The more I sew clothing, the more I realize I struggle to pick the right size because of my broad shoulders. Most patterns don’t have an across the back measurement and the bust, waist, and hip measurements aren’t enough to help me figure it out. For example, I made the Pona Jacket by Helen’s Closet at the end of last summer and I seriously love it, but I concluded pretty quickly that my version is at least one size too big. (How big, you ask? My friend came over one day and agreed it was probably too big, so we clipped the insides with Clover clips to see if taking it in would be a good idea. Then we got distracted, headed out to dinner and came back to the house, all the while with me wearing a jacket with Clover clips on the inside and I never noticed the clips!! I’d say that’s pretty roomy!) As spring gets closer, I decided I needed to take the jacket in and decided to do a quick and dirty alteration, which I will show you.
The first thing I did was to seams rip the hem of the jacket at the side seams and the cuffs of the jacket at their side seams. I freed up about 3″ to 4″ away from the seam on each side so I could get clear access to the seam I’d be reducing. Then I lay out the jacket flat on my cutting table, taking care to make certain the seams were flat. After that, I took out my tailor’s chalk and a ruler and marked a line an inch from the raw edge/serged edge all the way up the jacket and down the arm.
Here is another view, showing the curve under the arm.
Then I took it to over the serger and resewed the seams ( this is basically taking a much larger seam allowance) with the serger.
Did you know there is a seam allowance guide on your serger? The combination of the notch in the presser foot and lining up your fabric at the desired seam allowance mark will give the results you’re looking for. In this case, I had drawn my chalk line 1″ from the raw edge of my fabric, so the serger shows me I was pretty accurate.
Once I was done with resewing the side seam/arm seam, I took advantage of the thread in the machine in sewed in one of the personalized tags I got at Christmas! I love them and think it helps make a project look finished!
There you have it…a quick and dirty way to make an alteration if something is just swimming on you. Be careful not to take too much off at the armscye (armpit!) because you can strangle your armpit! (I did that once when I failed to nicely alter a shirt for my son. Fortunately, it wasn’t a favorite, but still, I was pretty upset with my mistake!)
Not all projects are grand or impressive, but that doesn’t mean they don’t improve your life. Take the time to do the small projects, too. They’re definitely worth your time!
That’s it for today! Until the next time, stop pinning and saving, and start doing!!