Alteration Services
The alterations I offer consist of 5 main groups:
Taking in & letting out on all women’s & men’s clothing
Hemming shirts, pants, skirts, & dresses
Shortening & readjusting sleeves on shirts, blouses, dresses, & jackets
Repair, replacement, & mending for zippers, buttons, & holes in fabric
Redesigning all women’s & men’s clothing
If you would like an estimate on a alteration’s cost, please don’t hesitate to reach out and ask! I don’t include price ranges in this list because every job is different with elements like travel time and the complexity of the garment, both which affect the cost. Refer to my FAQ page for more information on I price my services!
Take in & Let out
Fitting a garment that is too large or too small is the most common alteration I’ve done. Whether the sizing issue is with the waist, sleeves, or legs, it can be fixed to your liking!
Taking in a garment shrinks the piece to better fit your body. Letting out gives you some more ease to move if it is too small. Sometimes a garment will have have larger seam allowances to let out, but if not, similar fabric can be added to allow for extra room.
2. Hemming
Fitting a garment that is too large or too small is the most common alteration I’ve done. Whether the sizing issue is with the waist, sleeves, or legs, it can be fixed to your liking!
Taking in a garment shrinks the piece to better fit your body. Letting out gives you some more ease to move if it is too small. Sometimes a garment will have have larger seam allowances to let out, but if not, similar fabric can be added to allow for extra room.
3. Sleeve Adjustment
This sections covers adjusted the shoulder seam to a proper fit, shortening sleeve hems, and cuff adjustment.
4. Repair, Replacement, & Mending
When a piece of clothing is loved and worn a lot, it’s common when issues with its fabric and/or hardware appear, but don’t let a simple hole in the fabric or missing button force you to discard the garment! These issues can be easily remedied!
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Seam rips are often very easy to fix because it just involved running over the original stitch line with my sewing machine. Fabric holes vary in ease/difficultly to fix depending on the fabric and hole size.
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Fabric reinforcement typically involves backing the outside fabric with an extra layer of a strong, sturdy fabric.
I’ve done this most commonly with worker’s pants by adding denim on the inside to prevent further and fix the current fabric holes or seam rips.
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I’ve added buttons to garments that lost their original ones, and I’ve replaced older buttons to better fit a customer’s style preferance.
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Redesigning a piece of clothing is my favorite kind of alteration! It gives a new life and energy to a garment that might otherwise be ignored and never worn.
Don’t like the neckline on a shirt? We can change that!
Have a dress you never wear? Maybe we can turn it into a skirt and/or top!
Price ranges for this section vary significantly depending on the complexity of the redesign.
5. Redesigning/Upcycling
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This involves with working with what features the garment already has and changing it to your liking. Here are a few examples:
changing the neckline
removing patches, pockets, or embroidery
hiding exposed seams & frayed edges
creating slits for mobility
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This incorporates outside material to be added to the garment for functionality or fun design details. Here are a few examples:
adding decorative stitches
sewing on patchwork designs
adding triangle inserts to dresses or pants for a flared silhouette & extra mobility
adding pockets or belt loops
add more volume with an extra layer of fabric
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Maybe there is an element of a garment you adore, but you dislike the rest of it. So let’s take that part and transform it into something you love! These are a few examples of work I’ve done:
turned dresses into separate tops & skirts
taking old blankets & curtains to sew one-of-a-kind clothing
using leftover fabric to make bags, hair accessories, & ribbon jewelry