Alter Clothes

Learn all these sewing and alterations you can do yourself to make your wardrobe fit well and last longer. Don’t pay for these alterations!

Clothing is made to fit an average body that doesn’t exist. It’s the average measurements of people done by doctors from more than fifty years ago. It’s really hard to get ready to wear clothing fit you perfectly right off the rack. It’s great to learn simple ways to alter clothes to get a beautiful, custom fit. A custom fit is the best way to make your clothing look well-made and expensive.

There are lots of ways to alter clothes like lengthening or shortening hems, taking in the sides or letting out the sides, adding darts or removing darts, lengthening or shortening sleeves, mending holes, etc.

There is no end to what you can do with clothing, and you can even do additionaly refashions like adding a skirt, chopping off sleeves, and adding pockets to make something you love.

A lot of these clothing alterations work well for women’s clothing, but the majority of these work for all: men, women, and children. You can always take excess fabric in, and you can often let clothing out by using the side seams or adding fabric.

Should I prewash the item?

If you have not washed the item yet, and it doesn’t fit the way you want, then I recommend washing and drying the item the way you will treat it when you wash and wear it. You want the fabric to shirnk or settle into the way it’ll be permanently. Then any changes you make will be accurate.

The Basics of altering clothing:

1. Put the garment on with the correct underwear and shoes on.
2. Check to see if the seam lines are in the right place.
3. What parts of the clothing need to be taken in or let out?
4. Is there a seam where you can take in or let out?
5. Satefy pin the excess to measure how much is needed.
6. Do the alteration by seam ripping open all the sections adding or removing extra fabric.

Read the articles below for details on each way to alter!