altering clothing

it's time for me to have some clothing altered. alot of my clothing needs some adjustments cause i'm so petite, and i guess my arms are short. ;). i was at a high end resale shop and got a 1-blue leather zip jacket, sleeves too long, 2- unworn, still had tags on it burberry hooded raincoat with liner, sleeves too long and too full,3- jeans, too long and 4-an unworn, still had tags liz claiborn 3 piece suit, pants too long and jacket sleeves too long and too full, the jacket was adjusted inward almost 3/4 inch. the total cost of the alterations was $172. :eek: and i gulped and paid it.
i know that all of these pieces will last a long long time, and yet it still seems like a lot. i still have 4 more pairs of jeans that need to have darts at the waist (gaping waist) and are too long. besides learning to sew, any advice?

All I can say is "join the club". Most of my clothes have to be altered because my waist is thick but my seat and legs are not...that's a real bummer for me.I also have to have my tops altered since one arm is shorter than the other. I can relate but not much else.

For a nicely fitting burberry raincoat I'd pay it. Things look so much better when their tailored! Now if only I could convince the MIL to teach me seamstressing before she forgets it all.

From the items you named the only "easy" fix is the jeans. The others all have special things...leather, cuffs, lining. And suits are always going to be expensive to tailor because they are difficult.
So if you got all of those items altered for that price, I think that's pretty good.
As far as advice for future items....just shop around. You might be able to find a "private" person that will do it much cheaper than a high end retail place. Once you find someone you like and has reasonable pricing let them know you will always come back to them and maybe you'll get frequent flyer prices. ;)
I have a friend that always has to get her pants shortened and she uses the same lady so she gives her a deal all the time.
Good luck! :)

thanks for the reassurance all. i know these pieces are gonna be long term things, it was just a gulper when the total was done. i think i will look around a bit more for the last 4 jeans. the alteration cost was more then the cost of the jeans.

Hey, have you tried calling the "Life Studies/Home Ec" department at the local school? Maybe they'd take on an assignment as a learning experience for free/cheap ...

karen, how neat an idea! there is are 2 seperate high schools near by.

You're welcome, let me know how it goes! The teachers might interest the students in that you lost so much weight, and were successful doing so, so need the alterations ... and they can earn a little bit of something as well as the experience, and EVERY kid wear jeans ...

I am fortunate enough to have a built in seamstress in my grandma and my mom!
Altho I would advise if you do do the HS route - make sure you request that the teacher advise them CLOSELY.
I was in FFA in high school and had my uncle's old jacket. We pulled his embroidered name off it and need my name on it. I took it to the Home Ec Class and a girl did it and it was the most atrocious thing EVER! The embroidery was NOTHING like every one else's jackets. The letters were mismatched and very very loopy. We ended up pulling THAT out and taking it to someone else who had an embroidery machine that matched. Should have done it to begin with.

The fabric shop I stop in keeps a book at the checkout desk with the cards and advertisements of private individuals who will do alterations and even make custom clothing.

That sounds cheap to me. Around here, tailoring seems higher to the rest of the country. I've talked about tailoring on PT before and its outrageous around here. I myself have a ton of nice clothes that need tailoring now that I've lost weight. All we need around here is a good consignment shop ;)