lberna

I bought a man's sweater real cheap but the sleeves are way too wide. Has anyone taken in a sweater sleeve. I want to sew a seam an inch or two from the seam that is there. Any suggestions? This is a regular knit sweater.

Maggiemay

I would sew your seam- maybe twice, trim off excess leaving 1/4" or so then overcast or zig zag so it won't ravel.

bj

You might try just pinning it where you want to sew or basting it in to see how it looks. The only thing I'd be afraid of is, after sewing, it would be too bulky in the seam and some sweaters unknit themselves if you cut the fabric. I've bought sweaters that were too big in the wrist and I put a hem in the bottom of the sleeve and run a narrow elastic in it to just gather it up. I do that most of the time. I am short and have a very hard time finding long sleeves that don't come past my fingertips. :-D :-D

ktbb

As you sew your seam, GENTLY pull the sweater material both in front of and in back of the needle to stretch the fabric as you add the thread - let the feed dogs move the fabric thru, all you do is gently stretch the fabric evenly. This builds in stretch. Also use a medium size zigzag stitch...when the seam is finished, you won't notice that it's a zigzag and you'll have plenty of stretch in it. If the fabric looks a little weird when you're finished, wash the garment and the fibers will go back in place.

lberna

Thanks for the info. I just told my husband that I knew I would get suggestions from this wonderful site.

KarenK

I've done this and it works well!