Saturday 22 June 2013

An Overview Of The Techniques Used In Reweaving

By Lana Bray


Reweaving of fabrics is a focused skill applied in damaged garment for repairing tears and holes. It involves weaving by hand some threads into the damaged area of the garment, creating repairs that are virtually invisible. Every worker wears a plate with a magnifying glass while working with thread and small needles to repair the area with damage. The worker replicates the original structure of the garment stitch by stitch, making the damaged area invisible.

This process is especially useful for repairing moth holes that appear in fine wool. A worker must examine and evaluate every rip, hole or tear to figure out what can and cannot be gotten from the completed repair. However, there is no sure guarantee that that the completed repair will be totally invisible.

Reweaving is done in three unique techniques. Any of the three techniques can be applied, depending on the conditions and hole size of the damaged area as well as the fabric being repaired. One of these methods is the French reweaves, additionally called the invisible reweave. This method is used to repair respected fabrics with tiny tears, burns and holes. Undetectable thread strands coming from unseen areas are woven together using hands, the likes of inseams or cuffs.

This technique forms new fabric since it shuts the tear, while the repair is almost undistinguishable from the enclosing garment. Some fabrics the likes of gabardine do not always result in completely invisible repair. The method cannot be applied on L-shaped tears or large holes.

The inweaving technique is another method that can be applied where large tears cannot be repaired by a French reweave. In this method, the worker takes a small piece of hidden garment and sticks it across the damaged area in manner that the fabric pattern is matched. The repaired edges are impossible to see with the naked eye. This technique can be applied for repairing any size of hole or tear, as long as there is sufficient fabric to cover it. The garment must match exactly on patterned or plaid fabrics. It will be possible to see a minor outline of the garment.

The third method is known as the Reknitting method, and is almost the same as the French one. In this technique, sweaters, double knits and wool knits provide hidden strands that are then knitted into the damaged fabric. Caution should be exercised so that the fabric styles and the knit patterns match with one another. The visibility of the repaired area depends on the knits color and type, as well as the size of the damage.

For those planning to reweave a hole in fine wool garment, and it is suspected the hole was caused by insects such as moths, it is strongly recommended that the garment is cleaned first. For one, a majority of reweavers only works on clean garments. More importantly, the damages full extent may not be fully visible until the garment is clean.

Reweaving happens to be a slow craft that utilizes labor together with high-intensity lamps, magnifying glasses, and a worker with enough skills. In that respect, the completion of a particular repair would take four or six weeks.




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