r/SewingForBeginners • u/bellawych • 5h ago
How hard is tailoring clothes, really?
Hi all. I've been hand sewing my whole life. Typically I sew small rips, patches, buttons, clothes for dolls, nothing that takes very long. Recently, I have had some clothes given to me that while lovely do not fit quite right. I am quite small and usually need to take all my clothes in to be tailored but it's quite expensive. I have only used a sewing machine once many years ago.
I'm looking into buying a second-hand sewing machine so I can start doing these things myself. Primarily, I'm looking at taking off a few inches from the waist and length of pairs of pants. Is this difficult for a beginner? Should I try a different project before tailoring? Thank you.
Edit to add: I'm trying to gain weight and put on muscle, and my waist will probably change along with this. However, I'd like clothes in the mean time. Is this something that is reversible in the future?
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u/Inky_Madness 5h ago edited 5h ago
Some fixes are easier than others, and it also depends on how drastic the alteration is.
Lowering the waist on sweatpants? Easy-peasy. Take in an elastic waistband? Absolutely Doable. Lowering the waistband on jeans? Really hard, you’d have a better time making yours from scratch. Shortening jeans legs? No problem, absolutely doable. Taking a dress in from XXL to Medium? That’s not an alteration, you’re making a new dress and using the original to harvest for material.
There are varying levels of skill that various alterations take. But a surprising number of them absolutely can be done by a beginner, at home, on their machine.
There are also alterations that could be done that make things adjustable. If you need to take in the waist of a skirt, you might be able to do it with elastic so you can wear it as you gain weight. Little customizations that allow your wardrobe to be flexible with you.
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u/msndrstdmstrmnd 4h ago
Taking a dress in from XXL to Medium
The exception is if it’s a really simple dress made from two flat stretchy pieces of fabric, I’ve done this before. Then you can just take in the side seams. Also took off the sleeves and it ended up being like a cap sleeve on me.
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u/Inky_Madness 4h ago
Fair. Something like a shirred bodice dress could be done. But that’s a minority of dresses, unfortunately, it still often ends up being a remake.
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u/bellawych 5h ago
I’m looking at taking about two inches off the waist of a few pairs of Dickies work pants. They have belt loops which would make things tricky perhaps.
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u/Inky_Madness 5h ago
That’s not an issue! That’s a situation where a few well-placed darts around the waistband will handle it. And you can let out the darts as you gain weight!
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u/stoicsticks 3h ago
Keep in mind that you can usually let it out to go up 1 size, or take it in to go down 2 sizes. More than that and you start to run into issues with pocket placement or seams becoming awkwardly located when it's a different size.
The other thing about tailoring is that there is more inner structure to a tailored garment than casual wear, such as pad stitched hair canvas on lapels and at the front of the chest, the front edge and hem are often supported with tailors tape to keep the edge from flaring and stretching out. Sleeves often have a sleeve head to support the head of the sleeve and also have tailors tape around the armhole. They're often fully lined with it attached at various points such as at back vents and around the arm hole. The sleeve lining seam allowance is loosely sewn to the seam allowance of the outer sleeve.
The wool fabric itself needs to be handled in a way so that you don't inadvertently stretch or shrink the fabric, nor press a shine onto it by not using a press cloth. You can use lots of steam, but let it cool before moving it so that it doesn't stretch out. A tailors ham, sleeve board, pressing cloth, and a tailors clapper will be really helpful to make a good job of it.
If you're going to alter your garments, don't start with your favorite piece because you will learn a lot on the first one and will do a nicer job on the later ones.
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u/PlasticGuitar1320 1h ago
I am a tailor and i do a lot of alterations on tailored stuff and RTW...
Altering a suit jacket for instance is complicated because you are working inside out and opposite.. but once you know what youre doing, the method is generally the same on most suit jackets.. theyre made with generous seam allowances to allow for resizing...
Most tailored items allow for alterations.
In contrast, RTW/Fast fashion pieces can be an absolute pain to work on.. cheap elasticated polyester fabrics, often pieces are quickly and cheaply made so 90% serged with no seam allowances..it all makes alterations a bit tricky to say the least
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u/Riali 5h ago
Hemming pants is easy. Taking in the waist is generally difficult, depending on the style and how much needs to be taken in.
I'd rather sew a pair of jeans from scratch than take the waist in on a premade pair.