Put your hands up like you are reaching for something on a high shelf and then return your hands to your sides. Some of these supplies are helpful, but some are necessary. It is much harder to make a garment bigger or longer than it is to make a garment smaller or shorter.
If you want to make something bigger, look at the seam allowances inside the garment. Same with making things longer. Check to see how much extra fabric is folded to the inside of the hem and that is approximately how much you can lengthen the pants or skirt.
If a garment is too big, it takes a decent amount of reconstruction to make it fit correctly. There are lots of fun opportunities to create something new by upcycling the fabric! Here are some tips for upcycling clothing!
Changing the length of pants and sleeves is one of the easier things you can do yourself, especially if you are shortening the length. Just rip out the stitches for the hem that already exists, pin it to the length you want, and try it on. If you are happy with how it looks, sew the new hem and then try it on again before cutting off the excess fabric.
A couple notes, though: depending on the type of cuff on the pants or sleeves, you may lose the cuff when you shorten, or you may have to recreate the cuff yourself. Make sure you use the correct needle and thread for your project.
Here are three ways to hem your pants if you want a detailed photo tutorial for the process. Or make you have a pair of dress pants that you just wish were tapered more below the knee.
These are also relatively easy changes to make. Start by unpicking the hem on the sleeves or the pants. Then pin along your chalk marks and try your garment on to see how it looks. Repeat until you get the look you want, sew the new seam, and try on again. Keep in mind that jeans may be harder to taper. This is because most jeans have a flat felled seam on the inner leg that is more complicated than just sewing two pieces together with one line of stitches. To taper the inside of the leg of a pair of jeans, you should completely open up the inside of the jeans and then chalk, pin, try on, etc.
When you figure out what shape you want, you should add extra seam allowance before you cut if you want to recreate the flat felled seam. The same concept that is applied to tapering pants and sleeves can be applied to bringing in the side seams of dresses and shirts for a more fitted look. Lay it flat, draw your new side seam, pin, try on, and so on. Another easy change is to sew pockets on pants and skirts shut.
I love pockets!!! Me too! But I have found that sometimes pockets gape open and make your hips look wider, or sometimes the fabric of the pants is so thin you can see the outline of the pocket bag through the pants. I feel like this is literally the only way I'll ever get a decent tailoring job for my clothes.
How realistic is this? I'm considering looking for online courses to learn. I would basically be learning how to be a tailor. Kyle76 Active Member with Corp. Even if you learned the various skills necessary to be a competent tailor, I would think it would be difficult to tailor your own clothes because you can't step back and see how they fit, particularly from behind. It's kind of like a barber trying to cut his own hair.
Plus, I think that it probably takes years of apprenticeship to become a good tailor. I doubt youtube is going to get you there. Kyle76 said:. Click to expand I don't recommend this but considering the circumstance: online MTM. It'll probably take a lot of back and forth initially but once it nails your measurements, reordering is too easy you might go broke.
There is also a difference between a tailor and an alterations person. You could probably learn to do alterations much more quickly than you could actually tailoring your own clothing. The issues the OP refer to in the initial post are generally alteration questions rather than all out construction questions.
If all you are doing is darting shirts, hemming pants, and taking in seams, that doesn't take any great skill. Hemming jeans is a little different, but only due to the weight of the material. It takes a heavy-duty machine and needle. I've even done as much as closing a vent and cutting out the back lining on a sport coat, all by hand. When I'm wearing it, you would never know it has been altered. Shortening jacket sleeves is quite do-able, if you don't mind spending the time.
I do some of my own alterations just because I like doing it and I don't mind spending the time. It probably takes me 2 to 3 times longer than it would a professional, but for me it is more like a hobby. Just to echo fishertw , you need to determine what you want to achieve and learn: alteration or full tailoring. If you want to start on your own without going professionally like a hobby or craft , start checking on how to alter your own clothes first before you move to the difficult ones.
Fixing tears, sewing buttons and hemming should be fairly easy to do. Then shortening sleeve, taking in trouser legs are the next to do. Taking in waist or others with a tailored jacket will be next.
I would not think you will or want to start drafting your own pattern, sewing canvass and shoulder pads and what not. That is like if you want to do this professionally, or more like next level goals.
Yes, you probably need a sewing machine, and you can buy one easily and learn how to sew. But then you need to know what to do with all the sewing and things. You need info on how to do it. I would suggest you to go to a library that carries the tailoring books and browse through some of the tasks that you want to do yourself.
It lists out many alteration tasks, including tapering trouser legs and shirts taken in, that you can do yourself. I find it very useful if you want to learn to alter your own clothes. Hope this is helpful to you. Last edited: Mar 19, WA Honors Member. An old tailor, who used to write here, suggested community college or tech school.
That is, evening classes. Places that sell sewing machines, cloth and what not also have classes, or know people who have classes.
While this is not the tradition of tailors it is fine for alterations tailors. Getting skills with the sewing machine and serger can be rather practical. The Yorkshire Tailor, not sure I'd pay money to him he sure scammed a number of people here. Rory Duffy has online pattern making classes and a website to look at.
These are about making cloth, which is far more advanced than altering clothing. AmirF27 said:. My current tailor is decent. I've been using her mainly for hemming and tapering pants and she's been doing a pretty good job, it's just with the shirts that she started becoming too lazy to do her job taking the shirt in at the side seams because it's "too much of a hassle" I mean. Why did she have to do this and raise a red flag now after having done an amazing job on all my pants?
I am pretty good with my sewing machine from making my own camping gears - tents, sleeping bags, ponchos, mittens, etc. But with my suits, I don't think I can do good enough job as a hobbyist. Anything other than simple hemming can ruin the look with only a slight imperfection. Hemming is cheap enough to not waste my own time anyway. I realize it's more work, and am willing to compensate you fairly in order to get your best professional efforts. Last edited: Mar 20, Thank you all for the amazing advice.
I will definitely keep them in mind if I ever decide to take this step but likely not in the near future. Perhaps, "I realize it's more work, and am willing to compensate you fairly in order to get your best professional efforts," would have solved this problem before it created a rift in your life. You may have run into cultural differences. That means offing more money is not going to work. There is also how knowledgeable they are.
Can't ask them to do what they don't know. WA said:. Some tailors do use darts in shirts. With out darts it is more complicated. If you make one place smaller it bulges out another place. Here is a method post 3 you can take next time to the alterations tailor. Methods are far from uniform around the world. Last edited: Mar 22, SplurgeFrugal1 New Member. I would like to add my "two cents" to this post, for what it is worth. I started doing so about 6 months ago.
I have developed my skills to the point that I can remove a center vent, slim the waist of a suit jacket and adjust sleeve length the most time intensive alteration. This is a skill that quickly improves with practice.
The good thing is that every suit is constructed exactly the same way so you improve through repetition. I thrift my entire wardrobe. The only shortcut I take is when closing up a jacket lining. I haven't learned a way to do so expertly with a machine so I use "Stitch Witchery" hot press stitching tape to quickly and invisibly do so. It works! Buy some cheap but quality items from a thrift shop and practice on them.
At best, you will have some nice, perfectly tailored items to add to your wardrobe at very low cost.
0コメント