Sewing Tips for Altering Men's Suit Coats
If you have a men's suit coat in your closet that doesn't fit well anymore, consider altering it yourself. You can sew your coat to shorten the arm length, reduce the shoulder size and tighten the waistline. By altering it, you can get a whole new look that fits you perfectly.
Items Needed:
- Men's suit coat
- Thread
- Needles
- Sewing machine
- Pin
- Scissors
- Take your suit coat and try it on over the type of shirt you would typically wear, preferably a dress shirt. Take notice of the areas that could use alteration. If the sleeves are too long, you will want to sew them shorter. With your arms held down by your sides, find where you want the sleeves to hit at your wrists.
- Use a pin to mark where the new hem should be on both sleeves. Typically, men's coat sleeves end at the very tip of your pinkie finger.
- Take off the coat and turn it inside out.
- Take off any buttons that may get in the way of your new hem. These can be sewn back on later.
- Find where the current sleeve hem is. Snip the thread that makes up the stitches with sewing scissors.
- Remove the thread from the sleeve and lay it down on a flat surface.
- Fold up the fabric to meet the lining where the pin is marked for your new hem.
- Hand sew or use a sewing machine for the hem with thread that matches your coat.
- Sew the buttons back on by hand where they were originally located.