do, I hope it ends up coming out ok. I've been meaning to knit that same thing in a different color for ages but haven't got around to it yet.
posted by howrobotsaremade at 9:06 PM on February 14, 2010
Depending on how brave you're feeling, you could also insert a lifeline (scroll to the middle, I can't link directly to what I want) at the point that you want to save and then cut it above that and reknit the top. Then graft it back together when you're done. But that way you only have to redo the part that isn't sized correctly. If you graft it neatly, you shouldn't be able to see the part where you reattach the two halves.
It looks like you could probably get away with cutting it off right under the bust and just redoing that part.
This is sort of a pain in the ass though, and I only save it for things that either I dread reknitting or things that are partially screwed up where time prohibits frogging and starting over. You might lose a few yards of yarn, too.
Whatever you do, I hope it ends up coming out ok. I've been meaning to knit that same thing in a different color for ages but haven't got around to it yet.
posted by howrobotsaremade at 9:06 PM on February 14, 2010
I agree -- looks to me like you need to knit a band to stablise the neck and reduce the gap a bit. But it's difficult to tell if the shoulders actually fit you properly because of your pose in that picture. Are they too wide for your frame?
posted by indienial at 3:12 AM on February 15, 2010
posted by indienial at 3:12 AM on February 15, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by ishotjr at 5:41 PM on February 14, 2010