Did you know you can restore and revive many of your favorite clothes with unique design services?
Some great examples of this are
- Embroidering Jeans
- Using Design Patches to modify plain or otherwise damaged items
- Adding lace, trim or other unique fabric to existing pieces
In some cases older clothing can actually hold its shape, and have a longer lifespan when properly maintained. For example, in countries like France and other European nations there are rules preventing the export of designer clothing or limiting the import of ‘fast fashion’ that may damage the environment and often imitate other designers to a lesser capacity. Customization can be done with a number of techniques often without a sewing machine ultimately providing an environmentally sustainable solution for those old clothes that you still love.
Your local tailor shop may be able to offer some great fixes if something has minor repair issues such as
- Loose buttons
- Missing button holes
- Needing zippers
- Patching tiny rips or tears
- Adjusting waist size for jeans so that they can fit after losing weight
Another request that many may be able to fulfill in addition to these are
- Adding custom designs through embroidery
- Iron on or Sublimation techniques for polyester fabrics and designs
- Creating memorable icons or additions to traditionally plain elements that can provide lasting success
Embroidered jeans are a great addition to any wardrobe often providing a very high end feel to that old pair that you know fits and already love. If you are thinking about having this done at your local shop there are a few things to consider: Where on the garment the design should be fixed, how big and what colors you are looking to use, getting a good digital image for your design.
Many jean manufacturers focus on embroidering the back pocket of the jeans with ’embellishments’ like sequins, beads or other three dimensional design features. Here are some adorable ideas for inspiration from etsy:
Embroidery patterns on Etsy and other sites come in a few varieties — hand embroidered designs & machine designs. Depending on the machinery or people available at your local tailor shop you may be able to use one or the other. If you do have access to the embroidery machine then you may be able to digitize images from your personal collection to feature on embroidered end products.
Some great examples are the customized towels, socks, and sweatshirts. Pinterest has some great collections of ideas for this type of designing.
Digitizing is itself quite a process, often using specialized software. Essentially you take an image and ‘vectorize’ it so that the lines are very clean and easy to read for the sewing machine. Then, select different colors, stitch count and other factors that may influence the ability of the design to come out from the machine looking like it does on your computer screen. Many embroidery machines actually have built in fonts, designs and other elements that can be helpful without needing to digitize art. Nonetheless that is a great strategy because it offers a way to make very special designs that represent meaningful events or occasions. You don’t have to do this process yourself either, there are plenty of services on Etsy, Fiverr and similar platforms where you can send your art and have it digitized by a professional.
When thinking about customization services with your local tailor shop there are a number of options that may be a good fit. Having a clear vision of how to accent your clothing and improve the overall quality and appearance of material with subtle embellishments can really make your style stand out. Find out what services may be available & determine the best way to implement them.
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