Wednesday, October 2, 2013

What I'm Watching: Tailoring Ready-to-Wear

*I received this class for free as a Craftsy affiliate. All opinions are my own. Want to sign up as an affiliate? Click here! This post contains affiliate links.

People in the sewing world seem to think of alterations as boring. I agree that it's fun to create from scratch, but fixing a fit problem can be just as rewarding. I'm lucky in that I don't have a ton of issues with fit (no curves=no difficult fitting, womp womp) but I would love to be able to alter my husband's clothes. And who knows, maybe work in an alterations shop someday (more on that next week...).


I've been working my way through Craftsy's class, Tailoring Ready-to-Wear. The class is taught by Angela Wolf, a well-known sewing instructor, designer, and author. After seeing Angela on the TV show It's Sew Easy, I knew she'd be a great teacher in this class. I kind of want her to be my BFF.

This lesson is entitled "Hammer Time".

The topics covered in this class include hemming jeans, taking in a dress, and altering knit t-shirts. There is a great lesson on hemming skirts, which I used on a bridesmaid's dress (project show-off tomorrow!). Do you have any jeans that fit everywhere but in the waistband? I do, and now I know how to fix that! I can't wait to get out my seam ripper.

Creating a side seam in a t-shirt.

There are more than 6 hours of instructional videos in this class, which are available anytime using Craftsy's website or app. I love watching them on my iPad, since I can take it into my sewing room, or the kitchen, or anywhere I want! If you come up with questions during a lesson, you can add them to the discussion area and have Angela or your classmates answer them.


Each alteration lesson shows the best way to pin-fit your live model, then how to transfer the markings properly in preparation for sewing. Angela always pins with the right side out, which is counter-intuitive to me (only mark the wrong side or the world will end!) but does have the advantage of properly showing you how the garment will look. Throughout each lesson, Angela throws in little tips and tricks that she's picked up over the years, so you benefit from her experience.

I've really enjoyed this class. Confidence is half the battle when it comes to new sewing skills, and having seen "complicated" alterations I now feel like I can try them myself. I hope to feature some of these projects on the blog in the coming months. What about you, do you alter your own clothes? I kind of want to go to Goodwill and pick up a bunch of practice garments, who's with me??

In case you missed it on my Facebook page, Pattern Review is hosting a giveaway of my book! Click here for all the details!

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