Happy Wedding Wednesday!

Today we are going to discuss Alterations as that is a BIG part of what we do here at A.M.E.G. Designs!

The Alteration services that we provide for include the entire Wedding Party, from the Bride and Groom to the flower girl and ring bearer. Any dresses and suits that are involved in or going to can be altered here.

I am mainly going to be speaking about dresses today however I will discuss briefly about suits and how it works. Let’s dive in!

Hemming, the number one alteration we do here and you would believe how many types of hems there are and how many layers some dresses have. The main questions that I will ask; how many layers is your dress? Is there lace, horsehair hem, are there any layers attached? This all allows me to provide the most accurate quote. Counting the number of layers is important, make sure you peal those beautiful layers apart so you make sure you have provided the right amount. I have had clients send videos to ensure they count them correctly.

Lace and Horsehair hems are the most costly as we need to remove, cut and replace most of the in order to cut the hem to the desired length. Horsehair can be on one single layer of your dress or multiple, we had a dress recently that had 8 layers and 3 of those had horsehair hems. It does take a bit more work so that is why it can be on the higher end of cost for alterations. There are also hems where the fabrics are connected and may even have horsehair in between which is where you’ll find the cost goes up in terms of hems.

Lace trim is a similar process to horsehair hem as we need to remove, cut and replace or we can raise from the waist, or we can add some more tulle underneath and if you are wanting a little bit more volume this works well and its quite cost effective. Now when replacing the lace trim we want to make sure we do not change the pattern of the skirt and have to consider the appliques or lace. Some brides so cut it and aren’t too worried about keeping the same look and others want us to adjust those appliques as well. Which in turn of course is a premium cost. We can raise at the waist as long as it makes sense to do so because you have to take a lot into consideration when doing the hem this way, the zipper, lace, pleats, beading, to name a few.

Tulle hems are fairly easy as we just need to precisely cut it the length we need. Rolled hems are the most common, we cut and If you are keeping your train then we only cut and hem the front while blending it out to the sides , this way we can easily bustle the train for you and keeping it all floor length at the front.

Next the most common alteration is taking in and letting out. Since the pandemic letting out has been something we have been doing a lot more of which definitely gave us an opportunity to figure this one out more because our brides needed to get into their dresses. This can be done in a few different ways; most commonly adding a lace up back however, you can add panels, which I would only suggest on lace dresses and only letting out about 2 or 3 inches and to find lace that will match seamlessly. A lace up back would require to remove the zipper and create the pieces , loops, back cover piece and ribbon. This is something that does change the look of the dress and not everyone is a fan so you have to be completely open to it if it is the only option for you to wear your dress. Taking in can mean we need to remove and replace lace and/or bead, if the lace is in the seam it is much easier for us to take in however this is hardly ever the case. There may also be boning which creates more structure to your dress that we have to remove and replace in the side and bodice.

A bustle is something that lifts your dress and train up so you can dance the night away and enjoy the reception. We have done 1 point bustles to 12 point bustles it just depends on the style of dress. When you come for your fitting we figure this out either the first or after we adjust the bodice and hem. We need to play with it, it’s very much like a puzzle, which I love to do. So when we do them you can see what it will look like once we’re done.

Everything else, adding illusion necklines, adjusting necklines, adding lace for more coverage, adding sleeves, and straps in all different ways. You can have them removeable or completely attached. You can also have a complete deconstruction done if you love a dress but it isn’t exactly your vision we can make it so. Also know this will change the style of dress and if thats what you want then fantastic! Also be sure to ask a seamstress or a few to see if your dress can be turned into something you absolutely want to wear on your wedding day.

We also can do any of the above for any other dress in your wedding. All suit and shirt alterations are also available here pants, jacket, shirts, take-in, tapper, hem, adjust sleeve length, vents and more!

I hope this serves you and has provided some wonderful information for you in terms of alterations on your wedding day.

Your Designer,

Amanda Garrett

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