How Much Can Your Garment Be Altered by a Tailor?
We all have that one piece of garment which we love to wear but can't because it doesn't fit now. Thankfully, there's a quiet, inexpensive way with which one can bring life to such a misfit outfit: alteration.
The market is full of seamstresses and tailors who are experts in altering designer outfits. With their vast experience and expertise, they have amazing solutions and ideas to alter the size of any outfit without ruining its visual appeal. This, in turn, saves you from wasting your hard-earned money on buying a new piece with an updated size.
At the same time, altering your old clothes saves the environment from the miserable impacts of fast fashion.
Even though seamstresses can make thorough changes in the size and design of your old garments, there's a limit to alteration. You can't expect them to change the size of your old pants from S to XL. So How Much Can Your Garment Be Altered by a Tailor? Let's find out!
How much can your shirts be altered by a tailor?
When it comes to shirts, alterations can be made from almost several points including torso, collar, sleeves, and cuffs. Shirt sleeves are easy to shorten to your desired length but lengthening them comes with a very limited margin.
Similarly, a tailor can lose the armhole if it's too tight or lose the entire sleeve by adding extra fabric to the seam.
Likewise, cuffs on sleeves and collars can also be replaced as per your style preferences. Besides replacing, you can also make the existing collar smaller or larger to a quarter inch by moving the collar buttons in either direction. However, doing so is not recommended as it may make your shirt collar look quite unbalanced.
The torso area can be slimmed down, but the chest and shoulders are almost unalterable.
How much can your pants be altered by a tailor?
Pants can be shortened to any length very easily. A tailor can either hem your pants, reinforce pant breaks, or cuff them for a more modern look. However, pants can be lengthened only according to the quantity of fabric given at the hems.
Besides, pant breaks can also be opened for extra length. However, doing so is not advised since the edge wear looks quite absurd when cuffs are opened.
On the other hand, you can increase or decrease the waist of your pants to 2-3 inches. Likewise, the overall fit of a trouser can be increased or decreased by making alterations in the outer and inside seams.
Remember that the rise and seat of pants are almost impossible to alter; therefore, you should pay special attention to these aspects while shopping and get what fits you perfectly.
Apart from changing size for a perfect fit, an expert tailor can also alter your pants to make them look more fashion-forward. For example, you can get pleats removed from one of your old pants or reconstruct those pleats to create a sleeker look.
How much can your pants be altered by a tailor?
Making suit jackets is an extremely complicated process, and therefore, the number of alterations a tailor can make to it is fewer. For example, the shoulder width of a jacket cannot be changed. However, you can change the pad level on the shoulders either by removing existing pads or adding newer ones.
On the other hand, altering the sleeves of a jacket is quite easy. A tailor can easily narrow the sleeves and increase or decrease the length of the sleeve by ½ inch. Likewise, shoulder dimples or divots can also be fixed; however, the process could be quite challenging and expensive.
Speaking of lengthening a suit jacket then it's almost impossible because the jacket doesn't contain enough fabric at the bottom end. However, shortening a jacket is possible but you should be sure not to shorten the length too much because doing so will make the buttons and pockets too close to the bottom, making it absurd to look at.
FAQs
Generally, a tailor can go down to about two sizes. In the case of suits or suit jackets, going one size down is generally considered safe.
Suits, unlike pants and shirts, can never be lengthened.
Pants can be sized down to 2-4 inches without disturbing the overall proportion.
