Services

Reweaving

At RAVE FabriCARE, we provide the finest fabric reweaving service for those rips, tears, and holes in your favorite garments. Reweaving is particularly useful for repairing moth holes in fine wools and is the most "invisible" form of repair available.

The cost of the reweave and the time required to complete the reweave will vary according to the type of fabric, size of the damage, and type of weave necessary to do the best job.

Each rip, tear or hole must be seen and evaluated by our reweaver to determine what you can and cannot expect of the finished repair. As a general rule, no guarantee can be given that the finished repair will be completely invisible.

Reweaving is a slow, labor-intensive craft that involves the use of high-intensity lamps, magnifying devices, and the skill of the reweaver. Accordingly, it typically takes 4 to 5 weeks to complete a particular job.

Cost is based on the time spent on the repair. The minimum cost is $30.

After inspection of the garment by our reweaver, we will call you with an estimate for the job. No work will commence until we receive your approval to proceed.

All work is guaranteed not to come loose for the life of the garment (provided the loose threads on the reverse side of the reweave are not trimmed).

There are essentially 3 methods for reweaving.

French method

Using this method, the weave of the garment is duplicated by hand-weaving each thread in and out of all other threads, thereby closing the hole. This method cannot be used on large holes or L-shaped tears, nor will it always result in an "invisible" weave.

Inweaving or piece method

Using this method, a piece of material is taken from a non-visible part of the garment and the ends are woven into the garment, thereby closing the hole. This method can be used on any size hole or tear as long as there is sufficient fabric to cover the hole or tear. On patterned or plaid garments the fabric must match exactly. A slight outline of the inserted fabric will always show.

Reknitting method

This method is used on knitted fabrics only. Visibility will depend on the type and color of the knit, and the size of the damage.

If you are considering reweaving a hole (or holes) in a fine wool garment -- a hole (or holes) that you suspect might have been caused by moths or other insects -- we strongly suggest that you clean the garment prior to attempting a reweave.

For two reasons ...

First, our reweaver will only work on garments that are clean. Second, and more importantly, the full extent of the damage may not be fully visible to the naked eye until after the garment has been cleaned.

We'll explain.

You see, moth larvae are voracious eaters. And wool garments stored without first being cleaned contain all the nutrients necessary to sustain life for those larvae. These nutrients include proteins, mineral salts, vitamin B complex and cholesterol that accumulate on garments from perspiration, body oil, food or beverage simply by virtue of the fact that the garment has been worn.

The problem is that the larvae will often feed on the inside of a garment, on the surface of a garment, or on certain threads in a garment. This reduces the thickness or strength of the fibers in places. So when the garment is tumbled in a drycleaning machine during the cleaning and drying process, more holes may open up.

In other words, only after the garment has been cleaned will the full extent of the damage be known.