Clothing Tailor for Hire

[Source]

I may have a new income source.  Tailoring clothing.  How you ask?

A few weeks ago my co-worker asked if I could alter a dress she had bought. She bought it because it was very on sale and only needed the straps taken in and the bust sewn closed a little. I gladly accepted the challenge.

All pinned and ready to go.

The top was sewn with elastic thread so that it could be form fitting but stretchy at the same time. I was initially worried that it would not sew well.

I found a thread in my stash that almost perfectly matched the elastic thread. I even decided to use my new sewing machine also. It was a chancy idea.

I sewed across the straps following the direction of the threads that were already there.  I made sure to go over the line at least twice.  I sewed each strap two times.  Once at the top and one at the bottom.  I wanted to make sure it was secure.

I managed to sew the first strap perfectly.  I moved onto the second strap and sewed the first line great.  I moved on to the second line and of course the machine decided to eat the dress material.  I freaked out!  I immediately started trying to figure out how to get it out.  It took taking apart the machine to get the fabric loose.  And Jon had to help me figure out how to get it all taken apart.

You can't even hardly tell that I sewed the straps again.  Look closely and you can see the tiny threads above the middle elastic thread line.

Once loose I finished sewing the strap on my reliable old machine.  You couldn't even tell that it had gotten stuck in the first place.



I was able to sew up the bust area very easily since it had a lining.  I made sure the thread didn't show through the top fabric.

I made sure to use the matching thread when I sewed up the bust area.

You can't even tell from the front that the bust area was sewn smaller!

I brought it back to work and my co-worker tried it on and everything was perfect.  I was so glad and proud of the work that I had done.  I am feeling a bit more confident in my abilities and hope to alter some of the clothes that I have at home.

Happy sewing!