Everything
Welcome to
Sewing By Carolyn's
'Everything Page' *
Need Alterations? Scroll 👇 | Learning Sewing? Jump to Courses!
Here at Sewing by Carolyn, we have seen just about every type of clothing for repairs or alterations in the last 30+ years.
We are committed to continuing services, and also teaching what we know to fellow sewists (hence the website url "Project Sewing Vault").
What can be sewn?
We specialize in alterations and repairs. Most anything can be either altered or repaired, however, with fast fashion dominating the market, regular clothing items can often be bought new for less money than the cost of our labor to fix the item. Formalwear is notoriously not shaped like humans and needs alterations to be usable for your special event.
What does it cost?
Whether it's regular clothes or formalwear, we make it a priority to discuss budget with a customer whether or not the cost is worth it to them (and we won't be offended if you decide not to fix an item). Read more about pricing here: Formalwear and Regular Clothing.
Clothing - Size You!
It is so disheartening to get measured and spend a several hundred dollars on formalwear, only to have it WILDLY not fit when it arrives. Why in the world is this our reality?!
The shortest answer? Because of the fast fashion industry. The designing is done in a smaller size and then they add length and width to all the pattern pieces to create the other sizes (which is NOT how bodies grow!).
Then, in women's clothing, they don't change the bust shape from size to size. Consumers are believing they are misshapen when in fact the shape of the garment is NOT SHAPED LIKE HUMANS! People ask why alterations are necessary, or why they cost as much as the purchase of some dresses, well this is why!
In Our Sewing Shop
The clothes you wear are shaped like the foundation garment you wear under them. Most people have NO IDEA how to shop for bras. This article borrows from the sewing world of Bra-makers. I talk about bra fit daily and typically end up sending people back to town to shop.
Clothing you buy at the store is called "ready-to-wear," but often it doesn't accommodate the shape of actual people. Formalwear is notoriously bad for having designs that aren't shaped like the humans who wear them.
Sewists are in HIGH DEMAND these days; in our area many of them have retired or passed away. We strongly encourage people to reserve their place in line, THE MOMENT they know they will be involved in a formal event. Our reservations often book 1-2 years in advance.
>>Reservation page for Formal clothing
Need more info? Here is a list of several blogs about the process:
This blog topic covers a checklist for your Bridal survival kit, typical Bustle instructions, and notes about our current season.
(the short version)
Carolyn grew up in the Post-war Era before fast fashion changed our market. Coming from a farm family meant knowing how to sew because store bought clothing wasn't affordable.
During the rise of fast fashion in the 1980's and 1990's, Carolyn began sewing professionally after a back injury ended her Nursing career. I (Kristen) joined the business in 2010 (read more of my story on the About Kristen page).
In the last 5-6 years, our city has seen 10-15 Sewists move into retirement while only a couple younger folks have stepped into this career path.
The end result is that there's so much work to be done that it has become imperative for us to keep reservation lists or we would never sleep!
Sewing by Carolyn has been a successful business for more than 30 years, and in this digital age of having websites for your business, we're finally catching up. We have transitioned to our reservation lists being online to help manage the work load and the amount of phone calls!
It happens every year. We get more work than it's possible for us to accomplish. So, how do you go about interviewing a sewist to do work for you? Here are a few ideas I put together to help you in your search.
Typical Projects
Formalwear Alterations: Wedding Gowns, Suits, Special Occasion clothing, etc
Basic repairs: Patching, Fixing, Hemming, Flag repair, Jacket zipper replacement, etc
Uniform sewing: adding various patches, military pant hems, etc
Specialty projects
In Our Sewing Vault
✂Sewing Courses are useless if it isn't the content you need. You can keep endlessly searching random internet videos, or you can hit me up and tell me exactly what would move the needle forward for you! I'm on a quest to build a Vault of alterations trainings to help folks learn to do what I do, apprenticeship style. MemberVault makes it easy for us to chat about what your needs are, so I can build courses around what you need to be successful in sewing alterations. I'm waiting for you to come tell me what you need. All you gotta do is answer a couple questions.
>>Answer the questions & Get a discount on our next Action Lab
I have been obsessed with Bra fit for a long time. I am thoroughly convinced that ill fitting bras contribute to poor self image and discontent with the way clothing fits. Bras are a foundational garment that change the shape of people's bodies significantly and there is quite a large group of folks who learned to sew simply to be able to sew bras because the market only serves about a quarter of the population. I went down this rabbit hole a while back and have since mentored hundreds of women in their bra sewing journey. This bra making blog has several posts written while the Bare Essentials Drafting group took some time to really zoom in on precise bra fit and drafting our own patterns.
Sewing Alterations is a much needed trade and there are so few resources to go and learn the art of alterations. If Bra-making is my side obsession, my primary passion is preserving alterations knowledge for future tradespeople in this field.
Not ready for a course yet, but want to become a member of our site? Then this is for you. Sign in to create your membership and tell us what sewing resources on the internet are your favorites. I truly believe that collaboration is the currency of the future and I would love to feature some great resources so we can all level up our skills!! (Also, there are some freebies and coupon codes if you pop into the Lobby!)
We've highlighted a few of our favorite tools on this page, with links for purchase from amazon. (Yes, these are aff links, but we don't suggest tools we don't use.)
This micro course explains why the heck we need to clean and oil our machines. Whenever folks are struggling to get their machine to work, they often like to blame the machine when it's actually operator error. This Action Lab is a micro course on the tricks we use in our shop daily. Whether you just started yesterday, you've been sewing for 10 years, or you've been sewing for 60 years, these are the things you cannot skip out on. If you have our class ~Stitch Beautifully~ this information is sprinkled throughout that course. This lab, however, comes with email reminders every couple months to Oil your machine again. If you've been sewing forever and you aren't interested in ~Stitch Beautifully~ (because you don't need to repeat Home Economics) then this Action Lab might be more your speed. We all know we need to oil our machines, but sometimes we forget how often.
Let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start! 😉). This course is filled with foundational knowledge that I rely on every single day in my career as a Professional Sewist. Think all the things you should have learned in a Home Economics class. One nice thing about an online course is that you can pause and do it with me at the pace that's comfortable for you. Also, If you're having trouble, you can pop into the Lobby and send a video with our web browser recorder in the Lobby to get some more personal answers.
*This "Everything Page" is inspired by online business strategist Elizabeth Buckley - Goddard's course on the subject.