Sequins, glitter, and tulle, oh my!

Prom season is in fuller than full swing and we’re getting a lot of questions about all things prom alts.

So we thought we’d take a minute to go through some of the biggest questions and give a thorough answer to each of them!

• Do all prom dresses need alterations?

• How long do prom dress alterations take?

• What can a seamstress change about my prom dress?

and more!

In our alterations shop here in Cedar Rapids we are filling our time with prom-related excitement! Our appointment book is filling up, our door chime seems to be constantly ringing, and there are sequins getting *everywhere*. The busy season has arrived!

So as with every season, we’ve got sewing on the mind. *Sew* let us add one more piece of prep to your list of pre-prom to-dos: get your prom dress alterations!

But what all is involved in getting a prom dress altered? If you haven’t had alterations done before, the whole process may be a mystery. And even if you have, there are some differences from having, say, your everyday clothing altered. So that’s what we’re going through in this blog post!

Welcome back to our two-part series on the most common suit alterations and what they mean!

If you missed part 1 all about altering the suit jacket, you can check that out in our last post: The Suit Jacket Edition.

Now although you are probably wearing a suit jacket or sports coat for particularly special occasions, you’re likely wearing and shopping for slacks much more often. And even if you’re wearing dress pants every day for work, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t fit you properly and help you look your absolute best.

So today we’re continuing our list of suit alterations with: the pants!

A suit is one piece of clothing that can totally transform you. There’s a reason they’re often reserved for special occasions, or when you need to make a good first impression (i.e. a job interview).

But for a suit to really help you look your very best, it should fit you properly. That’s where your local tailor comes in.

At a suit fitting with a tailor, they will help you recognize that parts of your suit that aren’t laying or fitting you as nicely as they should, and therefore robbing you of that clean put-together look a suit is meant to provide.

But what are all these alterations the tailor is talking about?

That’s what we’re going to be walking through today. All the different suit alterations and what they mean.

A new customer walks into our Cedar Rapids tailoring shop with a pair of jeans fresh off the rack, tags still attached. They have a classic problem: their new jeans are too long.

Since the beginning of mass manufacturing, customers have been finding new pants too long and ultimately need to either embrace the cuff-life, or visit the tailor.

The Merci’s Tailoring family is all too familiar with this problem. A majority of us are on the shorter end of the bell curve, and therefore can not ever find pants in our correct length; even petite sizes!

So with a sense of kinship, we happily measure and pin up the altered length for our customer and start to prepare their order. Once out of the dressing room, we ask, “What kind of hem would you like on your jeans today?”

Huh? What kind of hem? I don’t know… a shorter one?

So join us in today’s blog post where we go through those jean-hemming options, and how you can choose the hem for your next new pair, or currently cuffed pair, of jeans.

Somewhere between mermaids and ballgowns, boleros and lapels, it hits you — sure you can alter your wedding suit or gown, but where…? Can they do that at the boutique? Do you have to find someone on your own? What do they call those people anyway?

A wedding is often people’s first interaction with a professional seamstress, tailor, or alterations specialist. (That’s what we call those people 😉) So, the questions and confusion are to be expected.

But worry not! In this post we’ll be listing your wedding attire alterations options and what differentiates them, so you have a place to start.

It should be noted that there is no right or wrong choice here. Neither of your alterations options will be inherently better than another. It comes down to preference and what circumstances might be most convenient for you.

“Don’t worry, you can always alter it!”

While that’s true, not all alterations are created equal, and some will certainly set you back further than others.

Unfortunately, many brides and engaged couples fall in the trap of buying a dress that is too big, or doesn’t have the sleeves you want, etc. in exchange for a smaller price tag and the idea of making those changes at the seamstress’s. However, they’re not aware that the cost of alterations might erase those savings entirely, or even end up costing more.

In this post, we’re breaking down what dress features and chances can result in more expensive alterations. By the end of this blog post, you’ll be well-equipped to spot a possibly costly alteration while shopping for your wedding dress, so you can stay in budget.

With Spring comes Prom! And with that, the start of a new busy season at our alterations shop in Cedar Rapids. We see prom dresses start to appear as early as late February, but it’s typically mid-March when we see them arriving in throngs. Every color of the rainbow, glitter and sequins, tulle, tulle, and more tulle! The transformation the shop undergoes with the arrival of prom really does mirror the reanimation of Spring outside.

So you’ve got a dress! Or have a friend or daughter with a dress, and you’re wondering what could possibly entail getting prom dress alterations done. This is precisely what we’re aiming to answer in this post.

Of course the prom dress alterations we’ll list and describe here are not all inclusive. If you have an idea of a change you’d like to make to your dress, simply mention it at your fitting, and it’s very likely we can find a way to make it happen.

It’s pretty well communicated in the wedding space that you need to plan a healthy amount of time to take care of your wedding dress alterations, typically 3-4 months. But why does it take so long and why are some dresses done faster than others?

In this post, we’ll explore the different factors that contribute to the length of time you’ll need for alterations and when you should start the process

Turns out buying your wedding attire is the most complicated clothing purchase you've had to date!

Well, as a tailor and alterations shop, we have gathered a lot of experience helping couples in Cedar Rapids be aisle-ready over our 30+ years. So today we’re going to start with the first question you might be faced with when planning your wedding attire – how much time do you need to put together your wedding wardrobe? Finding, ordering, and altering.