Off with her (neck)!

May 1, 2022 1:29 AM

I have a regular fleece jacket with a stand collar. Is it possible to ask a tailor to cut it into the shape of v-neck cardigan instead?

My favorite jacket is Uniqlo's fleece zip-up jacket. Because it's made of fluffy long-pile fleece, it has by far the best warmth-to-weight ratio of any jacket I've ever had. I also love that it's indestructible, cheap, and comes in lots of different colors every year.

Unfortunately, Uniqlo's fleece jacket has a stand collar, along with every other fleece jacket in the world. I detest stand collars. I don't like how it looks and I especially don't like how it looks and feels when you layer multiple jackets with stand collars together - like my throat is tightly encased in bubble wrap. I'd rather just wear a scarf.

I've found a few fleece jackets in my preferred style of a v-neck cardigan, but none worth the possible hassle of return shipping.

So I'm curious if it's possible for a tailor to cut a long-pile fleece jacket with a stand collar into a v-neck like the styles above? I know altering shoulders is always a no-go, but shouldn't cutting the neck area into a simple v-neck be more straightforward? And I'm sure re-sewing the zipper is going to be an issue, so maybe I could buy an extra size larger, have the tailor cut off the zipper area, and add buttons instead?

It's definitely intensive clothing surgery, but I wouldn't mind shelling out for a jacket that's truly indestructible (my current fleece still works like a trooper after 2+ years).

posted by facehugger to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (8 answers total)

Take it to the tailor and see if they think they can work with that kind of fabric. I think it'd depend on whether they can finish the edges nicely once the neckline is recut. If it's in a basic color like black I think there'd be a greater chance that they could replace the zip with a shorter one in a matching color. I think replacing the zip may be easier than changing it to buttons. Take your current one and they can look over how it's put together and let you know whether or not a larger one would be needed and what the cost for all the alterations would be.
posted by oneear at 2:14 AM on May 1, 2022

Best answer: If you have trouble finding a local tailor that is confident they can do it, there are outdoor-wear specific tailor/repair shops - I am instagram-obsessed with several of them! I'm not sure where you're located (though I assume Canada based on the Uniqlo link) but a lot of them do work by mail order. You could try contacting Mountain Soles and Outdoor Threads in Portland, OR (their website says they've suspended alterations but I've seen some alterations on their instagram recently so I'm not sure if that's correct or not); I also like the work I see from Zoe Patches (on Insta)/Zoe Can Patch It and The Repair Lair. Spirit West in Calgary seems to offer repairs and alterations. Obviously the shipping adds even more to the cost, so I'd work with someone local if possible.

I don't think this would be too difficult of an alteration (as an intermediate seamstress and aspiring repairperson it's something I'd attempt myself, especially on a $30 jacket). There should be a good amount of fabric left over from the original collar to use for a new facing (the inner face of the collar), and even if there's not, it wouldn't be too hard to find a nearly-matching or contrasting fleece fabric for the facing. Depending on the type of zipper, the zipper probably doesn't need to be replaced, just shortened, and generally when you shorten a separating zipper (e.g. like a zipper on a jacket, not zipper on a dress or trouser fly that always stays connected at the bottom) you do it from the top anyway.
posted by mskyle at 3:58 AM on May 1, 2022 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Oh also: some people (even tailors) can be snotty about repairing/altering "cheap" clothes. Don't listen to 'em! If you love something, it's worth taking care of it and optimizing it for yourself! (Just don't expect alterations on cheap clothes to cost less than alterations on expensive clothes - the amount of work has no relationship to the original cost of the garment.)
posted by mskyle at 4:05 AM on May 1, 2022

Yes this shouldn’t be too hard - you’ll probably need to bind the fleece edge (sew a thin strip of fabric binding around the edge to keep it from fraying (the jackets you linked have green or blue binding). You can choose binding and a zipper in a matching or contrasting colour. A fabric store can help you find the right binding and zipper; then a tailor can do the work.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 5:41 AM on May 1, 2022

I sew some, and I think it may be possible that they could use the existing zipper. It could just be cut off at the top to shorten it. I've successfully done so. I think the alteration you seek would be quite doable. I'm interested to see how this turns out.
posted by SageTrail at 6:45 AM on May 1, 2022

LL Bean had a v neck fleece pullover in the 2000s and I have since acquired 4 via ebay. I just did a search on "llbean fleece v neck" and there were 100 hits. Maybe a pullover is acceptable or maybe there will be a different model on ebay.
posted by andreap at 9:24 AM on May 1, 2022

Absolutely doable. Very easy in fact, especially if you don't want piping along the collar like in your example garment (that's also doable, but has more steps). Go to a real tailor, not a dry cleaner's alteration service.
posted by Stoof at 12:28 PM on May 1, 2022

In short: yes. Expect to pay $50-75. Might be a lot less!
posted by amaire at 11:03 AM on May 2, 2022