What a Tailor Can and Cannot Change in a Plus-Size Garment

Once you have accepted that ready-to-wear patterns are drafted for a body that is not necessarily yours, alterations stop looking like defeat and start looking like the final step of a purchase. The important thing is knowing which changes are routine and which are a rebuild, because the difference decides whether a garment is worth buying in the first place.

The rule behind everything

An alteration moves a seam or a fold. It does not add fabric where there is none, and it cannot change the shape the pattern was graded for.

Two consequences follow. First, taking in is easy and letting out is often impossible: ready-to-wear seams usually have very little allowance, so a garment that is too small is finished. Second, anything involving the balance of a garment — the shoulder, the armscye, the bust point, the crotch curve — is not a simple adjustment, because moving it means re-cutting the parts around it.

Easy, routine alterations

These are the ones worth planning for when you buy.

• Hems. Trousers, skirts, sleeves and dresses can all be shortened. On a hem, a tailor can also rehang a garment that sits unevenly because of the body underneath it, which is a common issue on a curved figure and a real improvement in how the garment looks.
• Waistbands. Taking in the waist on a dress or a skirt, or adding a dart at the back waistband of a trouser, is routine. A waistband that gaps at the back while the hip fits is a classic sign of a grading mismatch, and this is the cheapest fix in the list.
• Straps and shoulder seams on a dress. Shortening a strap or lifting a shoulder seam slightly tends to fix necklines that sit too low, and it is straightforward when the garment is unlined.
• Buttons and closures. Moving a button, adding a hidden hook, or replacing a zip with a longer one to gain a little room is quick.
• Tapering and lengthening. Narrowing a wide trouser leg or taking in a sleeve that is too loose along its length is a matter of reshaping one seam.
• Shortening sleeves. Usually simple, but check the cuff: on a garment with a deep cuff or a placket, there may be no way to shorten it without losing the detail.
• Adding a lining or a facing. Where a fabric is thin, a tailor can sometimes add a half-slip of lining, which changes how the garment reads without altering the fit.

Possible, but plan for it

These take more work and are worth doing on a garment that is otherwise good.

• Moving a bust dart. Position can be adjusted within limits. Adding a dart where the pattern has none usually means a visible reconstruction, and it is not the right choice for a thin fabric.
• Taking in a dress through the side seams. Effective for a garment that fits at the bust and the hip but floats at the waist, but check first that the armhole is not affected; taking in a side seam high enough can tighten or distort the armhole.
• Adjusting a rise. A trouser rise can be lowered a little by taking in the waistband and reshaping the front, but it cannot be raised meaningfully. Raising a rise means adding fabric and moving the crotch curve.
• Tapering a crotch curve or adjusting the seat. Possible on a simple woven trouser with a generous seam allowance, but it is a fitter’s job rather than a hemmer’s, and it needs to be fitted on you.
• Taking in the back of a lined jacket. Best left to a tailor who works with tailoring, because the lining has to be re-hung afterwards.

Genuinely difficult, or not worth it

• Narrowing or widening the shoulders. Changing shoulder width means re-cutting the sleeve head, and the sleeve will usually not fit the new armhole without being remade. This is the alteration most likely to look wrong afterwards.
• Raising an armhole. Too low an armscye is one of the most common grading problems in plus-size garments, and fixing it means rebuilding the bodice.
• Letting a garment out. Check the seam allowances before you hope for this. In most ready-to-wear there is barely a centimetre, and on a knit there may be none.
• Making a garment substantially larger. A tailor can add a panel or a gusset, but the result reads as a repair rather than a garment.
• Changing the bust point on a structured or lined garment. Possible in principle, expensive in practice.
• Bias-cut anything. Bias panels must be allowed to hang before the hem is finished, and the fabric moves when you work it. Expect to pay for patience.

How to work with a tailor

A few habits make the difference between an alteration that works and one you have to redo.

Wear the garment first, with the shoes. Mark the length in the shoes you intend to wear, and mark sleeves with your arms in a natural position rather than held out.

Bring your measurements, and a garment that fits you well. Comparing the two is the fastest way for a tailor to see where the problem is.

Say what you want to be able to do. Raising your arms, sitting comfortably, or carrying a bag on one shoulder all change what a good fit means. A tailor cannot see your daily life.

Ask what they would do, and what they would not. A good tailor will tell you when an alteration is not worth the money, and that answer is worth more than a cheap quote.

Judging the cost

An alteration is worth it when it is a small proportion of what the garment cost, and when the garment is otherwise well made — a decent fabric, seams that can be moved, and a colour you will keep wearing. It is not worth it when the garment is a thin knit that will not hold a new seam, or when the change is so structural that the alteration costs more than a replacement.

The practical corollary: buy for the hip or the bust, keep the receipt data, and budget for the waist. Trousers that fit your seat and need a waistband taken in are a much better purchase than trousers that fit your waist and strain across the seat.