Garment Care
Thank you for supporting local artists!!! So much more than materials and the creation of art goes into what we do. Show fees and marketing are expensive and time consuming. Your purchase is greatly appreciated and makes continued art possible! Thank you!
Modique Couture will wash your garments, free! Schedule a wash!
General Considerations
Knitted fabric catches easily on jewelry and other strong objects that protrude. The larger the weave, the more careful you must be when putting your garment on or taking it off.
Your knitted piece is special. Consider having a special place to hang or store it. This will help keep it safe from accidents.
Heat combined with friction will cause wool to felt (i.e., felting, fulling, milling, etc): if you've ever shrunken a sweater in the wash, it has become felted. Please keep this in mind, especially when washing. If your knitted garment becomes felted, there's no turning back: the scales of the fiber will be fused together forever. Sometimes this is desirable. Oftentimes not. Felting is not a concern with silk and plant or synthetic fibers.
Washing - It’s Simple!
After creation, all garments are pre-washed using scentless Unicorn Fibre wash. This means the fabric will retain its natural scent, which can be quite strong with wools, linen, and silk. If you do not like the natural scent of animal fibers, you may wash your garment in a scented shampoo or soap and it will easily pick up that scent.
Recommended wash care is the same for all fibers. However, silk becomes quite weak when wet and should be handled with particular care and attention.
Hand wash only. No machine washing, bleach, dryers, dry cleaning, or ironing. An inexpensive hand-held steamer works great!
Use natural shampoo, natural soap, or a wool-specific clothing detergent (such as Unicorn Fibre wash). Fill a sink with cold water, add a VERY small amount of soap.
No wringing, twisting, scrubbing, or stretching.
Place the garment into the water and squeeze gently to absorb the water and soap. Continue to pump in a squeezing motion to work in the soap. Work gently for 2-3 minutes. Use the same squeeze-pumping motion to rinse.
To remove excess water, place garment in the washing machine and run a single dry spin cycle, or roll in a towel and squeeze.
Remove the garment, and hang to dry (hanging resets the knit to flatter the shape of your body). Do not dry in sunlight or near a heat source, but you can place a fan in front of your garment if you like.
When in doubt, email; I will also wash and mend your MC garments, free for as long as you wear them.
Fixing Snags
Knitting is prone to snagging on protruding objects, more so the looser the weave. You must be conscious of your jewelry and hair accessories (such as bobby pins and barrettes) which can catch on a strand of knitting and snag it out of place.
When you are used to wearing knits, you'll become sensitive to the feeling of something catching your garment. Stop moving and do not pull away, but instead move toward the snagging object to create slack in the knit. Release the snagged strand. If the snagged strand is pulled far out of place, it will cause the weave around the snag to tighten where the strand has been pulled. Inspect the weave and find where the snagged strand has tightened the knitting. At this point, pinch the weave between your fingers and hold the garment just outside the snag. Now stretch the knitting both horizontally and vertically to pull the snagged strand back into place. Pinch the knitting between your fingers and slide your fingers away from the snag over the tightened section of knitting. Working like this, you will see the strand begin to draw back into the knitting. If you are skilled with a crochet hook, you can also pull the strand back into the knitting using the hook to adjust the tension of the stitches surrounding the snag.
If you are unable to put the snagged strand back into place, pull it through to the back side of the garment. Here you can sew the strand back into the weave with a tapestry needle.
If you have trouble fixing a snag, email me. I am happy to fix these things for you for the life of the garment.