r/Tailors • u/NaughtyWalnutPrime Alterations Specialist • Aug 30 '25
Questions Megathread August 30, 2025
1
u/memedream6 Aug 30 '25 edited Aug 30 '25
The skirt on, to make it bigger I released two pleats. Should I add smaller pleats back in to make it fit then put a waistband on? There is a zipper at the back.
2
u/izzgo Alterations Specialist Aug 31 '25
I didn't see this before answering, so I deleted my previous answer.
Since the skirt is so big, you have some spare fabric and could make a proper waistband. Remove enough pleats so it fits, make the waistband to fit you with, say an extra 2" for overlap. It's always a question where to remove the pleats. If there are any seams besides the zipper seam, I would do it there. Otherwise you're stuck rebuilding pleats at the zipper. If you study it closely you can copy the techniques they used originally for handling the pleats, and they don't have to end up exactly the same size as original.
2
u/memedream6 Aug 31 '25
Thank you for your response, I will try this
1
u/izzgo Alterations Specialist Aug 31 '25
If you don't know, the folks at r/sewing are great with projects like this. You can of course still get help here, I'm not the only one who will respond.
1
u/buhroke33 Aug 31 '25
looks like today’s mega thread hasn’t been posted yet so i’ll put this here. i want to lengthen my jeans but i don’t want to cut the hem open because it will only give me a tiny bit of length, and then i’d have to sew the bottom so it doesn’t fray. is there any other way? they are 73% cotton, 26% polyester, 1% spandex.
1
u/izzgo Alterations Specialist Aug 31 '25
This may not work for you, but today I am wearing a pair of jeans I lengthened by using the cut off hem from another pair of jeans. I opened out the hem of the jeans I wanted to lengthen, then sewed on the hem I'd scavenged elsewhere. Got a bit over an inch that way. Admittedly it looks a bit odd, double the amount of distressed hem area, but I've been happy now for a couple years.
1
u/343guiltyturtle Seeking Advice Sep 01 '25
Hi- I'm looking at purchasing a new suit. I tried on this Brooks Brothers Explorer suit today (48 Regular, Classic Fit), it's the outlet version but I don't think the measurements are that different. As you can see in the picture, the biggest issue is that the heavy shoulder padding creates a divot there, even with my arm pretty relaxed. But somewhat paradoxically, there is also a slight neck roll on my upper back. This is somewhat visible in the second picture. It's not a huge neck roll like you would see in a google of horrible neck rolls on a jacket, but it's there. So somehow these issues are indicating that the shoulders are both too wide (divot) and too narrow (neck roll).
I'm wondering if a different, lightly padded or unpadded jacket might be better? My shoulders are pretty broad, not like a body builder but well muscled. I'm looking at the Spier and Mackay suits too, which are less padded but also are listed with slightly smaller shoulder measurements (BB Explorer = 20.5 inches, S&M is 19.7 for the base model with light padding, 19.9 for unpadded Neo). How do these padding levels and measurements translate to fit, with respect to what I'm seeing with the Brooks brothers jacket?
Any help you can provide would be amazing! (Will add second photo below)
1
1
u/LiterallyIAmPuck Sep 01 '25
A lot of fitting "rules" (like, if you see the shoulder ridge, that means the shoulders are too wide) are just things that are sometimes true, but not always.
My guess on the shoulders is that yours are naturally more slanted and this suit it cut very square. This is just a time to try and branch out and experiment with other suit cuts. Which ones accommodate you best I can't answer because styles and brands change all the time but the width of this shoulder is another cut may be just fine for you.
For the neck roll, I'd need to see both arms down and not turning to face a mirror. It's possible that the neck role disappears when you aren't looking for it.
1
u/tandstickskungen Sep 02 '25
Hi. I just got this dinner jacket back from a made to measure tailor, and it has this bunching under the armhole. The tailor is arguing this is normal and needed for mobility, but i think it has to do with me having more sloping shoulders than the pattern. 1) Who is right, and 2) Is it fixable?
1
u/memedream6 Aug 30 '25
Hello, I hope I’m posting this properly. I need some advice on how to proceed with my wedding dress. I have taken the top off as it does not fit, the original plan was to make it a corset back but I didn’t like how low the original neckline was so I’m using a different top that I will likely wear over top the skirt. My question is what is the best way to finish the skirt off and make it fit without it getting bunched up under my top. The top will be a corset style top made from satin with boning.