Sweaters/cardigans
Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs)
How do I wash a hand knitted item?
Answer: in general the woolen items have to be hand washed as we request you to do in the washing instruction behind the main label. However, if you have a new washing machine with a very gentle program you could, at your own risk, make use of that.
Please make sure the spin dryer is at its lowest level. Cotton knits can be washed on gentle programs on the machine. No tumble drying on any items. If you wash your Shirley Bredal item with care, it will return the favour and be your favourite little piece of art for years...
How do the sizes run?
Answer: In general hand knitted items grow a little bit while being worn. A hand knitted item, however a little different from hand to hand, has more air between the masks which allows the knit to expand a bit. It is never stiff and fabric-looking as you might find machine knitted pieces to be at times. We follow standard European sizes, but have our own standards as well. Keeping this in mind, our models are never tight fitted. There is always fitting space for you to wear something underneath.
Length-wise our vests, jumpers and cardigans end a few centimeter below the pants lining. If you team a vest up with a shirt, it will perfectly tug in the shirt but allow the shirt to pop out underneath.
Our dresses are in general knee length. We find hand knits are more elegant when not too long and heavy.
We will comment under description if the fitting varies from our general fitting.
Are there any synthetic yarns or fibres in your collection?
Answer: We always use 100 percent natural yarns and fibres, never any mixes. We primarily work with cotton fabrics. As for the yarn our Spring/Summer items are 100% cotton and our Autumn/Winter items merino wool and lambswool. No synthetics!
We are not certified organic (but working on it!) but we control our own import of yarn and fabric as well as our own dying, which is AZO free and free of heavy metals.
In future we are planning on experimenting with vegetable dye as well in co-operation with a local family run business in Nepal, which is a very delicate process. To be continued...
Can you guarantee the ethics of your work?
Shirley Bredal is built around a project. A project to offer minorities work. In our case what we now engage approximately 100 women, 40 of them widows. Shirley Bredal has personally trained and overseen everthing for the last 2 years. There are no middle men to take advantage of the women. We oversee everything. We never engage children! We want to support the children and education by offering their mothers work. Work they can do part time, when they have time, alongside their work in their homes. We have recently been pre-approved for a Danida project here in Nepal, which allows us to set-up a training program for the women. More over we are planning on setting up a day care for the youngest amoung us. We want to do good work, while we create something beautiful...
