How to sew a dress below a size with your own hands and what you need
How to neatly sew a dress below a size below and not put it back in the closet or not throw it away at all? The fair sex has to face such a question at least once in their life. You can redo your favorite thing according to your figure by adjusting its size at home. The procedure will not take much time and effort, you just need to have the necessary tools at hand.
What you might need to work
At the initial stage, you need to check whether all the necessary accessories are available. For work you will definitely need:
- invisible or pins;
- metre;
- simple pencil;
- threads of the desired color;
- the scissors;
- sewing needle;
- the iron;
- sewing machine.
It is not necessary to buy a professional sewing machine. For household needs, a portable model of small dimensions is quite suitable.
Instructions for performing sutures in different ways with your own hands
You should immediately determine the seam area that is not the most suitable for the owner. There are several ways to reduce the size of the dress.
On the key, on the edge of the key
The easiest method that even inexperienced seamstresses can use is to transfer the side seams. To use it, the first step is to try it on. This is done with underwear. This procedure allows you to accurately determine the cut of the dress. The excess fabric is split with pins along the side seam. You should start at the armpit and work your way down. At the same time, with a pencil or pencil, mark the location of the new location of the seam. Do not forget the allowances for which there is about 1 cm of fabric left.
Before sewing a new seam on a typewriter, you need to sweep it by hand and try the product again in order to eliminate possible errors.
If the size is adjusted correctly, the excess material is carefully cut off, the allowances are folded and sewn. To prevent the fabric from falling off, the edges are processed with a zigzag seam. Temporary stitches are carefully removed.
To the size
You can modify the dress at the waistline without much effort and skill using darts. They are found on almost all ready-to-wear dresses. Adjustment should be made to correct size. The excess fabric is cut off with a pin or an invisible pin, the new position of the dart is marked with chalk or pencil and sewn manually with a temporary seam. Then you need to try the dress on again and make sure the preliminary measurements are taken correctly. After that, cut off the excess fabric, sew a seam on a typewriter using the minimum pitch width and process the edges.
Breast reduction
Reducing the size of the dress at the level of the chest is also very convenient with the help of darts.Try and mark out the area where the new seam will be located. Then they mark it by hand and measure the product again. If there are no errors and the dress fits well, the excess fabric is carefully cut off and a seam is sewn on a typewriter. The edges are treated and ironed.
Hem the shoulders
Sewing the shoulders is a more complicated procedure and requires certain skills and abilities. In addition, you will have to change the armhole. The dress must be tried on, the new width of the armhole must be marked with chalk. After that, the product must be removed and folded strictly in half, placing one armhole behind the other. Slices, armhole places and a collar are cleaved using pins or invisible pins. After that draw a new armhole line and try on the dress again.
If you are happy with the result, you can cut off the excess fabric and make permanent seams.
If the dress has sleeves, the armhole line is placed a few centimeters below the ruler.
Correction of the sleeves
You can reduce the volume of the sleeves by transferring the seams and removing the excess. The dress must be tried on and the excess material must be cut off with invisible materials, and with small pieces mark the location of the new seam. First it is covered by hand, then a winding is done and the nuances are corrected. In this case, it is worth raising your hands several times and lowering them, moving them in different directions and making sure that the sleeve is not too tight and the movements are not constrained. If the result is satisfactory, the excess fabric is carefully cut off, the sleeve is sewn on a typewriter and the seam is processed.
use lightning
Another option to change the size of the dress is to adapt the zipper. First you need to do a fitting and determine how many inches you want to remove. If there is a seam on the back, the product is torn along it. Otherwise, you will have to cut it in half in this part.
On each side, fold over half the amount of fabric to be removed. A zipper of a suitable size is swept on both sides. After that, reassembly is done and it is judged if any adjustment is needed. If the dress fits well, the zipper is fixed on a typewriter and the seams are ironed. You can use both a small secret zipper and a decorative massive one, which will update the design of the product and serve as an additional decoration.
Buttoned
Sewing a dress with buttons is not so difficult, it all depends on their location. If they are on the side, it will not be difficult to modify them a few centimeters further, which will decrease the size of the product. With a different arrangement of buttons, you will have to sew the dress on the sides.
Additional tips and tricks
If it is necessary to reduce the size of your favorite dress, first of all you should pay attention to the material from which it is made. Natural wool items tend to shrink when washed in hot water, which can be put to good use. They are briefly soaked in water at a temperature of 50-80°C. In this case, you should know that the higher the temperature, the more the size will decrease. The dress will no longer stretch backwards, so such experiments are treated with care.
The easiest way is to make a sleeveless garment. You can cope with such a task even without experience and special skills.If you want the dress to fit the figure, you will need to make darts in the necessary places (on the chest, waist, back). When it is necessary to transfer the side seam by a few centimeters, they do it in the armpits, and all the way down, they reduce the decrease to nothing.
The seam allowance for light and heavy fabrics is not the same. In the first case, it is 0.5-0.7 cm, and in the second - 1-1.5 cm. Do not let the dress be too tight around the figure, otherwise, over time, the fabric will tear and the seams will diverge.
If you need to modify a dress with a lining that is not sewn all the way down, then finding the right seams will be very easy. In the sewn lining, it will be necessary to make a gesture in order to be able to turn the whole product upside down. When making alterations, be sure to consider that different fabrics sit on the body in different ways. The dress should not restrict movement or be tight. Otherwise, it may break at the most inopportune moment.
If there is not enough experience, and the product has a large number of elements and a complex pattern, it is better to take it to the workshop. This option is not always economically viable, but it will help to avoid mistakes and prevent damage to your favorite dress.
In the event that it is necessary to shorten the length of the skirt, the first step is to try and determine how it sits at the hips and waist. If all goes well in this regard, then there will be an order of magnitude less work. You just need to measure how many centimeters to shorten the bottom, sweep it up and try again.After that, the excess fabric is cut off and the seam is fixed on a typewriter. In the second case, you will have to tear the skirt in the belt, sew it and shorten it to the required length. The fabric should not crease or crease.
If the dress is made of elastic fabric, special threads should be used to modify it, which also tend to stretch. In this case, an ordinary thread will lead to deformation of the product or discomfort during use. Ultimately, the dress may simply tear at the seams.