I never considered using a running stitch to mark lines, but it makes perfect sense! The high contrast color makes it so visible, and there's no worry of the marking rubbing off or remaining visible after the sewing is complete. Taking photos before alterations is another good idea I'll have to remember. Thanks!
Just subscribed - I've been doing bridal alterations for over 40 years and people don't understand how MANY steps there are to taking a gown apart, then putting back together again, all while making it look custom made for the bride. You did a wonderful job but left out showing how much actual work that was. And I was laughing when I saw you using the dish towel because that is Exactly what I do too! May I please ask what did you charge for such an alteration? That is what I struggle with the most but need the most advice.
Hello and welcome to my channel!!! YES, there are SO many steps to many gown alterations, especially certain types. It would not be possible for me to show every single tiny detail and put it in a watchable video ;) So I try to include the important things, and hopefully I have done that with this video. YAY for dishtowels!!! It's funny that you use one, too, as I've never heard of it as something that is standard. It just seems useful, so I always keep one nearby that I use for many things, as I'm sure you do, too! It's really difficult for me to say what I charged for this. One reason is because this dress was done some time ago, and I have no recollection of what the charge was. Another reason is because different parts of the county, and world, have so many different costs of living that what is charged in one area, would be considered either too expensive or to cheap in another. So this is what I do: 1) I estimate how long I think this job should reasonably take....and try to overestimate a bit, being that things often take longer than I think 2) know what my hourly charge would be (make it a decent charge...there's a reason people are coming to you for alteration. Think "what if I was a mechanic"!) 3) Do the math to figure out what the charge should be. If there are other considerations to keep in mind such as if there's beading that will need to be taken off and reapplied, etc. then add on another hour (or two) of labor charge. I hope that helps you a bit. Thanks so much for watching and leaving a comment!!!
Thanks! Glad to find your channel! You are very fun to watch! I took on a friend's wedding gown alteration - little did I know it would become the project it has become! Wow! I sure appreciate you sharing your technique and will keep your videos in a Playlist for later referral as needed. Btw - I took photos too - many - but I had a really difficult time replacing the zipper! (the dress was size 12 and she is size 2 or size 4! I had 3 layers of fabric and the zipper and the tape with elastic button loops - chiffon, and 2 under layers of slinky knit! Yikes! 😬 Not fun!) Any hints to working on many layers and many types of fabric?! 😉 😀
I'm so glad you watched, and have been able to get some sort of help from my videos. Working with so many different kinds of layers, with some stretching on the bias, and some stretching because they are that slinky knit, can be difficult. When I'm done working on any layers that need to be tackled, individually, I usually baste all layers back together (hand baste if you can't easily do it by machine) if I'm still doing work inside the dress that no longer includes those particular layers. Sometimes all those layers just take a lot of patience and a careful approach. Good luck to you! I hope it turns out beautifully!
For this alteration, there is no difference in whether the dress is strapless or not. Maybe I'm not quite understanding the question. This alteration is for the bust area with a princess seam, and shouldn't make a difference whether the dress has straps, sleeves, etc., or not. Please rephrase your question if I don't understand it! Thanks!
Great job with the video & your sewing! What a load of work! Now I'm curious what you would charge for this level or alteration? Just in my limited experience of bridal alterations, I'm surprised at the number of "reputable" bridal shops that sell young women the wrong size dress! My next big alteration is rather complicated: the cup size is too large, but the back won't zip! I feel that the store never should have sold the bride this dress, but here we are.
Oh dear! What a dilemma your poor bride is in. I don't even know where to begin regarding bridal shops and fitting/sizing/ordering...we'll just leave it right there ;) You may have to take out seam allowances to allow the back to zip or put in a lace up/corset back! Then the cups in front being too big...sometimes I try to pad with bra cups, but it's not always enough. It's very hard for me to talk about pricing because different areas of the country have very different costs of living and pricing. This is what I can offer: figure out what you want to pay yourself per hour (it should be a nice amount), then estimate how long you think the alterations should take...then add an hour or more onto that! It usually takes longer than I think (but not always!) and don't be shy to charge. That's how I figure out my charge, taking payment up front before I start work on a project. People will pay for a job well-done. I figure they are paying lots for their wedding, food and drink for the reception, decorations, the honeymoon....the bridal seamstresses should expect to be paid handsomely too, and probably only a drop in the bucket compared to what they're spending on their wedding. Seamstresses spend countless hours doing tedious things that no one else wants to, or has the skills, to do. That's how I do my charging. Hoppe that helps a bit! Thanks so much for commenting, and I hope you have subscribed!!!
Thank you, your video and explanation was very clear. Can you do a video on altering a princess seam that starts from the front arm holes to the waist on a dress. My dress is to big in the front and if I take it in on the sides the princess seam is too close to the side seam ? I can not find any UA-cam videos. Would greatly appreciate if this is possible.
Thank you so much for watching. Your idea for a video is a good one. I, also, couldn't find any video after doing a quick search. There is a certain dilemma that can arise when more than just a little amount is taken in on a princess seam, especially one that has a sharper curve going over into the armhole. I'll try to explain briefly here. Imagine the shape/curve of the center front piece, and the smaller side-front piece. One is a convex curve, and one is concave. When you try to take in the same amount on both, the intended seam allowance on the center front piece gets longer, while the intended seam allowance on the side front piece gets shorter. If you don't allow the extra fabric from the center front piece to (for example) escape somewhere, like into the waist seam, and then trimmed off, then the center front piece might have a lot of puckering...because you're trying to cram extra fabric into the smaller side front seamline. So from how I'm picturing it, the best way would be to pick out both princess seams from the waist (where hopefully a skirt is attached) all the way up to almost where it ends in the sleeve. Then, when you re-sew the amount you need to take in, the extra from the center front can be trimmed off at the waist seamline. But before you do all this, I would pin in along the front princess seams, vertically, the amount you need taken in. It will be a complicated process, but it can be done. If I get a dress in my studio that needs this alteration, I will surely do a video on it. Good luck and thanks for watching and commenting!
I have a dress that has two boob cups that just stick out, everything else fits great (it is a corset back too so adjustable and will nearly always fit). The problem is that the bodice has really complex boning and three of the bones go into each of the cups and I will have to alter it a lot to fit me (I am basically flat). And i only handsew but I am at least decent at that. However i have never worked with boning before. I got the dress for 60 Euros (plus like 5 hours of drive, I guess the price was so low for a full ball gown because noone wanted to drive into nowhere to buy a dress) but its still so extremely amazing that it had to have cost like 500 Euros new at least. And I am afraid to ruin it but I also dont want to spend much on getting a dress redone that I will probably wear incredibly rarely if ever
Wow, that does sound complicated (yet a great deal for so few Euros!) Hand sewing is something that I'm not sure I can help you on, except for ask if there's any way you can carefully hand sew a tuck behind one (or some) of the strips of boning to just get some of the fabric to reduce the fullness? Either that or just pad it out as much as you need so that it at least looks like the dress is being filled up ;) Good luck with your dress!
I would love a video about the opposite, as a women with large bust many blouses and dresses with a built on cup just dont fit, it always cuts my bust to the middle, would love to know how to fix what I already own :(
Thanks for the idea. There are so many variables with this idea, because there are so many ways a bodice can be constructed, with different kinds of seams and darts, etc. I’ll keep this in mind as projects come in to me, so thanks for the suggestion!
I suppose certain dresses could be altered by several cup sizes. But the more it needs to be made smaller, the alteration might need to be done differently, and may be outside the scope of this video. If I had a client with a dress with cup sizes way too big, I’d try to talk her just to adding very padded bra cups, and then doing a slight bra cup size alteration so that I wouldn’t have to go into a more complicated, in depth… more expensive… alteration. ;) Try to keep in mind that with a princess seam, the more you try to take in on the seam, the center panel seam length will get longer, while the side front panel will get smaller. So if you’re doing a very large cup reduction, you may have to release the seams all the way to the waist so that the extra length produced in the middle section can be evened out in the waist seam (if there even is one!!) Hope that helps a bit!
I like your idea of taking photos of garment before the alterations. Also using different colors thread running stitch to mark the line. I do alterations for my neighborhood people, can I ask you do you keep a price list of different alterations?? I leave it on customers to pay what they want to but sometimes it’s tricky Can you suggest price list??
I get high school prom dresses, bridesmaids dresses to alter, pants to hem, sleeves to shorten etc. sometimes, curtains to shorten and custom sewing outdoors furniture seat cushions. I wish to know, how to get fair wages for such unusual things.
First of all, thanks for watching and commenting. Yes, I like to use a basting stitch for marking, when the usual chalk or pen marker won't work well. As for pricing, that's so tricky, because the cost of living is quite varied in different parts of the country (assuming you're in the U.S.) My price is based on how long I think a project will take (and as you know, only experience doing different projects will give you the general idea for 'time'). Then I take what I want to be paid per hour and multiply it by how long I think a project will take. For me, some projects take a longer time, while others take shorter than I estimate. Very few projects will I tell a customer that the charge could go higher than 'X' amount, but there are times I have to....for those strange projects that I've never done before!!! Remember that you have a skilled art. People are paying YOU to do it for a reason...because they can't. The hardest part for me was not to undervalue my skill. If you're good at what you do (and with so many people coming to you for work, there's no doubt you are good), then they will pay you adequately. So understand your value!!!
It gets tricky when a close friend ask for an alterations. Do you take full price, have a discount or give first item altered for free and then charge. ??
@@sangeetabeads7162 Well....if the close friend expects something for free...I charge them!!! ;) (he he he!) But if they intend to pay, I usually give a 'friends and family discount', which is just a slight discount, usually not for free (but if it's simple and not time consuming sometimes I will throw in a freebie). I can only answer for how I do things, and of course so much depends on if I have time in my schedule. Even with friends, you still have to value your skill. If you had a friend who had a car business, would you expect a free car? Be sure to value your skill!!
There are so many different styles of ‘bustiers’ that it’s impossible for me to comment specifically on the one you have in mind. Of course, the main thing would be if it’s possible to easily get in between the layers, or if all layers are stitched together , with boning slid into channels. In short, the concept of this video would work, but in practicality, you’d need to check and see if you could get inside the layers to perform the needed cup reduction ;) Thanks for watching and commenting!
That's a tough one to try and comment on when I can't see what's actually going on. Just make sure she's not wearing anything underneath, which takes up room and could cause the situation to present itself worse than it is. Also, it might help if a 'lace up' back was added, if it doesn't already have one, so that the bust area can be laced up looser than the rest. Otherwise, you might be able to find some seams that have a tiny bit of extra fabric that can carefully be let out. But with all that boning, it could be challenging....Good luck! I hope you're able to find a good solution!
Hi there! Currently I don't have a video on that topic. If you have a dress that is covered in lace, though, you can do the opposite of what I do here, and that is to add wedges of fabric in that front princess seam so that it fits correctly, then cover it back up with the lace or appliques. Also, *sometimes* you can fudge your way around this issue by putting in a corset lace-up (I have a video on that), or by adding some width to the side seams, under the armpits. But of course, every person's shape is different, so I don't know which might help your particular issue. ;) Hopefully I've given you a couple ideas to consider, however!
Hi loved watching this ....can you please make a tutorial on how to alter a bra cup from 32B to 32AAA ..I have been strugging to find a bra which fits me ....I am a very small chested girl...all bras I bought are going to a waste .Need help
Thank you for watching my video! I wish I could help you with your dilemma, but I'm afraid that would be outside of my scope here. Bras are constructed in so many different ways, that it would be impossible to try and guess where to start. All I can say is that you can put to practice the principles that I've used in this video to alter any type of body shaping that you need. If there are seams in your bra, deconstruct them and take them in so it fits you. I hope you find an answer, truly!
Absolutely loved this video!!.. thank you for sharing this ♥️
Glad you enjoyed it! ❤️❤️❤️
I never considered using a running stitch to mark lines, but it makes perfect sense! The high contrast color makes it so visible, and there's no worry of the marking rubbing off or remaining visible after the sewing is complete. Taking photos before alterations is another good idea I'll have to remember. Thanks!
I'm so happy you found this video useful! Thanks for watching and commenting!
AMAZING work. We need more of you in this world.
Thank you so much! Not sure I'd be a good cloning specimen (!), but thank you for the compliment!!! :)
You're amazing, thank you so much for doing this video. Xx
AW! Thanks for watching and commenting. I hope this was helpful for you! ❤️
So much info, thank you for sharing your knowledge and talent!❤
Glad you found my channel. Thanks for watching!
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!. I'm very happy because I founded you!
Aw! I’m very happy you found me, too!!!
Just subscribed - I've been doing bridal alterations for over 40 years and people don't understand how MANY steps there are to taking a gown apart, then putting back together again, all while making it look custom made for the bride. You did a wonderful job but left out showing how much actual work that was. And I was laughing when I saw you using the dish towel because that is Exactly what I do too! May I please ask what did you charge for such an alteration? That is what I struggle with the most but need the most advice.
Hello and welcome to my channel!!! YES, there are SO many steps to many gown alterations, especially certain types. It would not be possible for me to show every single tiny detail and put it in a watchable video ;) So I try to include the important things, and hopefully I have done that with this video. YAY for dishtowels!!! It's funny that you use one, too, as I've never heard of it as something that is standard. It just seems useful, so I always keep one nearby that I use for many things, as I'm sure you do, too! It's really difficult for me to say what I charged for this. One reason is because this dress was done some time ago, and I have no recollection of what the charge was. Another reason is because different parts of the county, and world, have so many different costs of living that what is charged in one area, would be considered either too expensive or to cheap in another. So this is what I do: 1) I estimate how long I think this job should reasonably take....and try to overestimate a bit, being that things often take longer than I think 2) know what my hourly charge would be (make it a decent charge...there's a reason people are coming to you for alteration. Think "what if I was a mechanic"!) 3) Do the math to figure out what the charge should be. If there are other considerations to keep in mind such as if there's beading that will need to be taken off and reapplied, etc. then add on another hour (or two) of labor charge. I hope that helps you a bit. Thanks so much for watching and leaving a comment!!!
Thanks!
Glad to find your channel!
You are very fun to watch!
I took on a friend's wedding gown alteration - little did I know it would become the project it has become!
Wow!
I sure appreciate you sharing your technique and will keep your videos in a Playlist for later referral as needed.
Btw - I took photos too - many - but I had a really difficult time replacing the zipper!
(the dress was size 12 and she is size 2 or size 4! I had 3 layers of fabric and the zipper and the tape with elastic button loops - chiffon, and 2 under layers of slinky knit! Yikes! 😬
Not fun!)
Any hints to working on many layers and many types of fabric?!
😉 😀
I'm so glad you watched, and have been able to get some sort of help from my videos. Working with so many different kinds of layers, with some stretching on the bias, and some stretching because they are that slinky knit, can be difficult. When I'm done working on any layers that need to be tackled, individually, I usually baste all layers back together (hand baste if you can't easily do it by machine) if I'm still doing work inside the dress that no longer includes those particular layers. Sometimes all those layers just take a lot of patience and a careful approach. Good luck to you! I hope it turns out beautifully!
You start your video with a strapless wedding gown, but finish with a lace one. Do you have a video to show how to alter the strapless gown?
For this alteration, there is no difference in whether the dress is strapless or not. Maybe I'm not quite understanding the question. This alteration is for the bust area with a princess seam, and shouldn't make a difference whether the dress has straps, sleeves, etc., or not. Please rephrase your question if I don't understand it! Thanks!
Great job with the video & your sewing! What a load of work! Now I'm curious what you would charge for this level or alteration? Just in my limited experience of bridal alterations, I'm surprised at the number of "reputable" bridal shops that sell young women the wrong size dress! My next big alteration is rather complicated: the cup size is too large, but the back won't zip! I feel that the store never should have sold the bride this dress, but here we are.
Oh dear! What a dilemma your poor bride is in. I don't even know where to begin regarding bridal shops and fitting/sizing/ordering...we'll just leave it right there ;) You may have to take out seam allowances to allow the back to zip or put in a lace up/corset back! Then the cups in front being too big...sometimes I try to pad with bra cups, but it's not always enough. It's very hard for me to talk about pricing because different areas of the country have very different costs of living and pricing. This is what I can offer: figure out what you want to pay yourself per hour (it should be a nice amount), then estimate how long you think the alterations should take...then add an hour or more onto that! It usually takes longer than I think (but not always!) and don't be shy to charge. That's how I figure out my charge, taking payment up front before I start work on a project. People will pay for a job well-done. I figure they are paying lots for their wedding, food and drink for the reception, decorations, the honeymoon....the bridal seamstresses should expect to be paid handsomely too, and probably only a drop in the bucket compared to what they're spending on their wedding. Seamstresses spend countless hours doing tedious things that no one else wants to, or has the skills, to do. That's how I do my charging. Hoppe that helps a bit! Thanks so much for commenting, and I hope you have subscribed!!!
Thank you, your video and explanation was very clear. Can you do a video on altering a princess seam that starts from the front arm holes to the waist on a dress. My dress is to big in the front and if I take it in on the sides the princess seam is too close to the side seam ? I can not find any UA-cam videos. Would greatly appreciate if this is possible.
Thank you so much for watching. Your idea for a video is a good one. I, also, couldn't find any video after doing a quick search. There is a certain dilemma that can arise when more than just a little amount is taken in on a princess seam, especially one that has a sharper curve going over into the armhole. I'll try to explain briefly here. Imagine the shape/curve of the center front piece, and the smaller side-front piece. One is a convex curve, and one is concave. When you try to take in the same amount on both, the intended seam allowance on the center front piece gets longer, while the intended seam allowance on the side front piece gets shorter. If you don't allow the extra fabric from the center front piece to (for example) escape somewhere, like into the waist seam, and then trimmed off, then the center front piece might have a lot of puckering...because you're trying to cram extra fabric into the smaller side front seamline. So from how I'm picturing it, the best way would be to pick out both princess seams from the waist (where hopefully a skirt is attached) all the way up to almost where it ends in the sleeve. Then, when you re-sew the amount you need to take in, the extra from the center front can be trimmed off at the waist seamline. But before you do all this, I would pin in along the front princess seams, vertically, the amount you need taken in. It will be a complicated process, but it can be done. If I get a dress in my studio that needs this alteration, I will surely do a video on it. Good luck and thanks for watching and commenting!
@@SewDarnedFun Thank you for your detailed explanation ! Will look forward to video on altering princess seams (taking in).
I have a dress that has two boob cups that just stick out, everything else fits great (it is a corset back too so adjustable and will nearly always fit).
The problem is that the bodice has really complex boning and three of the bones go into each of the cups and I will have to alter it a lot to fit me (I am basically flat). And i only handsew but I am at least decent at that. However i have never worked with boning before.
I got the dress for 60 Euros (plus like 5 hours of drive, I guess the price was so low for a full ball gown because noone wanted to drive into nowhere to buy a dress) but its still so extremely amazing that it had to have cost like 500 Euros new at least. And I am afraid to ruin it but I also dont want to spend much on getting a dress redone that I will probably wear incredibly rarely if ever
Wow, that does sound complicated (yet a great deal for so few Euros!) Hand sewing is something that I'm not sure I can help you on, except for ask if there's any way you can carefully hand sew a tuck behind one (or some) of the strips of boning to just get some of the fabric to reduce the fullness? Either that or just pad it out as much as you need so that it at least looks like the dress is being filled up ;) Good luck with your dress!
I would love a video about the opposite, as a women with large bust many blouses and dresses with a built on cup just dont fit, it always cuts my bust to the middle, would love to know how to fix what I already own :(
Thanks for the idea. There are so many variables with this idea, because there are so many ways a bodice can be constructed, with different kinds of seams and darts, etc. I’ll keep this in mind as projects come in to me, so thanks for the suggestion!
How many cup sizes can a dress be reduced to?
I suppose certain dresses could be altered by several cup sizes. But the more it needs to be made smaller, the alteration might need to be done differently, and may be outside the scope of this video. If I had a client with a dress with cup sizes way too big, I’d try to talk her just to adding very padded bra cups, and then doing a slight bra cup size alteration so that I wouldn’t have to go into a more complicated, in depth… more expensive… alteration. ;) Try to keep in mind that with a princess seam, the more you try to take in on the seam, the center panel seam length will get longer, while the side front panel will get smaller. So if you’re doing a very large cup reduction, you may have to release the seams all the way to the waist so that the extra length produced in the middle section can be evened out in the waist seam (if there even is one!!) Hope that helps a bit!
I like your idea of taking photos of garment before the alterations. Also using different colors thread running stitch to mark the line. I do alterations for my neighborhood people, can I ask you do you keep a price list of different alterations?? I leave it on customers to pay what they want to but sometimes it’s tricky Can you suggest price list??
I get high school prom dresses, bridesmaids dresses to alter, pants to hem, sleeves to shorten etc. sometimes, curtains to shorten and custom sewing outdoors furniture seat cushions. I wish to know, how to get fair wages for such unusual things.
First of all, thanks for watching and commenting. Yes, I like to use a basting stitch for marking, when the usual chalk or pen marker won't work well. As for pricing, that's so tricky, because the cost of living is quite varied in different parts of the country (assuming you're in the U.S.) My price is based on how long I think a project will take (and as you know, only experience doing different projects will give you the general idea for 'time'). Then I take what I want to be paid per hour and multiply it by how long I think a project will take. For me, some projects take a longer time, while others take shorter than I estimate. Very few projects will I tell a customer that the charge could go higher than 'X' amount, but there are times I have to....for those strange projects that I've never done before!!! Remember that you have a skilled art. People are paying YOU to do it for a reason...because they can't. The hardest part for me was not to undervalue my skill. If you're good at what you do (and with so many people coming to you for work, there's no doubt you are good), then they will pay you adequately. So understand your value!!!
@@SewDarnedFun thanks for quick reply. I will keep track of the time for alterations.
It gets tricky when a close friend ask for an alterations. Do you take full price, have a discount or give first item altered for free and then charge. ??
@@sangeetabeads7162 Well....if the close friend expects something for free...I charge them!!! ;) (he he he!) But if they intend to pay, I usually give a 'friends and family discount', which is just a slight discount, usually not for free (but if it's simple and not time consuming sometimes I will throw in a freebie). I can only answer for how I do things, and of course so much depends on if I have time in my schedule. Even with friends, you still have to value your skill. If you had a friend who had a car business, would you expect a free car? Be sure to value your skill!!
Would this still work with a bustier/corset style dress?
There are so many different styles of ‘bustiers’ that it’s impossible for me to comment specifically on the one you have in mind. Of course, the main thing would be if it’s possible to easily get in between the layers, or if all layers are stitched together , with boning slid into channels. In short, the concept of this video would work, but in practicality, you’d need to check and see if you could get inside the layers to perform the needed cup reduction ;) Thanks for watching and commenting!
Is there anyway to fix a bustier type gown where the bra cups are too small? My daughter's prom dress the bra cups are to small ??
That's a tough one to try and comment on when I can't see what's actually going on. Just make sure she's not wearing anything underneath, which takes up room and could cause the situation to present itself worse than it is. Also, it might help if a 'lace up' back was added, if it doesn't already have one, so that the bust area can be laced up looser than the rest. Otherwise, you might be able to find some seams that have a tiny bit of extra fabric that can carefully be let out. But with all that boning, it could be challenging....Good luck! I hope you're able to find a good solution!
How much do you charge for this alteration? Just wondering bc it looks like a lot of work 😅
Thanks for watching! Valid question though! Yes, it is quite a bit of work, and she DID pay for my time ;)
Hello! Do you have anything on increasing the cup size? The dress fits but I have super large breasts 😅
Hi there! Currently I don't have a video on that topic. If you have a dress that is covered in lace, though, you can do the opposite of what I do here, and that is to add wedges of fabric in that front princess seam so that it fits correctly, then cover it back up with the lace or appliques. Also, *sometimes* you can fudge your way around this issue by putting in a corset lace-up (I have a video on that), or by adding some width to the side seams, under the armpits. But of course, every person's shape is different, so I don't know which might help your particular issue. ;) Hopefully I've given you a couple ideas to consider, however!
Hi loved watching this ....can you please make a tutorial on how to alter a bra cup from 32B to 32AAA ..I have been strugging to find a bra which fits me ....I am a very small chested girl...all bras I bought are going to a waste .Need help
Thank you for watching my video! I wish I could help you with your dilemma, but I'm afraid that would be outside of my scope here. Bras are constructed in so many different ways, that it would be impossible to try and guess where to start. All I can say is that you can put to practice the principles that I've used in this video to alter any type of body shaping that you need. If there are seams in your bra, deconstruct them and take them in so it fits you. I hope you find an answer, truly!
❤
😊