Altering a coat to make it smaller is not an easy task, and whether it can be done or not depends on how and where you want to alter it. For instance, if only a part of the coat, such as the sleeves, is too big for you, altering it is relatively easy. As such, shortening the length or altering the collars can also be done.
While I was reading we ran into the question “Can the shoulders of a coat be altered?”.
The shoulders of a coat are perhaps the most structured part of the entire garment, and thus, altering them can be extremely risky. It is not guaranteed that after the alterations, you will see the exact results you want, nor can a tailor promise that the integrity of the coat will be maintained.
One more inquiry we ran across in our research was “Is it possible to change the size of a coat yourself?”.
While it is not impossible, doing it yourself at home, especially if you don’t know how to work well with needle and thread and sewing machines, can be a little risky. A coat is a structured garment that has linings, paddings, and stiffening inside it, which is why undoing the stitching and sewing it back together to alter the size is not simple.
However, if you want to alter your coat a full size, that is, if you want to go an entire size (s) up or down, it is likely that no tailor will take it up. This is because the entire coat will have to be taken apart and sewn again almost from scratch, which is way too much work and, honestly, very risky.
Can a suit jacket be altered?
Suit jackets can be altered in a variety of ways, from basic adjustment that any tailor can handle to full-on reconstructive surgery. At a minimum, most suits should be altered in three ways: These basic adjustments are easy and relatively cheap. Oftentimes, however, you’ll need additional tailoring for that perfect fit.
Is it possible to have a suit tailored to fit?
There is too much to be done. The most difficult thing for a tailor to alter on any suit-like garment (that is, any garment that is considered “constructed” because it has some kind of stiffening inside it) is the shoulders. And the shoulders are the crux of the fit.
Can a coat be tailored?
Like with almost all your clothing, your coats can and should be tailored, but you always want to make sure at least the shoulders fit, because it’s very difficult and costly for a tailor to fix these, if they can at all. How do you Depuff a puffer jacket? You can temporarily compress a down jacket with weight.
It’s best to take it to a tailor, but if you can do it yourself at home too if you don’t want to spend money or can’t find a tailor willing to take up the work. If you wish to alter a coat that is too small and make it bigger, you can do so by letting out some of the fabric in the coat’s seams.