Kahuku Prom 2015

Only had about a week from the end of the play to Prom but I managed to squeeze a few dresses in.  I did one custom dress, 5 dress alterations, a shrug, and 2 sets of suit slacks.  Here's a few pictures.

Beautiful Talianne loved her dress so much last year she asked me to make another.  She brought me her design ideas and I custom drafted the pattern for her and made her the dress of her dreams.  She looked stunning in the black and gold lace gown.

These lovely girls found their dresses in Chinatown and just needed a few adjustments.  The sister in blue wanted a shrug and a little taken in from the sides and the sister in red wanted some sleevelets.

I couldn't leave out my son! We purchased his suit at Nordstroms Rack and really lucked out. It was a great price and fit him pretty much right off the rack, only required a simple hem.

Shaka Steel Aloha Shirts

I'm back in the studio again after a month on the mainland and a week adjusting to real life and getting kids ready for school. I'll be working hard for the next few weeks on a large order of Aloha shirts for the Shaka Steel Band. I am using a traditional Aloha Shirt pattern but have added a few inches of extra length to the hem  to insure the shirts don't show bellys when mallets are swinging overhead.

For large orders like this I offer a bulk quantity discount. I sew through each size in an assembly line method cutting everything, then applying interfacing to everything, then sewing all the collars, etc. It helps to keep each item more uniform but it also takes a lot of organization.

For this project I will be going through about 50 yards of fabric, 20 yards of interfacing, 6 spools of thread and 120 wood buttons. I estimate it will take me 10 days to complete. 

The Shaka Steel Bands' first concert is the 27th of August. I can't wait to see the shirts in action.

Update:

Here's one of the finished shirts. Not a great picture--there's a reason I'm a professional seamstress not photographer. I'll post pictures from the concert after it happens.

Enactus Team alterations

What is with all these orders from China lately? They all seem to be coming in poorly sized. But hey, I'm not complaining because they are giving me a LOT of business.

This week I am altering the new business suits for BYUH's Enactus Team. Some of the suits came in perfect but four of them were off, WAY OFF. I'm glad they called because now they look fantastic. Good Luck in Kansas City!

Custom Handstitched Ties

One of my favorite things to do is to make Men's ties and there's nothing better to make it with than beautiful tie silk. While in New York last December I had the opportunity to walk the Garment District and visit so many incredible fabric stores. I found this silk at Mood Fabrics (of Project Runway fame) and fell in love.

Because it is difficult to find the proper interfacing and linings for a fine tie I resort to other options. I hunt for ties at thrift stores and bum them off my dad and others who are donating ties because the fabric is outdated. Then I strip the tie and scavenge the interfacing from it. (In the past I have used the old fabric for "tie" dying  Easter eggs.) For the lining I usually just use the tie material. This does make it slightly bulkier and slightly more expensive (tie silk is $25 per yard and lining is $8-12) but I like the look and, as I said before, it can be difficult to find a suitable lining.

It is possible to make ties out of materials other than tie silk. I have made them from Aloha fabrics, cottons, taffetas and satins. I am often asked to make ties to match prom and wedding dresses. These ties were a special gift for my Father. He is a collector of ties and was so excited to receive these beautiful one of kind neckpieces.

If you are interested in ordering a custom tie give me a call. I charge $35 which includes the (recycled) interfacing.

A Young Man's First Suit

This should really be titled My Young Man's First Suit. This is my son Heath. Last week he purchased his first suit to wear to prom. He decided he'd rather spend his hard earned $250 on a new suit rather than waste $100 on a one night tux rental. Smart kid. He plans to wear his new suit to church on a regular basis and he's hoping that he'll be able to wear it on his mission. He will be heading out for that in about a year.

This is him at home before alterations. We intentionally bought this suit just slightly too big so he had room to grow into it a bit. We measured him for a 40, which would have fit him like a glove. We bought him a 42 Regular, which still fit him beautifully. The length was perfect, the sleeves were perfect, only the body of the suit needed to come in. I took that in through the center back seam.The slacks didn't need much work either. I took in the waist 4 inches and tapered that through the seat. I hemmed the slacks with a basic, handstitched tapered hem.

The suit was purchased from Nordstrom's Rack and was on clearance. It is a Steel Grey Calvin Klein.

The details: He purchased the shirt and tie also from Nordstroms Rack. I made him this beautiful vest  to match his date's dark pink sequined dress. The vest has a full back, is fully lined and has hand made covered buttons. His very favorite part of the whole ensemble though was his pink pocket square, also made by me.

Alterations for Weight Loss

It seems to be the season for losing weight. I've been kept quite busy altering suits and trousers, shirts and skirts lately. Having your favorite clothes altered for your new size is a great way to celebrate your success!

Most clothes can be altered down at least 2 sizes. So if you used to be a size 16 ladies dress I can probably alter that dress down to your new size 12 body. If you used to have a 38 inch waist I can most definitely alter your suit pants down to a 34 and sometimes even lower.

In most cases the real limiting factor is the expense of the alterations. Taking in the dress can run $10-$20 or more. If it is a nice dress, one you love that is good quality then $20 is so worth it. Slacks or trousers will be about $20 also. Suit jackets start at $35 for taking some fabric out through the back.

If you've lost weight recently and are interested in getting your clothes altered to fit your new fit body give me a call. I'd love to see what I can do to help you out.

Men's Suit Alterations

It's been a busy month here at Sew Laie.  Not only have I been sewing and enjoying the last bit of summer with my kids but I've also been moving. We moved one block over to Moana Street, the curvy side. Our new house has a bigger yard for the kids and a larger sewing area. It is just what we needed.

Men's Suit Alterations

I don't have pictures to show but I am so happy with the work I did on a couple of men's suits. The owner lost over 20 pounds (!) and needed his suits to get him through to his goal weight of another 25 pounds down. No sense in buying a new suit when you won't be staying the same size for long.

One of the suits was originally a 41 inch waist and I was taking it down to a 35. To do this the pants had to be recut. A recut is a major endeavor in which the pants are completely disassembled, cut down to the new size, and then reassembled. The other suit was being taken down from a 38 inch waist to a 35 so it only needed the waist, seat and inner thigh altered.

Though the jackets could have used a shoulder adjustment the owner decided it just wasn't worth the expense to do it. He did have the sleeves taken up and the side seams tapered and vents adjusted though and these alterations greatly improved the jackets.

Congratulations Dave (Yes, my husband) for your progress and best wishes as you continue working toward your goal.  I'm looking forward to altering three new suits when you get there.

________________________________________________
Did you just buy a new suit? Buy a suit at a yardsale? Have you lost weight and your suits no longer fit you right? Check out my Menswear Alterations Pricing.