Tailoring My Own Clothes - Some Questions

[The Millennial Gentleman]

Hi all -

I know a few of us around the boards are tailors so I have a few questions about tailoring my own clothes. Before you say "take it to a tailor" I have but I live in a town of 3,000 people and my nearest metropolis is 75 miles away. So a proper tailor is hard to find.

That being said my questions are as follows:

1) When tapering denim jeans, is there any tips/tricks/things to watch out for? I plan on just doing a straight stitch and re-hemming when done

2) When taking in dress shirts, how do you slim the arms? Do I just continue my straight stitch that I am using on the sides? (I am not remaking the flat felled stitch on the side)

3) When you hem dress pants, are you using a machine with a "blind" stitch (it's not really blind as you can see it) or are you doing it by hand as to not see the stitch at all?

Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this. If you have any other tips/tricks/advice I have missed, please feel free to share it with me.

TMG

 

[The Millennial Gentleman]

Just gonna...bump...this here

 

[Sandy G]

Unique post - Tailoring ideas should be tagged in this.

 

[tecevo]

There is an online course you can buy (name escapes me at that moment) that covers every aspect of tailoring any item of clothing and may be a worthwhile investment for you.

I checked out the previews a while back and was very impressed with the level of detail and tricks of the trade they were sharing as it was evident they knew what they were talking about.

 

[The Millennial Gentleman]

I'll have to look. I did my jeans yesterday and they turned out great! Turned baggy early 2000's jeans into modern fit jeans in just 2 hours (did 3 pairs)

 

[tecevo]

I'll have to look. I did my jeans yesterday and they turned out great! Turned baggy early 2000's jeans into modern fit jeans in just 2 hours (did 3 pairs)

Break it down. What did you do, step by step an in a nutshell as ADHD is prevalent in these digital times.

 

[The Millennial Gentleman]

Okay, so I took my baggy jeans, turned them inside out and put them on. On the inseam, I used tailors chalk to mark where my leg was (pinch the fabric and mark your leg). I then measured about 6" for a foot opening and made another mark.

From there, I took a line from that foot opening up and tapering towards the crotch. This is still on the INSEAM btw.

I then used a sewing machine with a denim needle and a straight stitch to stitch up the inseam of the pant. I then turned those right side out and tried the pants on to make sure that leg fit. Once it did, I rinse and repeat for the other leg and pants.

Once I got the right fit and I was happy with the look I turned them inside out again, took kitchen shears and cut away the extra fabric leaving about an inch of extra fabric by the straight stitch.

I then took my sewing machine and turned it to a zig-zag stitch. I zig-zag stitched up the now cut end to lock them together and prevent fraying.

Thats it! super simple.

Disclaimer: I stitched the first leg 4 times before i got it right. Just make sure you own a seam ripper because I did that 3 times on the one leg lol

Hope this helps someone somewhere