sizing it up

I love thrift stores. That's no surprise to anyone. 

But I do seem to surprise my friends by the thrifted clothes I find.

I have several girlfriends who love to thrift but often complain to me that they 

can't always find cute stuff in the right size.

Here's my secret....neither can I. 

But I've learned a few basic tailoring tricks to make things work for me.

Here's my most recent example:

(Disregard my unmade bed, but note my little sidekick in the corner.)

I found this cute plaid shirt, but it was too big for me.

So I measured how many inches I'd like to take in on each side and followed the side seam from the bottom through the armpit all the way to the arm cuff.

It's such a quick fix. You should use a thread color that's close to the color of your shirt, but if you're too lazy to change your bobbin color - it doesn't matter because it only shows on the inside.

The arm cuff can be a bit tricky, but for this shirt I knew I would be rolling the arms so my main concern was making sure I didn't sew it too tight so that I couldn't roll it. Check.

And here I am sporting my newly tailored shirt this weekend while apple picking.

I know what some of you are thinking, That's great, but doesn't help if you find something that is too small.

So I offer you this. Another trick I've been known to implement, and Melissa articulates it so well.

In the words of the ever-stylish Tim Gunn, make it work.

Happy thrifting. 

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