Some fabrics are forgiving. Others are not. Knowing which category your garment falls into saves a lot of disappointment.
Silk moves. Even pinned flat, it shifts as you cut and sew.
The bigger issue is needle holes. On silk, a misplaced stitch leaves a permanent mark. There is no pressing it out. The tailor has one shot at each seam — and that kind of caution takes time.
Wrong needle choice makes things worse. A standard needle snags silk fibres. The correct needle, the correct thread, and a much slower pace. That is what working with silk requires.
Chiffon has almost no grip. It slides off the cutting surface. It shifts under the presser foot mid-seam.
Hemming chiffon is one of the most fiddly jobs in day-to-day alterations. The fabric is sheer. Any unevenness in the stitching shows straight through from the outside. There is nowhere to hide it.
Georgette is similar but slightly more textured. Marginally easier. Still not simple.
Plain fabric alterations are invisible when done well. Lace alterations are not — unless the pattern is matched precisely across the seam.
That takes real skill. The tailor has to cut in ways that feel wrong at first, just to maintain the repeat. And lace tears. The open weave gives the threads less to hold onto. A seam under any tension can pull the pattern apart.
Velvet has a pile — a raised directional surface that changes shade depending on how light hits it.
If the pile runs the wrong direction on any part of the garment after alteration, it shows immediately as a colour difference. Pressing velvet incorrectly crushes that pile flat. Those marks are extremely hard to reverse.
Velvet needs a velvet board to press correctly. Not every tailor has one. Worth asking before you hand anything over.
Needle holes in leather do not close. Every stitch is permanent. Unpick a seam and the old holes stay visible in the material.
Alterations on leather are possible — but only at seams that will be hidden once the garment is worn. Anything in a visible area needs very careful planning before the needle goes in.
Most bonded faux leather is similarly unforgiving. Some types crack along fold lines too, which adds another complication.
Altering a seam near beadwork means removing beads, adjusting the seam, and reattaching them to match the original. Every bead. In the correct position.
It is slow. It is painstaking. And it costs accordingly.
Threads Magazine’sguide to working with specialist fabrics goes deeper into the properties of these materials if you want to understand the specifics.
Difficult fabrics take longer. The price reflects that — not as a premium, but because the hours are genuinely there.
A good tailor will tell you upfront what the work involves, what the risks are, and what the result will look like. No surprises after the job is done.
Ourclothing alterations service covers all fabric types — silk, chiffon, lace, velvet, leather, embellished pieces. Some delicate garments also benefit from professional cleaning before any structural work begins. Ourdry cleaning service handles that carefully when needed.
We are on Arlington Way in Angel, EC1R. A short walk from Angel tube. Customers come to us from Islington, Clerkenwell, and across EC1 and N1. Bring the garment in and we will tell you exactly what we can do with it.
Silk shifts during cutting and sewing, leaves permanent needle holes if a stitch is misplaced, and requires specific needles and thread. The tailor works more slowly throughout. That extra time is what the higher price covers.
Yes — but only with careful pattern-matching across the new seam position. It takes longer than altering a plain fabric, and the result depends on how complex the lace repeat is and how experienced the tailor is with it.
The pile gets crushed flat and leaves marks that are very difficult or impossible to reverse. Velvet needs pressing on a velvet board so the pile is not flattened. If a tailor does not mention this or does not have the right equipment, that is worth knowing before you proceed.
Within limits. Needle holes in leather are permanent, so any seam that gets unpicked leaves visible marks. Work is most successful at hidden seams — inside the jacket rather than on the surface. A tailor can tell you what is and is not workable on your specific garment.
They are difficult in different ways. Silk punishes needle mistakes with permanent marks. Chiffon is a handling problem — it moves constantly and needs very fine stitching that shows through the sheer fabric. Both require patience and experience. Neither is a quick job.
