How to Crop an Oversized, Cable-Knit Sweater

Today's fashion trend consists of mom jeans, Nike air force 1s, and of course, crop tops. I am just one of many Gen Zs caught in the hype. Thankfully, most shirts are easy to crop; fabrics such as cotton, polyester, and satin are effortlessly manipulated.

However, knit clothing remains elusive...especially cable-knit sweaters.

In this tutorial, I will be teaching you how to crop a cable-knit sweater without ruining the integrity of the ribbing, design, or yarn.

Supplies

1 Sweater

Scissors

Sewing Machine

Marker

Pins

Step 1: Marking It Out

Turn the sweater inside out and lay it flat.

Mark out how long the new sweater will be.

Step 2: Pinning and Sewing

Pin all around the sweater so that the top of the trim lines up with the new marking. This will essentially create a bustling effect, allowing the sweater to be shortened.

Sew along the trim using a zigzag stitch of 2.0mm length and 1.5mm width. This will allow your seams to stretch, preventing them from popping when the sweater is worn.

(Quick Tip) When sewing, don't be afraid to force the movement of the cable-knit fabric under the presser foot. The material is finicky, so sewing will be trickier. I recommend setting the machine's pace to a slower rate than usual. And make sure to check that the stitches are holding up as you go along.

Step 3: Cutting the Excess

Cut off any excess fabric that is bustled up, making sure to leave about 1 inch of fabric for restitching purposes.

At this point, the trim of the sweater may not be laying flat. To counteract this, I just folded the trim the opposite way it wanted to go, and put a weight on it. After 10 minutes, the trim should be laying normally.