Alteration Addicts?
 

Hi, my name is Abbie and I'm an alterations addict.

I've always been kind of freakishly shaped, so I'm used to needing clothes altered to fit right. Pants and sleeves have to be shortened, skirts need to be taken in at the waist or let out at the hips. My grad school interview suit probably had as many fittings as most people's wedding dresses.

Since I've been losing weight I've gone down a couple sizes. Enough so that thing's don't fit as well, but not so much that they seem completely unwearable, and it's hard to resist the temptation to have my entire wardrobe taken in a couple of inches.

Right now I'm trying to limit it to items I know I'll wear all the time, and things that would be difficult to replace.

So, is there anyone else who shares my addiction? How do you decide what to alter, what to take out of circulation, and what to wear as is?

And, what is the strangest thing you've even had altered? For me it's probably a tie between a vintage bathing suit (turned out that even when properly fitted it was still a bit lacking in ... support) and $4 tank top from Forever 21. The alteration cost more than the top itself, but now I wear it all the time!

I hear ya! I am quite short, so nearly all my pants have to be hemmed. Plus, I have a large chest and small hips. Luckily, I am decent with a sewing machine so I do most of my own work. Otherwise, my sister is even more skilled than I so I can get it done for cheap!

Where in Central IL are you located? I am in the Sterling/Rock Falls area.

im starting to "clean out" my closet and am having a hard time getting rid of some of my cuter fat clothes. I was just wondering how much it would cost to take them in and also wondering if anyone actually does this! lol thanks for giving me the "go ahead"! I had decided that my criteria would be the more expensive/hard to replace stuff..

I take in a lot of stuff.... I like it and it was expensive

I only alter things that are expensive. Being short, I'm quite accustomed to shortening pants and sleeves but it's just not worth my time to alter a $19.95 pair of Wal-Mart pants!

well once you've shed a few pounds then that's the time you're gonna be doing a lot of alterations

Oh HECK yes. A good tailor is a girl's (of any size!) best friend.

I usually alter new clothes to fit better, but taking things in after weight loss I have not really done.

Here are my guidelines for the decision "to alter or not to alter":
- will the item actually stand to level of alteration needed (the waist of a pair of jeans can be taken in an inch...more than that and its a reworking of the piece and probably wont look as I want it to, will cost more than I want it to, and I should just go buy a new pair of jeans)
- how many more uses do I think I will get out of the item if I alter it (how much longer of a life does the item have in general + if you are losing weight fast, good idea not to alter more than the most worn items...otherwise you wouldnt wear them before they are too big *again*)
- does it cost about the same or more to alter the item than buy a replacement?

Example of what I plan to get altered now:
- 2 coats size 4 that cost >$1k each...hopefully they can be cut down to 0...but still not sure if it will be worth it
- size 2 jeans...size 0 fits very snug...size 2 could use an inch wait reduction for the "comfy" backup pair

Example of what I probably wont:
- my fav Loro Piana/dot dot dot sample cashmere sweater. Id need an expert to recut it properly (cashmere is hard, sweaters in general are) and it was a miracle find off ebay for super cheap despite being such a rare gem. Better idea to resell it than to try to get it altered.
- really pretty button down from Japan (better candidate, but chest and arms both need to be done and I dont think I paid >$150 for it and have worn it a couple dozen times..feel like its value is achieved)