MAKING PRE-OWNED GARMENTS FIT

Kahootz Concept Clothing

Making clothing already owned fit to size can be more arduous than actually making something from scratch.  And who can make a person that can't follow instruction sit absolutely still whilst pinning the garment to their body proportions?  It's like dealing with a large toddler!

For this reason I have given up on trying to do this task, other than extending long pants that fit at the waist to actually cover the ankles.  I'm planning to use crazy quilting on the bottom of my daughter's pant legs to make it look like it should be there rather than simply be an obvious homemade extension.  Use embellishment!  It makes for an 'original' look too.

CLOTHING DESIGNED TO FIT OUT OF KILTER BODIES

I aim to be able to provide clothing made to measure and fit those of our society who have been born with bodies a bit out of kilter.

As a mother of a child with a rare syndrome, I know just how hard it is to find age appropriate clothing that suits a 15 year old the size of a 6 year old.  She has the hips and shoulders of a 4 year old, the legs of a 10 year old but a waist and chest that are quite wide.  It's virtually impossible and getting harder as she grows up.

My plan will be being published on or about 21 April 2012.

AS THEY GROW THEY CHANGE SHAPE

Jeffrey W. Hamilton 1999

So here I was feeling very pleased with myself that my daughter had warm long pants that fitted her properly and looked rather smart when I suddenly noticed yesterday morning that they now appeared almost an inch short - about 2 months later!  I only finished making them in the early weeks of May!

What to do?  Make an extension out of colours similar to the ribbon sewn on the front?  Try and find matching material and sew a blind hem?  I haven't decided yet.  I didn't leave enough in the hem to extend them much more.  I figured I wouldn't need to.  Pfft!

FITTING DESIGNS FOR ODD SHAPED PEOPLE

Well, I've making a myriad of clothing for my weenie kid - and modifying patterns is fraught with potential problems if a lot of measuring and preparation thinking hasn't taken place prior to the cut!

Lengthening pants is pretty simple as long as you retract or extend the design at the recommended markings on the pattern.  This is probably more important during the making of clothing to fit the torso however I have discovered that adjusting sleeves can be a bit of a problem too.

To ensure that anyone besides myself is dressing my weenie kid, I've always put some sort of embellishment on the front of the pants.  With no tag to sew on, I don't want to discover my Cornelia De Lange angel has her clothes on back-to-front!