Preparation Checklist Before Cutting

What you will learn

• Preparing a garment
• Measuring twice
• Testing before cutting

Materials and tools

• Measuring tape
• Tailor's chalk or marking pencil
• Pins or clips
• Contrasting thread for basting
• Notebook for measurements
• The shoes and underlayers you wear with the garment

1. Check the care label. If the fabric may shrink, such as cotton, linen or wool that has never been washed, wash and dry it the way you normally will before measuring. An alteration made on unwashed fabric can end up too short or too tight after the first wash.
2. Press the area you are altering, using the heat setting on the care label. Wrinkles and old creases hide the true length and shape.
3. Put the garment on with the shoes and underlayers you will wear with it. A different shoe heel or a bulky layer under the garment changes the length and fit.
4. Stand straight in front of a full-length mirror, then mark the change with pins or chalk. Ask a helper to check the back and to confirm that both sides are even.

5. Take the garment off and measure the marks. Measure twice. Measure both sides, such as both legs or both side seams, and write the numbers down.
6. Check the seam allowance. Turn the garment inside out and measure how much fabric is left inside the seam or hem you plan to change. This tells you how far you can let out, or how deep the new hem can be.
7. Pin or baste the change with long temporary stitches. Do not cut anything yet.
8. Try the garment on again. Walk, sit, bend and reach. Look at the garment from the front, side and back. If anything pulls, gapes or hangs unevenly, take out the basting and adjust.
9. Only after the basted change fits, sew it permanently. Then try it on once more.
10. Trim excess fabric last, and only if it is bulky enough to need it. Leave at least 1/2 in (12 mm) of seam allowance, or the full allowance if the fabric frays easily.

Tips for a neat result

• Work in good light. Shadows hide uneven marks.
• Keep a seam ripper within reach during the whole job, so that a bad stitch line comes out the moment you notice it.
• Photograph the garment before you start, so you can compare the finished result.

Common mistakes and fixes

Check your result

• Every item is ticked off, in order, before any permanent stitching.
• You did not cut any fabric until the basted fit was confirmed.

Projects that use this