It seems mums are not passing on the skills of how to sew a button.  So here is the quick and easy way.  First you need a needle and some thread.  Try to use a colour close to the colour of the garment.  For example if the garment is black, don’t use white cotton.  Try […]

If you are going to take in a customer or friends clothes, take extra time to pin the garment with accuracy.  Mistakes are made when short cuts are taken.  I have a policy which is “Where I pin is where I sew”.  That means I take special care to pin the garment on the persons […]

My book Genie Clothing Alteration Secret Revealed is a compilation of all the manuals I wrote over a ten year period when I owned four clothing alteration shops.  I wanted everyone to be on the same page, so I developed a technique to achieve this.  The manuals covered all the general alterations we received.  The book […]

I have been in this industry a long time, and I have seen some very strange situations.  My biggest challenge is usually when someone has attempted to alter a garment without understanding what they are doing.  This could be the owner of the garment, or it could be someone who is practicing at altering clothes.  […]

You do not need to buy an industrial machine if you are going to perform basic clothing alterations, and/or do some dressmaking from home.  I remember when I opened my first clothing alteration shop.  I had a mini Elna Sewing machine and a very old over locker borrowed from my sister in law Gloria.  I […]

I have some wonderful friends who are in this industry, and they (like me) get a lot of satisfaction from doing clothing alterations.  I know some people say they would rather make something from stratch rather than alter, but truly once you master the art of alterations, you can really do anything.  And you can […]

If you are learning to sew for the first time, I would recommend this technique.  Take a piece of fabric, preferably a cotton, calico or some other cheap fabric.  Draw lines using a ruler and a pen or pencil.  Make grids like norts and crosses.  Now sew along these lines until you can sew a […]

There are many different types of repairs, however one that I do a lot of is what I call Bond and Darn.  Buy yourself some Vizaflex which you can get from any sewing shop.  You only need a small amount, because it is expensive.  Cut some fabric out that matches the tear in the garment […]

Good tailored men’s jackets are usually closed off at the shoulder.  The sleeve is hand stitched in which makes it impossible to get to the body of the jacket through the sleeve.  In this case, open the side seam and do the work you have to do, then when you are ready to close, open […]

All ladies jackets have an opening in the lining in the inside sleeve.  Turn the sleeves inside out and you will see which one is stitched down on the outside.   Usually it is only about 6″ of stitching.  Undo and pop the jacket through.  To do this put your hand inside and grab hold of […]