Tips needed in alteration of a laced cami

Jun 14, 2007 13 Replies

will use white Capri pant to go with this top. Problem is cami is longer than the top and needs alteration which I want to attempt especially since I bought 4 of these. I have access to a sewing machine.



My cami looks like the following except mine has lace at the bottom; also mine is 95% cotton with 5% spandex probably making it harder to prevent it from stretching when stitching.



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I don't plan to wear this pieces as a top. I think I can still make a straight stitch - last time was when I was helping Mom at about 12 yrs of age long time ago.



Instead of removing the lace, and cutting off to the desired length, and re-attaching the lace, what if I do the following to make it easy for me?


- Make a cut well above the lace at the bottom and cut the cami to the desired length



- Then stitch the two pieces with a suitable type of stitch



My question is what should I do sot hat the edge of the two pieces are temporarily attached and stay in shape so that when I stitch, it wouldn't get ...ugly ....you know?



I NEED to wear a lace trimmed cami underneath a top that has a hole from the neck to the upper chest cus this red, silk, dressy top is kind of skin tight and I am not flat-chested. I will use white Capri pant to go with this top. Problem is cami is longer than the top and needs alteration which I want to attempt especially since I bought 4 of these. I have access to a sewing machine.

My cami looks like the following except mine has lace at the bottom; also mine is 95% cotton with 5% spandex probably making it harder to prevent it from stretching when stitching.

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I don't plan to wear this pieces as a top. I think I can still make a straight stitch - last time was when I was helping Mom at about 12 yrs of age long time ago.

Instead of removing the lace, and cutting off to the desired length, and re-attaching the lace, what if I do the following to make it easy for me?

- Make a cut well above the lace at the bottom and cut the cami to the desired length

- Then stitch the two pieces with a suitable type of stitch

My question is what should I do sot hat the edge of the two pieces are temporarily attached and stay in shape so that when I stitch, it wouldn't get ...ugly ....you know?

At the risk of oversimplifying things, couldn't you just tuck the camisole in instead of leaving it out? Just a thought...

Notice that I am going to be wearing a WHITE capri pant. Black cami under white pant especiallyw ith red top? Nah.. I want a clean look.

I said "... this red, silk, dressy top is kind of skin tight and I am not flat-chested. I will use white Capri pant to go with this top.."

And the link to the cami shows "like the one I have except mine is with lace at the bottom". i.e it shows a black cami.

I think it would look funny if I wera a whie cami underneath that red top especially with a red purse ...

:)

I am looking for someone on craigslist who might want to make some $$ w/o chrging me ridiculous rate. I see an add ..

Yes, well -- you did NOT say it was the same color, right?

If you have minimal sewing skills, which I believe you said (and if that is not true, please don't launch into yet another defensive tirade) you better practice on something else first to make sure you can do a nice repair job before you botch up the garments you want to keep -- I have decades of sewing experience and still haven't managed to do well with knits -- or alternatively go to your local dry cleaner's and ask how much their alterations person would charge to do it -- or take a sewing class through adult education, a parks and rec department, or a sewing machine or fabric store and tell the teacher that doing those alterations is the project you want to work on so you get hands-on help.

What do you consider a ridiculous rate? What has been discussed here in the past is that -- in the US, at least -- you take the cost of a haircut at an average (i.e., JCPenney or your regular indpendent hair salon -- not cheapie and not high-end) hair-cutting place and double the cost of that, and that is your ballpark for an acceptable hourly rate, plus the cost of materials. That usually means you are talking about $15-20 or up.

Trust me, you DON'T want someone who only thinks they know what they are doing to do your alteration.

ALternatively, see my previous recommendation of going to a dry cleaner's or see if you can find someone on the referral list at

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near you who does alterations, and you can be confident that you will have a good job done.

Currently, my hair cut is $45.00. I have paid $60 or more but didn't get better quality.

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you who does alterations, and you> can be confident that you will have a good job done.Yeah, the alteration for such a cami costing more than what I paid foris not what I plan to do at this point. If I am making $150,000 a yearor more, I will. For now, I only pay that kind of money for items thatjustify the costs.

Now, it's just a stith on the cami that no one will see. So I think I'll give someone needing to make some money a chance by letting her do one item first. I found someone on Craigslist.

Suggest you try wearing this first - my experience is that they ride up anyway, and you might go to a lot of trouble and expense to solve a non-existant problem.

Hmmm, is that at a run-of-the-mill place? (I haven't cut my hair in over 20 years, so I wouldn't know.)

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you who does alterations, and you>> can be confident that you will have a good job done.> > Yeah, the alteration for such a cami costing more than what I paid for> is not what I plan to do at this point. If I am making $150,000 a year> or more, I will. For now, I only pay that kind of money for items that> justify the costs.>

I understand what you are saying, and I think you are wise to give them only one first to see what kind of a job they do.

There is nothing run-off-the mill about this hairdresser. He is a professional requiring 2 months in adavance appointment. I am just surprised that he cahrges only $45.00.

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who does alterations, and you> >> can be confident that you will have a good job done.>> > Yeah, the alteration for such a cami costing more than what I paid for> > is not what I plan to do at this point. If I am making $150,000 a year> > or more, I will. For now, I only pay that kind of money for items that> > justify the costs.>

Well, in her email, she offered to pick the stuff up at my place if I am not too far away but I told her that I would like her to try one first and offered to drop it off. So no response now. But that's okay. A friend of mine will do the stitching for me. I just ripped the stitch attaching the lace to the cami and cut it to the lenght I need. I'll let my friend attach the lace for me. I cut it by placing it against the 100% cotton cami (from Eddie Bauer) that works well so that it's a little longer than the one that works well the most, giving room to shrink or ride up or whatever.

Don't feel like going to a friend's place for now. Tight with time. Brwosing at the sewign area in Walmart, I came to see the liquid stitch permanent adhesive and Hem Bond. Forget abotut he liquid stuff. Would Hem Bond be worth using? Once I get the lace attached to the cami, I can drop it off at a friend's place but the cami will probably sit there for a while. I

I strongly believe I can stitch it myself using a sewing machine ..though slowly ..but putting the desired color thread in the machine will take some learning which I am unwilling to spend time. Does those hand-held sewing thing work? Not that I think thy do.

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