Holy Sweater Batman!

February 25, 2010 7:36 AM

I have a penny sized hole in cashmere sweater! Can you take the hole out for me?

Mrs HotBot got me a super-fancy camel colored cashmere sweater for Christmas last year. This year Baby HotBot bit a hole in it. Where can I get this hole repaired?

I bring most tailoring to the dry cleaner, but I think this is beyond her skill. I know it came with some extra cashmere yarn but I cant find it.

I am happy to send it away but would prefer to bring it to someone in New York. I emailed the company asking for advice a few times but have not heard anything back.

posted by shothotbot to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (7 answers total)

There are a few places in town who will re-weave stuff for you. Google reweaving. There is a place in midtown by carnegie hall but I can't remember the name
posted by JPD at 7:42 AM on February 25, 2010

You want to look for a reweaver, not a drycleaner. Your drycleaner might be able to recommend one. Try to find the extra thread, as it will help. Otherwise, the reweaver may not be able to harvest enough spare yarn from inner seams and the like to repair the hole. (Largely depends on the size of the hole; this one sounds big.)
posted by devinemissk at 7:43 AM on February 25, 2010

Best answer: link
posted by JPD at 7:43 AM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

Try asking someone at a yarn shop. I once brought a sweater with a hole to my local yarn shop (staffed by ladies who are expert knitters) and they fixed it for me good as new.
posted by chowflap at 8:40 AM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: You want to look for a reweaver, not a drycleaner.
Ah. Thank you.

In a late breaking bulletin the fancy sweater people have just sent me this email:

For similar issues, our New York boutique utilizes Superior Weaving, located at 41 Union Sq W # 423, New York, NY. Superior Weaving can be contacted at [phone].

posted by shothotbot at 8:43 AM on February 25, 2010

Sounds like you have moths. DEAL WITH THIS PRONTO. They love to devour things like cashmere and other kinds of wool sweaters, especially after they've been worn. They're attracted to the sweat and oils left behind. They lay eggs and the hatching larvae are what's eating the material. Trouble is they're really tiny and very hard to see.

Anyway, unless you go through the trouble to GET RID OF THEM you'll continue to lose more sweaters. If you see ANY moths in the house you have to KILL them a.s.a.p. Also go check any bags or rice or other dry vegetables you may have on hand. They tend to burrow into them too. Look for tiny holes in the bags.

One solution is to put each sweater into a separate ziploc bag. This will keep anything from getting to ones not affected. A few mothballs outside the bags in the drawer will also help. Press all the air out completely. That'll help suffocate any of them already on an item. Check the bags in a month or so and note the little dead critters. Same thing goes for any rice, lentils, beans or the like in the kitchen. It may take a few months for the infestation to cease. Then deal with having to dryclean them all over again to get rid of the mothball smell.

Reweaving is a terrific solution, but not a lot of places do it anymore. I've had mens dress trousers rewoven. Even ones with a glen plaid type of pattern. From the outside the fix is completely invisible. It's just amazing to see how it looks when properly fixed.
posted by wkearney99 at 8:52 AM on February 25, 2010

Response by poster: My moth is a six year old girl. Kids do stupid stuff sometimes.
posted by shothotbot at 8:55 AM on February 25, 2010 [2 favorites]