Alter Cloths Yourself So They Fit Perfectly
Years ago sewing was a skill commonly learned by most women and many men. Ready-made clothing was often poorly made and didn't fit well. So people insisted on making their own cloths or, at the very least, making adjustments to the cloths they bought so it would fit better and be more durable.
Not only that, but if a zipper got stuck or the owner's waist line expanded, all could be quickly fixed with a simple repair or alteration.
Today people who can afford fine suits often have a professional tailor perfectly fit the suit to the customer. If you watch TV news anchors and wealthy tycoons, their clothing always fits perfectly.
Unfortunately, the rest of us usually have to put up with cloths that don't fit their best. Even worse, we are forced to purchase new clothing when what we have doesn't fit right anymore or develops problems.
I was very fortunate to learn the skills of a professional tailor early in my career and have perfected my own sewing and alteration methods over the past 30 years.
Don't go around wearing a shirt or dress that needs an alteration to fit you perfectly. Doing your own alterations is quite simple if you use the correct tools. For dresses and shirts, use a grade 120 thread. Anything heavier will make the fabric pucker. Use a regular needle.
Let's say you gained some weight recently, or successfully completed one of the new diets, and your waistline isn't the same as it was when you purchased your jeans.
No problem. Use a slightly heavier needle for altering jeans -- 75's or 36s, sometimes called a jeans needle will work fine. While you're at it, you can quickly take up pant legs to be just the right length for your individual frame.
What if your garment is made from lycra, spandex, or other stretch knit material? Many people tell me "my sewing machine won't sew that type of material."
The problem is with the needle you're using. For lycra and similar fabrics, use a Stretch needle. This type of needle is also called a ball point or special point needle. You'll find your sewing machine works fine with this fabric once you have the correct needle in place.
Frequently a perfectly good coat or pants will be discarded when the zipper malfunctions. Don't throw the clothing away. Instead, take out the old zipper and sew in a new one.
Often you can get tips and pointers by visiting a fabric store. The owner is probably skilled at sewing and certainly knows the in's and out's of needles and thread.
You can also pay a professional tailor to alter or repair a piece of clothing. Ask the tailor to show you how they made the alteration. Frequently you can learn enough to do the job yourself the next time.
Well-known tailor Jack Heywood has created a visual step-by-step guide to alterations at http://www.sew-so-easy.com . His new DVD shows you how to easily alter clothing, let out and take in trousers, replace zippers and much, much more. See parts of the DVD free at his site.
Related Articles:
Fibre glass Yacht Construction
What’s it made of? For the purposes of this article it is beneficial to understand a few basic facts concerning how fibreglass boats are constructed, their typical strengths and weaknesses and most importantly what are the visible signs that manifest themselves to the owner, such as stress cracks, de-lamination, osmosis and so forth.
Your Company Can Really Clean Up With Promotional Cleaning Cloths
It's truly amazing what companies use to promote their businesses these days Gone are the days when a company would simply use things like pens and pencils for their advertising
The Use Of Anointing Oil To Break The Bondage
The voice on the other end of the line cracked and weakened as Linda talked of her husband He was slipping into a very negative life style that was affecting the entire family
Sleepwear: A Fashion Statement For Women
For women, their sleepwears are better termed as nightdress, nightwear, or nightclothes. However, whatever the term used is, these sleep wear pairs are designed practically for sleeping purposes. Women use sleep wears simply because they find comfort in them rather than to enter into deep slumber half-naked or wearing only their underwear. The sleepwear to be used mainly depends on the type of season. There are sleepwears suited for winter, summer, fall, and spring. However, these days, women have taken a great leap into using the sleepwears to brag about what they call as fashion statement!