“Hunched over a #SewingMachine, Kil Bae is #hemming a dress inside his Manhattan tailor shop when a new #customer
stops by with a vintage Tommy Hilfiger jacket he wants taken in.

The modeling agent paid $20 at a thrift store for his reversible bomber style that’s plaid on one side and red on the other. He’s willing to spend $280 to have it slimmed down. #Alteration requests with such a price disparity would have seemed odd a few years ago, the #tailor says, but are helping to keep the #bobbins bobbing at his one-man shop, 85 Custom Tailor.“

#Skills / #Trades <https://apnews.com/article/tailors-alterations-skilled-trades-shortage-aging-199faf6ecfc3f30b324e9b778a2000c6>

Custom-fit clothing is in high demand, but there are fewer tailors

The ranks of tailors, dressmakers and custom sewers are shrinking in the U.S. even as their skills and services are finding fresh demand. Fashion industry experts say younger shoppers are enlisting tailors and seamstresses to give off-the-rack purchases a custom fit, to revive secondhand finds or to extend the lives of their wardrobes. A veteran tailor in New York says weight-loss drugs like Zepbound and Wegovy have more Americans wanting their clothes resized. But there are fewer professionals doing alternations as skilled sewers age out of the workforce. The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York has teamed with Nordstrom to launch a training program to help address the growing labor shortage.

AP News

I finally hemmed my pants today. I’m very pleased with how they turned out.
Using the sewing machine was so therapeutic. I haven’t used it in a long time. I’m excited to finish some other projects now!

#sewing #sewingmachine #hemming

The very last step - hemming!
For chainstitch hemming, I use my double-needle Union Special 51400CZ with one needle removed.
A little trick that works really well is to create a groove through which to guide the folded hem using magnetic strips.

#selfmadejeans #hemming #chainstitch #eurekajeans #forover30years #justahobby #notforsale

Did my first blind hem today!

I altered some new pants for a wedding I am going to this week. I am pretty happy with how it turned out!

#BlindHem #Hemming #Sewing #Tailoring #HandSewing

Following up on my previous post, some applications of the same method using magnetic strips of different thicknesses.
Attaching the waistband.This time, the thin strip is on the left, keeping the folded edge of the waistband perfectly lined up. Another thicker strip is placed on the right, forming a groove through which the waistband passes.
Pic 5 shows a modified version of this for hemming!

#selfmadejeans #magneticstrips #beinginventive #waistband #hemming #eurekajeans #forover30years #justahobby #notforsale
After
#hedging
#hemming and hawing
#wavering
#sneaking numerous peeks
Tonight I finished deleting everything from my Twitter account and shut it down.
Reasons
# Don't want to support Musk in anyway🤮
#It brought out the meanest side of my nature😡
# and it sent my blood pressure through the roof. 😣
bye-bye twisted birdie☠️
Upward and onward🙏
1910s type waist overalls
Hemming -- the very last sewing step!
As these are completely single-needle construction, the hems are done with a lockstitch.

#selfmadejeans #handcraftedjeans #homemadejeans #1910s #waistoveralls #singleneedleconstruction #hemming #eurekajeans #forover30years #justahobby #notforsale
1890s waist overalls
I gave the pair I made a few weeks ago a first wash and did the hemming, of course with a single-needle lockstitch. A double row of stitches, which is quite unusual for hems nowadays, but wasn't at all uncommon in the 1890s.

#selfmadejeans #handcraftedjeans #homemadejeans #1890s #waistoveralls #hemming #singleneedleconstruction #eurekajeans #forover30years #justahobby #notforsale