Tailoring at home. (updated with pictures)

[mrcold]

I am a tall guy with long arms and a fat neck. In order to buy shirts that fit my neck and my arms (without paying a fortune!) I usually end up with shirts that are WAY too large around my torso. I am not an unusually shaped fellow, so I am guessing this is a somewhat common problem.

I also happen to live in the middle of nowhere missouri, where tailors are somewhat hard to find, the few that are around specialize in ladies dresses and the like. I took a suit to one once and was extremely dissapointed by the result.

In any case, I realize that the alteration I desire is a simple matter, and i probably could have entrusted this to a local alterationist, but I decided to take the matter into my own hands this evening. I borrowed my mother-in-law's sewing machine and took a shirt and chopped out about 6 inches around the torso, 3 or so from each side.....

honestly, i expected a disaster, but i am really quite pleased with the results. The sides look pretty nice really, though not perfect (it was my first time!) The only part that I had trouble with were the sleeves. I didn't do any real research on how to tailor a shirt, but what i did was this:

I turned the shirt inside out, buttoned it and laid it as flat as i could. I measured, marked and then pinned a line that was 1.5 inches from each side of the shirt. I sewed that line closed, and cut of the excess. Like I said, the trouble i had came when i got to the sleeves. What i did was just turn the needle and sew over until i got to the edge of the shirt, but this left a little pucker in the armpit

In any case, I consider this a success overall, and i plan on wearing the shirt to work tomorrow!
I also plan on doing this again... so does anyone have any tips for me on the process of tailoring a shirt (to bring in the sides) at home?

 

[faketrain]

i fully support people learning to tailor their own clothes, comes in handy especially if you are living out in the boondocks i guess. i usually do simple alterations like this at home, saves a ton of money.

 

[Ataturk]

Originally Posted by mrcold

I turned the shirt inside out, buttoned it and laid it as flat as i could. I measured, marked and then pinned a line that was 1.5 inches from each side of the shirt. I sewed that line closed, and cut of the excess. Like I said, the trouble i had came when i got to the sleeves. What i did was just turn the needle and sew over until i got to the edge of the shirt, but this left a little pucker in the armpit

In any case, I consider this a success overall, and i plan on wearing the shirt to work tomorrow!
I also plan on doing this again... so does anyone have any tips for me on the process of tailoring a shirt (to bring in the sides) at home?

So you left the raw edges of the fabric open on the inside? You really can't do that--it'll fray and unravel like mad. The single line of stitching is also too weak to hold up. You have to enclose the edges with what they call a flat-felled seam.

It's not hard to do--do what you did (turn the shirt inside out, sew a line then cut the old seam off). But save 1/2" on the front and 1/4" on the back as seam allowances, then fold the front over the back and sew it on the edge of the fold, parallel to the first line. This will enclose both raw edges and it'll be a lot stronger. Like this: http://stardustshoes.blogspot.com/20...fell-seam.html (but that's inside-out for a dress shirt).

 

[Sanguis Mortuum]

Originally Posted by Ataturk

It's not hard to do--do what you did (turn the shirt inside out, sew a line then cut the old seam off). But save 1/2" on the front and 1/4" on the back as seam allowances, then fold the front over the back and sew it on the edge of the fold, parallel to the first line. This will enclose both raw edges and it'll be a lot stronger. Like this: http://stardustshoes.blogspot.com/20...fell-seam.html (but that's inside-out for a dress shirt).

Yeah, the seam needs to be flat-felled. If you're slimming the sleeves as well then you should probably open both the side and the sleeve seam, mark and cut to the new size, then resew it in one go. You can also get a foot for your sewing machine which will make flat-felling easier.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Next you can learn to do a proper french seam and open up shop in missouri

 

[mrcold]

Thanks for the replies!

I have never had a shirt tailored before, and likewise have never had a shirt that fits so well as this. I really love this shirt now!

Doing the seam like has been mentioned seems perfectly doable to me, and honestly i SHOULD have thought of that myself... In any case, I can see that a fair amount of my shirts are going to be getting a similar treatment soon (I'm gonna practice on a couple other older ones first..)


but really... everyone should steal their mom's sewing machine for a while and give this a shot.

 

[mrcold]

alright.. i've learned the flat-felled seam and it works wonderfully for the sides of the shirt, but i can't do it on the sleeves. I've done 4 shirts now, and on the last 2 I have just not done anything to the sleeves. It's much easier that way.


This is obvious.... but shirts that FIT look much nicer on me

 

[mic]

Good for you, man.

 

[Gent]

Wow, I hadn’t thought of this (stupid me). It just dawned on me that a shirt, which unfortunately frayed badly from one elbow due to *ahem* bad ergonomy, could well work as a training shirt. I’ll slim down all my old (tentmodelled) shirts if this works.

 

[jbharris88]

I agree this is great. Despite going MTM, I still have some shirts sitting in my closet that I like but don't wear b/c of fit.

I (and others) would benefit from a picture tutorial if you were so inclined!! At least show off your finished product for inspiration. Perhaps a before + after?

 

[mrcold]

ok then, when i get around to doing another one i'll post some pics..

Beware the fact that I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING, and am probably making some really dumb mistakes, but perhaps someone will spot them and pass along some tips anyway.

 

[mrcold]

OK.. here is a quick demo of what i've been doing.
I should preface this by repeating the fact that I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING.

The only part that I think could use improvement is the sleeve area. I've tried a couple of things but this is the one that works the best, though it is by no means perfect. I think that if i could unstitch the seam on the bottom of the sleeve and re-sew it to the new fit sides it would work better, but i am no where near confident enough to try that. As it is, there is a bit of pucker in the armpit area, but it doesn't seem noticible when i'm wearing the shirts.



SO.. here we go.

Step 1:

Button the shirt, turn it inside out, and lay it flat. Shirts have more fabric on the back than they do in the front, so if you lay it completely flat, then the existing seam will not be on the edges. I think that it is easier to put the existing seam on the edge of the shirt when measuring and pinning, and I think that that probably keeps the proportions of the shirt closer to original. I usually pin it in a couple of places once i have laid it out, to keep things from moving around too much.

Step 2: Measure the shirt from seam to seam and figure out how much of that you want to take off. I just take half of my chest size and subtract that from the seam to seam measurement, with an inch or so added in so its not skin tight. I almost made this one tooo tight....
Measure and mark on both sides the amount of fabric you are gonna take off. On this one i took 2 inches from the seam on both sides.

As i said, I don't know any better way to do the arms, but this isn't perfect. I just sew a diagonal line to the armpit.

Step 3:
I re-pin on the line, just to make sure nothing goes anywhere while i'm sewing.

Step 4:
SEW ALONG THE LINE. It might be a good idea to try the shirt on with the pins in before sewing. If you put the pins in vertically, it shouldn't cause a problem.

Step 5:
Finish the seam.. I wouldn't explain the flat felled seam as well as the link that was given above, but that is exactly what i do to finish it up.
here is that link:
http://stardustshoes.blogspot.com/20...fell-seam.html

I forgot to take a before pic.. but here i am wearing the shirt after alteration.. almost too tight, but i like it anyway.

 

[rs232]

Quick tip: Your pins can go the other way (horizontally), and you can just sew over them, removing them once you have done the entire seam. Edit: Also stops the cloth moving around so much as it gets fed through the presser foot (the top tends to feed less than the bottom, because the feed dogs grab the bottom better whereas the top slips slightly against the bottom layer.

 

[mrcold]

I'll try that

 

[Ataturk]

Where's the pictures of the finished seam?