Petite sizing
Petite alterations
Clothes cut for a taller frame rarely hang right on a petite one. ALL-SEW does work for petites, with the hem, sleeve, rise and shoulder balanced together.
When off-the-rack proportions run long
A garment that fits at the chest and waist can still look wrong on a petite frame. Sleeves end past the wrist, the shoulder seam slides down the arm, the waist sits below the real waist, and trousers pool at the ankle. Each measurement is a little off, and together they make the whole piece look borrowed.
Shortening one thing rarely fixes it. Take only the length off a pair of trousers and the pockets, the knee and the rise are now sitting in the wrong places. The garment was drawn for a longer body, so the problem is proportion, not one hem.
Illustrative image of a small rail of altered garments on wooden hangers: a child's dress, a men's suit jacket and trousers with pinned cuffs.
Hem, sleeve, rise and shoulder together
Petite work starts at the shoulder, because everything hangs from it. If the shoulder seam sits too far out, that is fixed first, and the sleeve length and the body length are then judged against the corrected line. A jacket is pinned on you, checked in the mirror and checked again as you move.
On trousers and skirts, the rise and the hem are considered as a pair, so the garment still falls the way its maker intended. Sleeves are shortened at the cuff where that keeps the buttons and vents right, and higher up when the pattern demands it.
ALL-SEW does work for petites, by appointment, Monday to Saturday from 9:00am to 9:00pm. Call 208-863-2064 from anywhere in Nampa or the Treasure Valley, and please do not text message.
Children's and men's clothing too
The same proportion thinking applies to a child's dress that must last through a growth spurt, or a suit jacket for a man whose frame does not match the size on the label. ALL-SEW alters men's, women's and children's clothing.
Children grow, so a hem taken up carefully can often be let back down later when the original line is kept intact. Pickup and delivery are available, and emergency service with 24-hour turn around can be arranged when an event is close.
ALL-SEW, Nampa, ID. By appointment, call 208-863-2064.