Alterations – Page 4 – The Sewing Garden

Altering the Shoulders on a Jacket

A customer brought me two jackets to take in at the shoulders. Both of these jackets had shoulder pads, too, which she wanted removed. You don’t see those much anymore! The other jacket can be found in the post entitled, A Finely Tailored Jacket. Both were custom made in England for my customer and they were…

How To Make a Sewing Pattern

A question came in yesterday asking how to line the inside of a nightgown. Without having the original pattern, you might think it’s impossible. But, even if you don’t have the original paper pattern for a garment or any item (and you won’t have it if the item was purchased online or in a store),…

A Finely Tailored Jacket

By: Linda November 23, 2011February 20, 2021

Alterationsa finely tailored suit, Catherine Walker, Chelsea Design Company, houte couture, how to alter a jacket or coat, How to alter custom designed suits, Kate and William, Princess Diana, Princess of Wales, take in the shoulders of a jacket, who designed Princess Diana's clothing?10 Comments

It’s not often that I am in the presence of a finely tailored garment. It’s a rare commodity these days. But recently, a customer brought this gem to me to have it altered: Those of you who live in the U.K. will appreciate this label: It reads: Catherine Walker…The Chelsea Design Company Catherine Walker designed clothing…

Fun At The Wedding Reception

By: Linda September 28, 2011June 19, 2023

Alterations, BridalAlterations, flat tire, how to fix broken bustles, minutes, newlyweds, public golf course, sewing, tire shop13 Comments

This is a sewing related post, even though the title doesn’t sound like it! As I mentioned in the previous post, we held two receptions for our daughter’s wedding. One was held at the church. The second was a family dinner at a public golf club in the next town. Here are the newlyweds leaving the church:…

How To Make Pillows Fast!

By: Linda May 26, 2011March 14, 2023

Alterations, homewarefarmhouse style, gifts to make, how to make a beginner pillow, how to make a cottage zippered pillow, how to make a farmhouse pillow, how to make a pillow cover, how to make a pillow without a zipper, how to make a washable pillow cover, how to make pillows easy and fast, how to recover pillows, how to sew an easy pillow, quick projects, recover pillows, upholstery10 Comments

Because we have a wedding in 2 months, because my outdoor pillows and cushions are completely sunfaded, and because I had about twenty minutes on my hands, I decided it was time to recover them. And I thought you’d like to come along and learn how to make pillows fast! Heads up: There won’t be…

How To Take in a Dress with Piping

By: Linda February 14, 2011March 24, 2021

Alterations, Bridalbinding, Bridal, cording, homecoming, how to alter clothing that has piping, how to make pillows with piping, how to make upholstery with piping, prom, strapless, wedding dress4 Comments

This formal dress has piping that goes all along the very top edge. (Piping is cord that has been covered with fabric to make a nice decorative feature on a garment.) This dress has to be taken in at the bust area, which means I need to alter the piping when I take in the…

Stain Remover For Wedding Gowns

By: Linda January 17, 2011February 21, 2018

Alterations, Bridaldry cleaning, gown, how to get stains out of a wedding dress, how to get stains out of satin or taffeta, satin16 Comments

Every morning I open up my e-mail and receive many wonderful comments and good questions. Last week, I received a tip on how to remove a stain from a wedding or bridesmaid dress. In all my years as a wedding coordinator, I don’t remember a bride or bridesmaid spilling anything. Maybe that was partly because we made sure they…

How To Hem Jeans Using The Original Hem

By: Linda January 4, 2011March 30, 2023

Alterations, Hemsbleached denim, denim, hemming, How to hem boot cut jeans, how to hem denim, how to hem jeans, how to hem jeans with the frayed edge, how to hem wide legged jeans, jeans, Levi's, stone wash, stonewashed38 Comments

So many of you have wondered how to hem your jeans by using the original rolled hem. I had never done this before as I hadn’t personally had any customers ask for it. Until now. My own daughter asked me to hem hers that way. So, who better to try a new technique on than…

How To Put Gussets In a Dress or Top

By: Linda October 7, 2010June 30, 2023

Alterations, BridalDIY adding extra material under the arms, DIY Gussets, formalwear, how to add extra fabric under the arms of a dress, how to add gussets, how to add width to a dress, how to enlarge a garment that is too small, how to let out a dress to make it bigger, how to make a dress bigger, How to make a dress bigger by adding fabric, how to sew in gussets, how to sew in gussets in a strapless dress or gown80 Comments

Update: October 19, 2020 Do you know what a gusset is? It’s an inverted triangular (or diamond shaped) piece of fabric inserted into a garment to make it fit more comfortably. If you’d like to put gussets in pants or a top that has sleeves, look at this post on How To Put Gussets in…

What Brand of Thread Should You Use?

By: Linda September 23, 2010February 13, 2021

AlterationsBernina, Coats and Clark, Gutterman, Mettler, quality thread, what brand of sewing machine thread is best?36 Comments

The topic of thread has been on my mind lately. I just got the annual tune up on my sewing machine and the technician scolded me. Wow, I wasn’t expecting that! She asked what brand of thread I use. When I told her “Sometimes Coats and Clark and sometimes Gutterman”, I got a sharp reprimand.…