Hints & Tips

Should you insert a “V” in the back or the sides.  I think the sides are better because past experience has shown that a “V” in the back does not hold the pants up when you bend over.  Unpick the side seams, get some good quality “two way stretch” fabric and insert the “V” in each side.  And the big plus is that you have the comfort, and the stretch which is great.  If you find once you put the stretch in there that the pants are too loose, just sew some elastic on the back of the stretch at the top.  Or you could cut your piece out so that it folds at the top and you can insert some elastic inside on the fold line.  Stitch it in. 

Happy sewing

Judith aka  genie

You need to cut a piece of fabric of similar weight and a stretch behind the tear but instead of zig zag, try sewing back and forward into the grain of the fabric.  If you really look at it you will see lines (usually) on an angle.  This is the weave of the fabric.  If you find a thread colour similar to the colour of the jeans, then you secure the piece of fabric behind and stitch back and forward to cover the tear.  If the tear is close to the seam, unpick the seam.  Do not try and repair over a seam.  It doesn’t work.  Take the extra time to have easy access to the tear.  You will be happier with the finish repair.  Also.  I use a product called vizafex.  It is a two sides sticky used in appliqué.  I use that to secure the fabric behind.  One side peels off and you iron that on to one side, then you peel off the other piece of paper and iron it to the garment.  If you would like to see a photo of what I mean, email me

Judith aka genie

You have two options here.  The first is the quick way which you have probably done before and that is to fold the shoulder over and put a pleat in it which would give you a pleat at the front and back.  You could do two or three and make it a feature.  I prefer to turn the garment inside out and stitch the fold on the under side, then come around and top stitch it down which a row of stitching as close to the edge as you can.  This gives it a pleated effect without it looking like that was what you wanted to do.

 The second way is the more time consuming and that is to take the sleeve out, recut the armhole and put the sleeve back in.  Always label your sleeves with a piece of paper attached with a safety pin before you unpick.  Ie right sleeve and left sleeve labeled.  Saves you trying to work out which sleeve goes where.  Just a little time saving thing.

 You do not need to deepen the armhole.  But you may find you have to put a dart in the front.  Also sew TWO rows of stitching around the new armhole in a wide stitch and ease it in slightly.  This ensures you don’t stretch the fabric.  Pin the sleeve back in. I usually put a dot at the top of the sleeves if there isn’t a notch there already so you know the exact top of the sleeve.

Happy sewing

Judith aka genie

You can take the band off and lower however explain to the customer that the pockets can not be moved, which means you can only come down so far.  The band could be stitched on with a chain stitch in which case it would be easy to unpick, or you may have to unpick each stitch.  A quick way to do this is to slice using a razor blade or Stanley knife blade.  Be careful, but this technique is excellent for unpicking jean stitching quickly.  The belt loops are a little harder to unpick, but I carefully slice the zigzag on the back and then it should undo quickly.

 The problem with lowering at the waist is that the customer must understand that the band is going to get tighter because it is lower on the hip.  That means you may have to put an extension in the band.  If the jeans are a bit loose you dont have to but usually this is not the case.  Measure the width 1″ down, and I would be measuring the client as well.  Or ask her to push the jeans down to the position she wants the band, which means it will look baggy in the crotch.  That way you can see if the band is too tight at the position she wants it.  The extension can go in the back (a piece of denim same colour) or you can put some imitation suede or leather.  Something that looks ok.

 The other thing is to put the extension on the end of the band that goes UNDER the buttonhole.  But there is usually a jean button which means taking that off but that means the extension is longer.

Happy sewing

Judith aka genie

Got this email about taking in sides with pockets

how do you alter slacks in the hips that have pockets?  I have several pairs that are too big since I have lost weight.

You only have two options.  One is to take in the sides and take out the pockets, but this would also depend on the type of pocket.  Obviously you can’t take out a pocket that has the main body at the top by the band, as this would leave you with a space.  But you could sew the pockets down then take in.

 The second option is that I would look at taking in the centre back and see if the side seam came around to the back too much.  Sometimes it doesn’t, and taking in the centre back solves the problem.  If that is not enough. You can take in the center back section through to the crotch, then take in from the thigh down in the outside let.

 Let me know how you go.  It will depend on each individual trouser and how they are constructed

Happy sewing

Judith aka genie

I was asked recently to see if I could offer any advise for a person with one hip different to the other. 

I have a problem with altering slacks/pants and jeans in the butt – one hip seems to be a tad higher than the other and causes pulling on the sides or worse yet in the crotch. need help.

My first thought is that you have to fix it at the waist.  The jeans for example have a band?  I would be pinning just below the band going across the body below the band.  This would be on the hip that is smaller.  You need to stablise the waist area so it doesn’t pull like you are saying.  Stand in front of the mirror and pin like I said with the pins going across the garment so they are parallel to the floor. If you find it hard to pin while on you, pin a bit and then put them on and see what happens.  I think this will fix the problem.

 Then the amount you have pinned is the amount you take out.  So you would unpick the band section where the excess is, and cut away the excess and put the band back on.  Just a gathering stitch across the top and ease the fabric in. 

If the garment does not have a band, then you may have to shorten at the top on one side only.  Again this would be the side where the hip does not stick out as much.

Taking a sweat shirt from a large to a medium or small is usually a lot of work.  If you have the time.  The sides need to come in from under the arm down to the hem.  I would also be taking in from the underarm down the arm to the end of the sleeve. 

Before you shorten the length from the bottom which would include taking the band off, cutting the excess off and replacing the band, you should fold the sleeve up on the shoulder to see if it needs to be raised.  Usually a sweat shirt will have a dropped shoulder, but it might be too low for a medium or small.  If you are going to take the sleeve out and raise it do this BEFORE you shorten the length.  In fact if the sleeve is too long, you may be able to just recut the sleeve head and re attach without having to undo the bottom of the band.

If the sweat shirt is too long, you may have to shorten the length.  It’s always good to have the body in the sweat shirt and pin to the persons body, rather than guessing, although a sweat shirt is not a fitting garment, so you can get away with altering down a few sizes by just taking in as discussed above.

HINT – If you do opt for raising at the sleeve head, don’t take the side of the sleeve in until you have repinned the cut sleeve head onto the garment.  You should take in the side seam from the underarm to the hem BEFORE you pin the sleeve back on.  the reason for this is that the sleeve gets narrower the closer it gets to the end of the sleeve, so it will automatically become narrower.

Happy sewing

Judith aka genie

Comfort is important but even some trousers that are elasticated can be too big in the waist or they may hang down at the crotch, or a combination of both.  To test and see which is the problem, fold the elastic band over once and see what happens to the crotch.  If it has not raised it enough, fold over again.  It may be that you only want to fold the waist over one and a half times.  Experiment until you get it right.  In my case, I usually raise the front more than the back, because my bottom is well rounded!!!!  You may have the same issue.  Or your bottom may be skinnier.  When you have it folded at the correct amount, pin the band down in the position you have it.

If the elastic is too big, take hold of a section (doesn’t matter where) and pinch in the amount you want it to be.

If the sides are still a little baggy, pin down the sides a little and see how it looks in a mirror.

Take the trousers off. 

Measure the amount you have pinched from the pin to the fold and double this amount, then write it down on a piece of paper.

Measure the amount you have pinned down the sides and write this down on a piece of paper as well.

Now place a pin in the fold of the fabric at the very top, all the way around.  Now take your pins out and measure down from the top at the centre front to the pin and write this measurement down on a piece of paper, putting “centre front = and the amount down from the original top.  Do the same on the sides and the back. 

If there is a band, unpick the band, cut the amount out from the body, allowing for seam allowance, then attach the band back on.

If there is no band, measure down from at the centre front and put a chalk mark for the new position, then MARK UP towards the top for the elastic hem allowance.  This should be the same as on the garment.

Cut on the top chalk mark.  You may have to unpick the existing band if you are only going down one band width.  Some manufacturers use the chain safety stitch, which looks a little different from the standard straight stitch.  It will be thicker on the underside.  Clip one stitch and see if it unravells.  It  will save you a lot of time.

Over lock the cut edge and sew the elastic back on.  It will sit better if you sew the edge of the elastic to the edge of the hem allowance edge first, then fold and stitch down.  With some fabrics I will sew the top of the elastic to one side as well as the bottom, then fold and stitch down.  Any questions email me.

Happy sewing

Judith aka genie

Ironing is a major part of any clothing alteration, because when you take in the sides, you will want the seam to sit flat, and because you have been handling the garment it can get creased.  Sometimes when you steam a garment the creases don’t come out.  The reason is usually because you are continually steaming.  Try this exercise –

1.  Iron in a forward motion with the steam button pressed so you are steaming the garment.

2.  Stop ironing forward and steaming, and just move the iron back over the area you just steamed.  There must be no steam.

Conclusion – The fabric should be crease free

Happy sewing

Judith aka genie

When the elastic goes in your trousers or skirt, rather than pulling the old elastic out first, then threading the new, join the new elastic to the end of the old elastic, and when you pull the old elastic out the new elastic will be threaded through.  Quick and easy.

If you always where something over the waist line, and the elastic you are replacing is stitched in a thousand times (you know what I mean), then consider cutting the band off, and making a new band which you can thread new elastic into.  If you have the time to sit and unpick thats great, but if you are running a business, the customer is going to be charged for all the time it takes to unpick.  I give my customers the choice of cutting off, or they can unpick it for me.  I will even give them a quick unpick and send them on their way.  They always return with the job done, then all I have to do is put it all back together with the new elastic. 
 
Happy sewing

Judith aka genie