Clothes Altering

[Fuchsia]

Hi Gurls. Does anyone else alter the clothes they buy or find, like taking in a waist or lengthening a strap? I am forever altering Fem clothes to make them fit me as I only wear what I find at the thrift store (i.e. barely worn). A lot of you can buy clothes, but do they fit? Responses welcome (or am I just an oddity, again). xxx

[misspatty]

Hi Fuchsia,

You are definitely not the only one. I bought myself a sewing machine to use just for this purpose. I have had some success and some failure but there is always the challenge of making a silk purse out of a sow's ear!

Patty

[NicoleScott]

I've had a sewing machine all my adult life. I've made various things, but I used it mostly for hemming new pants. I bought two beautiful skirts - red velvet and black velvet - but they were ankle-length (not my cup of tea), so I made mini-skirts (not micro-mini, just 4 inches above the knee) and hemmed them on the machine. I cut off more than I kept. haha

[Beverley Sims]

If you think you have all the wrong measurements and nothing fits.....
You are not alone...
I am forever altering clothes to accommodate my deformities.
A sewing machine is a good start.
It does not have to be expensive.

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Fuchsia, I learned to sew 58yrs. ago and it has served me well.

[darla_g]

Nice thread Fuchsia. I have modified a number of articles of clothing and had thought about posting some pics to give some other members some ideas, but hadn't gotten around to it yet. Everything i have done does not involve sewing since I have no sewing machine or any skills in that dept. I have done a few things that really anyone can do:


Shortening the length of a dress by cutting and then using heat bonding tape (no-sew)
Shortening a long skirt by using safety pins to pull the bottom of the dress to the waist band. (it was a verrry long dress)
Expanding a garment by cutting the seam and then using eyelets and ribbon

I will gather up some pictures so the techniques can be illustrated for anyone else wanting to try them.


I do have some pics of the second technique I described to show the results. Actually in this case just pulling the bottom part up was much more preferable than cutting and rehemming as it added a fullness to the bottom of the dress that was very nice. (this was one of those $5 specials!) Very easy to do!