Hints & Tips

Archive for the ‘Clothing Alteration - General’ Category

Dear Judith,

 I bought your book a couple of years ago and have been receiving your emails ever since.  I just wanted to share this little something with you.

 Although I have been sewing for a long time now and I have put zips in items that I have made.  I have never replaced a zip in anything as it scared me (that’s funny I know but it did).  This week I got sick and I was unable to do anything not even look after my family.  So I got my copy of your book out and two pairs of pants that needed the zips replacing, my quick unpick and started to take out the zips.  I have to say that I never thought that unpicking anything could be theraputic but I loved the whole process of taking the zip out.  

 Yesterday I was feeling a bit better so I got my trusty little Janome out and along with your book right beside me I proceeded to replace the zips.  I loved they went in beautifully and your instruction in the book was wonderful it was like having someone talking me through one step at a time.  I have to say that one pair of the pants the zip I put back in was better than the zip I took out.

I’ll never be afraid of replacing zips again.  In fact a friend has asked me to replace a zip in her husbands pants  and she is going to pay me for it. 

 Judith, do you think $15 is alright to charge for replacing a zip?  I also wanted to ask you about your 2nd book is it just the same as the first one or is there extra information in there that is not in the first one?  (I suggested she charge AUD$25)

 So thank you for an excellent book and giving me the courage to try something new.

 Mandy

If you are doing clothing alterations for a living, and your business is growing, your next step will be to employ someone.  There are a number of ways you can do this, but before I go into that you must find out the rules and regulations for employing people in your country.  This is an international newsletter generated from Australia, which means I am only aware of the Australian rules. 

The best option is to employ a contractor.  This means that the person you employ has to have their own business identity.  In Australia we call it an Australian Business Number (ABN).  This is registered with the government, and means you are liable for all Goods and Services Tax (GST) on your services.  For example – You can work from home, but may pick up work from a clothing alteration and dressmaking shop who charges out at AUD$60 per hour.  You take the work home and charge the work out at her rate.  That means if you complete a job that takes one hour you put on the docket $60.00 plus GST of 10% = $66.00 to the customer. You should then fill out a Contractor form with the customer’s information, including the invoice number and the amount charged.  Once all the work is completed I charge her 50% of all work done.  Keep in mind that you should be getting 50% of the AUD$60 per hour not $66.00.

If you decide on the other hand to bring someone into your business whether that is at home or in a shop, you will be liable for all the government regulations and rules for employing someone.  In Australia we have an Award Wage Rate for Casual, Part time or Permanent.  These rates are based on age and level of skill.  On top of that is superannuation, holiday pay if applicable and a workers’ compensation levy.   The average cost to employ someone is around $25.00 per hour give or take.  Some countries have maternity leave plus other rules. 

Personally I find that the contracting option works better for everyone.  This is the option I take.  I love working from home.  It gives me the freedom to work the hours I want, and also to do all the other work I do like writing articles, creating illustrations, developing workshops and other concepts to do with clothing alterations.

This is why I get really emotional about what you should be charging for your time.  I don’t mind getting $30 per hour when all I have to do is call in “pick up and deliver”.  I don’t have to deal with the customer which takes a fair amount of time.  When my customers come to me I charge $40 per hour, because I am doing the fitting.

If you are doing dressmaking, and you are being paid peanuts, you need to educate your customers.  Think about it this way – How much work goes into one garment that sits in a fashion store?  The designers have to develop the pattern, grade the sizes, cut out the fabrics, have it sewn together, market the garments, pay rent in the shops, and employ people in the shops to sell the garment.

There is a lot of time and money that goes into the develop of one garment.  Once the garments are developed, they can be mass produced.  Cheaper garments are mass produced in countries like China, India, and Fiji etc.  They are cheap to buy and sometimes the alteration of shortening the length is more than it cost to buy the garment in the first place.

So when you have someone come and ask you to make something, explain about what you really have to do.  Even if they provide you with a pattern, you still have to cut it out, check the measurements, cut it out, have a fitting, and if it is really expensive fabric, you will probably make a toile (calico sample) first to get your measurements right. 

Think about your hourly rate and what you are charging.  As your business grows look at how you would employ someone to help.

Happy sewing

Judith aka genie

Remember in the Victorian times when large seams were left in everything.  Recently I had a garment brought in that had become too small.  I had a look inside and there were massive seams all the way through the garment.  HOWEVER………..   Someone had decided that it didn’t sit correctly on the curved sections or at joins, so they had CUT through the seam allowance up to the existing seam!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 For the life of me I do not understand why someone would do that.  If you want to leave a reasonable seam allowance, then do that.  You can even fold it over if you like and stitch it down with a loose stitch.  If you have to clip, then consider folding the seam allowance over and stitching down rather than clipping.  If I am reshaping a neckline or putting on a collar, you have to clip to get the curve, so clipping is important, but if you have want to leave large side seams, you really do not need to clip (usually).

 In the case of the dress in question, it was not a fitting dress, so it could have been left without being clipped.

Happy sewing

Judith aka genie

Cutting old clothes up and making new

Patch work Tee shirts can be made from stretch clothes that no longer fit you, or that you don’t wear any more.  Cut all the old tee shirts up so you are left with pieces. Make a pattern from an old tee shirt that you love, and then make a patchwork in the shape of your panels from the old tees.  You can be very creative here, and the big benefit is that you can make the tee to fit your body shape.  Pieces can be zig zagged together, or joined from the back side.  You could use tape to join each section.  Your imagination will have you creating wonderful pieces to wear.

Happy sewing

Judith aka genie

We all know that if you have a big bust, you are better off to have a “V” neckline or at least have a lower neckline than normal.  The “V” takes the line of the eye away from the bulk at the bust.  I have a lot of tops I alter, and over the years I have developed different techniques for lowering the neckline.  The best is a template.  I draw the shape I want on a piece of light cardboard making sure that the left side and the right side are the same length and width apart.  Then cut around the outline and use this as your template to mark the top.  This method ensures you get the right side and the left side exact. Before you cut the top, allow for seam allowance. 

One mistake people make is that they just cut off the back band, but this usually makes the top too wide at the neck.  I prefer to unpick the back band around to the front.  That way I am still keeping the shape at the back of the neck, and not making it too wide at the shoulders.

If you are shortening the hem, cut in the piece off in a circle and you could use this as your band around the neck. If it is the same fabric as the back, then you can put a join at the shoulder seams, which means you dont have to unpick the back.

 Happy sewing

Judith aka genie

Yet another of my pet hates is a halter neck dress.  Maybe its because I am either sewing or on the computer, but my neck does not like halter neck dresses.  So if I find a dress I like but it has a halter neck, I change it to normal straps.  The only thing you have to do is attach the back strap closer to the centre back.  The reason for this is that the halter strap at the front will be closer to the underarm, and if you put the strap in what I would call the normal position for a strap, then it will fall off the shoulder.  The only issue you will have is bra straps showing, but if you where a strapless bra you would not tell.

 Happy sewing

Judith aka genie

Topstitching can stop you from taking in the sides of a garment.  But there will be times when you have to unpick the topstitching, take in the sides and re topstitch.  If the garment is jeans, don’t despair about getting the cotton colour right.  A lot of domestic sewing machines do not like the thick denim cotton.  If your sewing machine will not sew the thick cotton use two cottons to achieve the same look.  You may have to use two slightly different colours to get the same colour as the jeans cotton.  Don’t wind two cottons onto your bobbin.  Sew topside with the two cottons running through the top of your machine.

When you turn the garment inside out, have a look to see if the topstitching is in a chain stitch or unraveller as I call it.  This can save you a lot of time and trouble unpicking.  If you ever find that unpicking the seam is hard, have a good look at the seam, because a chain stitch can be hard to unpick.  It unravels from the left to the right as you look at the stitch.

 Happy sewing

 Judith aka genie

Have you ever had a situation where a garment does not sit properly on a person and you can’t seem to understand what is happening? It may be a pair of trousers, or a dress.  If you can’t figure out what is wrong, try measuring each panel.  For example the front panel on the left leg versus the front panel on the right leg.  Or the left back panel on a dress versus the right back panel on a dress.  I have even seen sleeves that are different sizes.  Sometimes a manufacturer will have someone put a garment together using two different sizes.  In Australia out sizing is different from the USA or the UK, but for example the left side of a size 10 pair of trousers put together with a size 12 on the right.  They ease it into position, but the trousers will never look right.  Same if it was a dress or gown.  It probably happens a lot more than you would think, so next time you can’t figure out what is wrong, check the panels.

 Happy sewing

 Judith aka genie

From time to time you will come across a job that you can’t do on your domestic or industrial sewing machine.  Some of the types of things could be replacing zips in bags, re sewing seams in thick canvas items and other such jobs.  If you run your own clothing alteration business you could consider building a relationship with your local shoe repair man (or lady).  These guys have the most amazing stitching machine.  Take the time to go visit them and see how they sew items that are very difficult to get to.  Where you would have trouble getting something under your sewing machine foot, they have a needle on the end of a unit that can oscillate in any direction.  Plus they can sew through very thick canvas and leather.

Instead of sending the customer there, you could take the job, and deliver the item to your shoe repair person, then you can charge your customer a little for the convenience.  They would be only too happy to pay you $5.00 or whatever you want to charge for doing it for them.

 Happy sewing

 Judith aka geni

I think the question most people would ask is why I would put sleeves into a perfectly good top or dress.  There are a number of reasons you might consider it.  The first would be sun cancer prevention.  If you have a skin that needs to be out of the sun, this is a great option.  The second option would be because as you get older your arms don’t look as flattering as they used to.  And the final reason would be that you find a really lovely top or dress that you love, but it doesn’t have sleeves and you prefer them. 

 So what to do?  Find yourself some really nice stretch fabric.  There is a fabric called Peek a Boo.  It comes in a range of colours (black being the most popular) and it is a really lovely fabric to work with.  Take your time preparing your garment and you should be able to use any basic sleeve pattern.  Cut a sample out in a cheap stretch fabric first to make sure of the fit.  It’s always best to have a little more room in the head of the sleeve than too little.  Sew a row of stitching around the top of the sleeve from one side to the other in a long stitch.  Pull the threads so you have a very slight ease in the fabric.  I actually prefer to sew two rows of stitching side by side.  It gives a better shape to the head of the sleeve.

Play around with different fabrics and have fun inserting sleeves.

 Happy sewing

 Judith aka genie