In
yesterday's post, I addressed the issue of protecting
your fine woolen garments from the ravages of clothes moths.
In the event that you've discovered a one or more moth holes (or
rips or tears) in your favorite wool sweater, slacks/trouser or
blazer/sport coat, what are you going to do?
Reweaving is one option.
Reweaving is particularly useful for repairing moth holes in
fine wools and is the most "invisible" form of repair
available.
Each rip, tear or hole must be seen and evaluated by a 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. I'd go even further than this:
there is no such thing as an "invisible" reweave.
If you're looking for evidence of the reweave, you're going to find
it.
That having been said, here are a few rules of thumb:
* The lighter the garment, the more likely you are to see
evidence of the reweave; the darker the garment the less likely you
are to see evidence of the reweave.
* The finer the existing weave, the more likely you are to see
evidence of the reweave; the courser the weave, the less likely you
are to see evidence of the reweave.
* The thinner the knit, the more likely you are to see evidence
of the reweave; the bulkier the knit, the less likely you are to
see evidence of the reweave.
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 6 weeks to complete
a particular job.
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. At RAVE
FabriCARE, our minimum cost for a single, small
moth hole is $40. Unless you specify otherwise, we will call you
with an estimate for the job and no work will commence until we
receive your approval to proceed.
At RAVE FabriCARE, 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.
Clean your garment before considering a
reweave
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, most reweavers 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.
I'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 hand washed or 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. You may have
thought that you only have 1 or 2 holes, but there were actually 6
holes. At this point, the entire economic viability of the reweave
must be questioned. And because you cleaned the garment first, you
just saved yourself at least $100.
How can I help you?