The end of knitting? Company uses 3D printer to create custom-made JUMPERS

[wendy]

    Appalatch sweaters are ‘printed’ using a Stoll knitting machine
    Each one is custom made using a customer’s precise body measurements
    They are made from 100 per cent fine 21.5 Micron Rambouillet wool
    The company is now looking for funding to buy more equipment

By Victoria Woollaston

PUBLISHED: 12:35, 13 November 2013 | UPDATED: 13:08, 13 November 2013


Clothing sizes don’t always seem to make sense; a large in one shop can be a medium in another, but what if you could get a 3D-printed sweater that fits perfectly?

Appalatch, based in North Carolina, already makes woollen and cotton clothes and has now set up a Kickstarter campaign to buy a Stoll knitting machine - dubbed a ‘3D printer for clothes’ - that can knit custom-made clothes with minimal waste.

It is a modern-day version of a traditional knitting loom or flat knitting machine and 'prints' clothes by reading measurements from software.


Clothing company Appalatch has set up a Kickstarter campaign to fund mass production of 100 per cent woollen sweaters made on a 3D printer.

Clothing company Appalatch has set up a Kickstarter campaign to fund mass production of 100 per cent woollen sweaters made on a 3D printer. Its founders want the money to buy a Stoll knitting machine, pictured, that can take a customer's exact measurements to produce custom-made clothes
HOW ARE THE SWEATERS MADE?

The Stoll knitting machine is dubbed a ‘3D printer for clothes’.

It is a modern-day version of a traditional knitting loom or flat knitting machine and 'prints' clothes by reading measurements from software.

To make a sweater, a customer sends the measurements to Appalatch online.

These are entered into the machine, which knits the custom-made clothes using wool.

The pieces are then sewn together and the finished item is posted.

Appalatch founders Mariano deGuzman and Grace Gouin said: ‘We’ve all been there. We shop only to be frustrated and disappointed.


'The sleeves are too short, the length is too long, or the body is too tight.

'Additionally, standard clothing fits one way for one brand and a completely different way for another brand.’

They want Appalatch to be the first company in the world to make 'custom-fit sweaters on a mass scale.'

The pair is asking for $50,000 (£31,000) to buy a Stoll Fully Fashion knitting machine.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... z2ko7oUliq

[annie]

£31,000  is a lot of money

[Jeanne]

I won't be buying one then. x Jeanne