Basic Alterations – Signs of a Good Tailor

It saddens me to think back on lovely items that were damaged by a bad tailoring job. The alterations I got were basic, too … just simple waist and hem jobs that every petite woman has probably gotten before.

Before you entrust your belongings to a new tailor, I can’t stress this enough – ask to look through their work done (aka other people’s stuff hanging on the racks waiting to be picked up). Be on the lookout for signs of good versus shoddy work. Here are some tips that I wish I knew a year ago …

1. Alteration Type: Basic Hem

Signs of shoddiness: Pulling of fabric from incorrect stitch type or incorrect stitch tension, crooked and uneven spacing.

Here’s a trench coat I had shortened. Not only was it hemmed inches too short, but the hem was very sloppy! The thread tension was way too tight and pulled on the fabric. Also, on trench coats the bottom hem is usually a wide one (1 to 1.5 inches). Any good tailor would have redone this without being asked:

Bad hem job on a trench coat

To compare with the above, below is the original hem on a trench coat. One may say it’s kind of cheating to compare with an original, but any good hem job should look just like the original!

Proper hem on a trench coat

2. Alteration Type: Take in waist

There‘s usually 2 ways to go about this… 1. one incision done via the back center of the waist, or 2. two incisions on both sides of the waist. If you need a lot taken in (I’d say anything over .5 to 1 inch), the latter method should definitely be used or else the fit and proportions could be messed up. If the tailor suggests otherwise … they’re probably being lazy, so try elsewhere!

Signs of shoddiness: This is a pair of Banana Republic Martin pants, size 0 (this must have been before I knew they made 00). I needed a good 1.5 inches taken in, yet the tailor insisted on doing it the first method!

Sloppy stitching, lining looks messy, Banana Republic care tags nowhere to be found:

Alteration is very visible from the outside via the stitching, and pockets are super close together:

Bad waist alteration on dress pants, exterior

Signs of a good job: A proper waist job should not be visible from the outside. Simple as that. Below are examples of the 2 types of waist jobs.

Theory pants, size 00. Needed only half an inch taken in, so my tailors at Hemmingway said it was best via the back center. Note the clean lines showing perfect reattachment of waistband. The weird darts on both sides were
there when I bought the pants.

Note the clean reattachment from the inside of the waistband:

Proper waist alteration via both sides on Express pants, interior

Note the clean lines and angles from the outside. The fit was perfect and you can’t tell at all that so much was taken off:

Proper waist alteration via both sides, exterior

I just realized neither of my “good” examples are lined. Will have to hunt for a better example : )

3. Alteration Type: Working with silk

I love silk, but it definitely requires special treatment when being altered. The needle and thread used must be thin, or it will pull on the fine silk. Silk textures vary, so it’s important that the tailor knows what he or she is doing. Make sure you ask exactly what they plan on doing.

Signs of shoddiness: pulling and damage on the silk.

Just thinking about this incident breaks my heart! This is what my beautiful 100% silk Theory ombre blouse, size P used to look like:

Theory Ornella ombre silk blouse

It was just a tad too long, so I took it to a tailor to get it hemmed 2 inches. She said no problem. When I got it back, however, I was appalled to find that she had done a crooked, very wide (1.5 inch) hem by hand. The needle used was probably thick, because each stitch showed clearly and pulled on the silk, leaving behind long streaks of damage. I don’t have a photo of my blouse in this sad state.
Signs of a good job: thin, even, rolled hem with delicate stitching.

When I took it to Hemmingway for repairs, the ladies were equally horrified. They said the silk on the bottom 1.5 inches was so pulled and damaged (not to mention crooked) that it had to be cut off. They re-did the hem, shown below: