Hello! This is my first blog post for my Cyber Sewing Alteration blog. A couple of years ago I was introduced to "modern" prom dress shopping by my oldest daughter, now 19. She looked for *that* perfect prom dress as a high school Junior and found it to the tune of $350!
I realize that is probably an average price today, with many in the $200-$600 range. Yes, there are a few higher and lower. Some well into the thousands of dollars. However, being a family of modest means kept her in that price range. Unfortunately, that dress price tag is just the beginning if a girl needs alterations. Let's just say both my daughters are happy I sew!
The idea of doing dress alterations popped into my head the day my oldest came home and told me some girls had paid $400-$500 for their dresses and approximately another $100 for hemming! And interestingly enough, over time I realized that some of the girls (or their mothers) weren't totally satisified with the alterations performed on the dresses. (More on that in another post.) Therefore, I decided they could put my name out there for dress alterations.
One of my FB friends wished me luck :) . I know dress alterations can be a very sticky kind of business. My alterations include "light" ones (taking in/letting out seams, hemming, bustles, strap shortening, and unconventional kinds of fixes for alterations that might be very costly. Recently I did a very easy alteration to remove front gaposis on a halter that the original alteration specialist would not do. Why? I don't know. However, I was able to perform the alteration to the girl's and mother's satisfaction with the ins/outs of what I was doing, why I was doing it, and how it would look when finished.
In order to keep my head free of aches and pains, I will not accept intense, difficult alterations. It is not to my liking and not worth my time, nor client's money. And I do think that is key. These are not thousand dollar dresses. If I feel I can't do a job that will provide a satisfactory result at a reasonable price, I'm not going to do it. It's my "Right of Refusal". And really, it's been so far, so good.
My next two posts will include prom dress styles and points to consider before heading to the cash register to make the dress purchase.
Till then...
--Kat
