Can shirts be altered?

Overview

Not every fashion merchandise can perfectly fit your body all the time as your shape and style fluctuate sometimes. And a question raised here is can shirts be altered? The answer is “ yes” as long as you have a little knowledge and skills, you can utterly alter your shirts by yourself. In this article, Printerval shares with you the definition and benefits of alteration, simple ways to alter shirts by yourself, and the cost measurements when you have a shirt altered. With the fundamental and interesting information, Printerval hopes to provide you with a lot of useful knowledge of altering. 

What does alteration mean? 

Alteration is defined as the act of altering or changing something which focuses on the changing of a pattern, garment or design to improve the outcome of the appearance or fit or the modifications made to a ready garment or something that has been altered to provide a better fit.

There are many types of alterations including hemming with a blind stitch, taking in a seam, letting out a seam, adding darts, lengthen or shorten the body of a top to better fit your body type, or modifying an actual pattern to include your own preferred design elements or modify to better fit your body type. 

( Source: https://thesewingloftblog.com/alterations-sewing-term/)

What are the benefits of alteration?

It is true that getting clothes altered is a bit more work than buying new ones off the rack. Yet, alterations can be worth the extra effort, here Printerval gives you some reasons why having your old clothes altered is beneficial. 

The Perfect Fit. 

The clothes you buy may have the average sizes but real bodies are not one-size-fits-all. In fact, the measurements of each person will be slightly different. As a result, by having your off-the-rack purchases altered, you can make them fit like they were made for you - and for a fraction of the cost of real custom-tailoring.

Shifting Size.

Your body shape won’t surely stay the same all the time, therefore, altering them can help you adjust your sizes. For example, the pants that fit you fine last winter are likely to look a bit baggy this winter and the situation can be similar to the shirt. You may have various options, either giving them away or keeping them in the closet in case you gain the weight back. But it will be smart to adjust a little bit and you can keep on wearing them and save yourself the trouble of buying new ones.

Changing Styles.

We have witnessed the change of fashions every single day. The hot trend of the early year may be out of date by the end of the year. Altering is an economical and simple way to bring your shirts up to date. Actually, just raising a hemline or removing a pair of oversized shoulder pads, or even replacing the buttons with a more modern style can give your shirt a fresh new look. 

Keeping Yourself Decent.

It is true that just with some minor alterations can utterly make you dressed well. For example, busty ladies can add tiny snaps between the front buttons on a shirt to keep it neatly closed.

In fact, alterations can bring you more benefits than you can imagine in terms of economy, aesthetics, etc. As a result, you should consider altering your old or unfitted apparel instead of dumping them. 

( Source: https://www.moneycrashers.com/find-tailor-clothing-alterations-cost-benefits/)

What are the ways to alter shirts? 

How to alter T-shirts?

Step 1: Lay the well-fitting shirt over the ill-fitting shirt. 

In this step, you must keep in mind that both well-fitting and ill-fitting t-shirts are flat and lined up at the shoulders and neckline. 

Step 2: Trace along the edges of the well-fitting shirt. 

While tracing, you should make sure that the shoulders and neckline of the t-shirts are lined up.

Step 3: Cut along the lines you have drawn. 

After tracing, you use scissors to cut straight by following the chalk lines you have drawn on the ill-fitting shirt as well as cut around the undersides of the sleeves as well. 

Step 4: Shorten the sleeves.

When altering a t-shirt, you will need to adjust the length of your sleeves by lining up the t-shirt sleeves so that the shoulder seams are lined up as well. Then you trace from the end of the well-fitting sleeve. After tracing, cut off the excess and fold over the end of the sleeve.

Step 5: Sew along the edges of the t-shirt.

This step needs a little practice for beginners so that the manipulations can be smooth and skillful. You sew along the edges going from the bottom of the t-shirt to the ends of the sleeves and then, sew around the pinned areas at the end of the t-shirt sleeves to create your new sleeve hem. After sewing, remove the pins and turn your t-shirt inside out and try it on!

Well, with just five simple steps you can make your t-shirt a new fitted shape. Let’s try!

How to alter Button-Down Shirts?

With button shirts, the constructions are more complicated than those of t-shirts. Therefore, when altering them, you have to take more steps to manipulate them.  

Step 1: Place a well-fitted shirt over the oversized shirt. 

Firstly, you turn the oversized shirt inside out and then layout it, making sure that it is utterly flat. After tucking the sleeves of the well-fitting shirt into the armholes, you leave the sleeves of the ill-fitting shirt untucked and spread out. Keep in mind that both the well-fitted shirt and oversized one are buttoned up all the way as well. 

Step 2: Trace around the edges with chalk. 

You need this step because it will provide some extra fabric for your seam allowance. After tracing, tuck in the sleeves on your well-fitting shirt all the way to the sleeve seam. You should only trace around the sleeve openings and avoid tracing around the sleeves. 

Step 3: Cut along the lines you have drawn.

While cutting, you ensure to cut straight, even lines, not inside or outside of the lines but right along with them. 

Step 4: Trim down the sleeves as needed. 

You measure the sleeve length on your ill-fitting shirt against the sleeve length of your well-fitting shirt first to determine how much you want to trim them down. Before trimming down, you lay the ill-fitting sleeve out flat and then line up the well-fitting sleeve over it so that the sleeve cuffs and top edges are lined up. 

Step 5: Sew along the edges of the shirt. 

Remember not to sew across the armhole openings. 

Step 6: Turn the sleeves right side out. 

While your body piece will need to remain inside out, your sleeves will need to be right side out in order to reattach them properly. 

Step 7: Insert the sleeves through the armhole openings. 

This step is necessary for lining up the edges of the sleeve openings and sleeves. 

Step 8: Pin the sleeves in place. 

With the aim of securing the sleeves after you have inserted them through the sleeve openings completely, you can pin them around the edges. 

Step 9: Sew the sleeves back onto the shirt. 

This is the final step to alter button-down shirts. After sewing both sleeves into place, you remove the pins, turn the shirt inside out and try it on.

What is the difference between tailoring and alteration?

Tailoring and alteration is your ticket to an article of perfectly fit clothing that will help you achieve that stunning look. Ironically, many tailors can perform alterations but not all alteration experts are qualified enough to do custom-tailoring. 

With regard to tailoring, it requires expert sewing skills that will modify the clothing to perfectly fit customers’ specific measurements. To tailor shirts, advanced skills and experience that focus on more challenging and structured tasks for garments are required. Professional tailors know how to make modifications to the underlining, padding, interfacing, and many more without leaving visible traces. And tailored shirts refer to shirts that are custom-fitted for the wearers. 

Meanwhile, alterations require smaller adjustments that generally make clothing fit better and only focus on the adjustment of particular parts and perform simpler tasks such as hemming and shortening of sleeves, etc. Although alterations also change the way the garment fits, they give less extensive changes to the garment and only focus on one particular fit area. 

How much may a shirt alteration cost?

Example of cost measurements

What affects the prices of alterations?

Location

It is believed that the cost for altering will be different, depending on the location and the developing standards there. For instance, alteration tailors in cities charge slightly higher than those located in more rural areas, or tailors in countries with higher GDPs will usually charge more than those with lower GDPs. 

Experience of the Tailor

With reputable tailors, they can command a higher price for their thick experiences and their excellent alteration result. But that is worth it because apart from good products, you also receive a lot of value from them. 

Type of Garment

The prices of alterations can depend on the details of the garment in some circumstances because certain types of fabric may be harder to work with, such as velvet or fine silk which requires more attention and experience. 

( Source: https://heroandvillainstyle.com/how-much-should-alterations-cost/)

Are there any alternatives for alterations?

The answer is “ Yes” without giving away or dumping the ill-fitted shirts when you discover that they are not fit, just right after buying. It is better to buy shirts from trusted brands that offer you various sizes as well as a good return policy in case you want to return the shirts easily and quickly. Printerval is a good choice for you. As a trusted brand for clothing, accessories, home & living, Printerval provides you with a variety of exclusive and trendy shirts at reasonable prices, plus many discounts. All fitted sizes and colors are available on Printerval.com for you to choose from. In addition, Printerval has many good policies for customers in terms of return and shipping as well as other problems occurring. 

You can shop right now to enjoy the values Printerval certainly brings you.