Sleeve Alterations

 

One of the great things about working in a costume shop is that we have many things in stock to use but they are not all ready to wear.  We're creating costumes for high school students and by nature they are not done growing yet.  The shoulders and torso are smaller for most young men, they fill out as they keep growing, but their arms are long same as an adult's arms would be.  Lanky is the word that comes to mind.  Men's jackets that are longer are also going to be larger in all elements of the jacket.  Men's jackets that are smaller are, conversely, small all the way around, fine for fitting shoulders and torso, but you end up with stubby sleeves.  The easiest alteration to do is to lengthen the sleeve.

This sounds daunting but it's really not.  You start by removing all the buttons, then pick the lining away from the sleeve hem, press out your 'bonus' fabric, re-hem and reattach the buttons.  Time consuming yes, but not difficult.  Plus, you get to see how the garment is made.  The other good news about costumes is that you don't have to be a Saville Row tailor to get the job done either.

Sew What Have I Been Doing?

This week I've been turning an ordinary man's suit jacket into a Hussar's Uniform -- that's the short story.  I've been helping out at my son's high school doing costumes for their rendition of Phantom of the Opera.  It's a lot of hard work but it's also very fun.  This jacket is coming out really cool.  When it is all finished I'll post another pic plus some of the other costumes I've done. 

 

 

Cut off th bottom in a military 'V' style.

 

Adding some shiny gold braid.

 

This gold gimp shifted and moved all around no matter how many pins I put in it.  My solution?  Blue painter's tape to hold it still and that worked very well. 

Almost done!  I added gold grosgrain ribbon for the placket and came up with some clever button loops which I then realized were not practical for a fast change during the play.  I'm going to replace them with velcro.  I'm also having about 30 buttons put on the front and I have to finish the chevrons on the front of the sleeve.  If I  have time I'll make a half jacket/cape thing too.