Have you ever ordered something online and when it arrived, it just didn't fit quite right? Well that's what just happened to my sis-in-law. It can be such a pain to return things too! This new shirt is so cute but it just needed a little help to make it fit. Sewing machine to the rescue!
The problem she was having with the shirt was that it was a little too wide on the sleeveless side, so it stuck out very awkwardly. The satiny material of the shirt can be kind of hard to work with but I found a way to help with that.
To make alterations some helpful tools to have are tailors chalk (or a washable fabric marker), sewing pins, a straight edge ruler (or other ruler), pinking shears and a cutting board. Oh and don't forget the sewing machine!
I had her try the shirt on inside out and then marked with the chalk where it should be taken in. Then laid the shirt out on the cutting board and traced that point down the entire seam. It ended up being about an inch that needed to be taken in.
After marking that point, I pinned along the chalk line. I left in the original seam for now. This is to help keep the pins from slipping and sliding around too much since the shirt is satiny.
Since I don't have a serger, I used a zig-zag stitch and sewed along the chalk line making sure to
backstitch at both the top and bottom. Then followed this with a straight stitch along the same line for reinforcement.
Someday I will figure out all the stitch functions on my machine and can probably do something better than this but it works for now. From the outside it looks just as pretty as the original seam.
I finished it off by removing the old seam with pinking shears. This will help prevent fraying. They are a great thing to have if you don't have a pair! The last step I always do is pressing the new seam with my iron at the correct temperature setting for the fabric I'm working with. This gives it a more professional, less homemade look.
The shirt turned out better than new because now it fits! Are you ready to try it on yours now?
Thanks for the sweet comment. I think since you did such a beautiful job on this shirt you could tackle a dress no problem!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the encouragement Jessica! I've got patterns sitting in the craft room waiting that I really want to try. I may pull them out soon and give it a whirl!
DeleteThanks for linking up to my party, You did a great job on the shirt. Re-sizing garments is hard and I have a hard time with it. Thanks for sharing.
DeleteThanks Kate! I was worried about it since it was so much different than most garments. I was so happy it turned out well!
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