Alterations Gone Bad

By Lynette Robinson

I am imagining the scenario where someone would call a store and ask “How much do you charge for a shirt?”  Or you call your accountant and ask “How much will you charge me to do my taxes?”  The logical answer would be “It depends on what you need.”

                                                                                                                                                             Especially in the case of your accountant a more relevant question would be, “What is your area of expertise and will you do my taxes correctly and if I am audited will you stand with me?”

The sad stories I have heard  over the years about alterations gone bad have been too numerous to count and in most cases she has no choice but to wear the problem dress or buy a new one.  I do understand the question regarding the cost of alterations is in an attempt to get the best buy and make your money go further but if you have to buy a new dress or pay for another seamstress to “un ruin” your gown, using the wrong alterations service is costly and stressful.

Not too long ago a young woman came to me and asked about a bra for a gown she purchased elsewhere.  As I fitted her with the bra I made conversation with her because I could sense a deeper problem.  She confided in me that her gown purchased at our competitor had undergone some alterations but still didn’t make her feel happy and beautiful.  She had it with her in her car.  I asked if I could see the source of her deep despair.

As I helped her into her gown I was really surprised to learn that she had purchased at a well-established local bridal shop.  Someone at the shop had pinned the dress and the seamstress never saw her in it which I don’t really think would have saved her because the work was not professionally completed.

Now, I won’t mention the name of the bride or the store because this dress was such a mess.  I will discuss the problems, what they did, how the dress came to us and what we did to fix it.

First, the shoulders were raised too high bringing the bust point in the princess seam too high resulting in a bubble of fabric above the largest part of her bust cup.  The excess at the shoulder seam had been mostly cut off.  The armhole had been cut in at the shoulders causing the sleeve to be too high and tight and the sleeve had bubbles in the front and around the armhole because it was set improperly.  The beadwork on the top of the shoulder near the neckline had not been replaced after the alterations and there were bare spots and threads sticking up.

                       
Our seamstress reset the sleeve and replaced the missing beadwork.  She also let the shoulder down as much as possible but the bust curve remained above her own body bust point.  She took in the sleeve hole which improved that part greatly.

The dress had obviously been much too big for the bride in the first place.  They changed the dress from a zipper back to a lace up.  This is not a difficult job but requires extensive experience.   The lace up was only done from the neckline to the waist.  The loops were made out of a cording that we usually use on the edge of a rat tail veil and will not hold up to the stress of being laced up. The lace up string was a funny gauze type material and stretched.   My seamstress changed to a fabric loop which is industry standard and we provided a proper lace up string made of satin.

The waist of the gown was designed with rouching in a diagonal way across the mid-section but the over lay of fabric was very loose and the bride said she felt like it made her look pregnant.  She said she had repeatedly told the other store people that she was not happy and they basically said that after nearly 3 months in alterations they had done all they could do for her.  My seamstress took 7 inches (yes, you read right seven inches) from the circumference of the waist of the dress.

The bustle was another matter.  There was a big very visible fabric loop surface sewn to the center seam on the train of the dress and a big covered button on the back of the dress at the waist.  When one would put the loop over the button the hem of the train was lifted a full 18” off the floor instead of falling to floor length.  There were also two white hooks on either side of the zipper at the waist from the first bustle the other seamstress tried and failed to complete correctly.

After taking the bodice in a full 7 inches it fits like it is supposed to.  The neckline lays flat and the sleeves that had previously been moved in were moved back to their previous position.  It is my opinion that they had this dress in stock that was far too big for the bride and convinced her that they could make it fit.  The bride told me that she never saw a seamstress.  The lady at the salon marked the dress and even though she had several fittings the seamstress never saw the dress on her.  Most of the alterations that were performed were in a desperate attempt to get the dress out the door and off their racks.

As you can see from the pho to, our seamstress corrected the lace up conversion by replacing every flimsy loop with a proper satin loop and a satin lace up string.  The result is a beautifully symmetrical and even closure.  The hooks and big button for the bustle are gone.  Our seamstress used a French style bustle which is completely invisible when the train is down and attaches underneath so it looks totally natural. 

Notice that the hem of the train at the left is beautifully draping and ends just at the floor.  Our bride shed tears, gave hugs and thanked us over and over for saving her day.

This is what a lace up back is supposed to look like. 

So next time you feel inclined to ask about the charge for alterations a better question might be, “Is your seamstress qualified to do my alterations and will you stand behind your product?” 

Lynette Robinson is a third generation bridal and formal wear dress maker and designer.  She has also worked as a designer and sales representative for 3 bridal manufacturers and traveled to Asian gown factories on multiple occasions in the capacity of designer and consultant.  She and her husband run their family owned bridal and formal wear store The Gallery by Lynette located in Riverdale, Utah just north of the Hill AFB Museum adjacent to I 15.  Please call 801-773-7435 or visit us online at http://www.lynettes.com