We’ve all been there – you’ve got a piece of beautiful clothing but, much to your disappointment, it doesn’t fit quite right. Maybe you’re ready to exchange it but you’ve misplaced the receipt. You’re shopping and you find the perfect piece only to find that they don’t have stock left in your size. Maybe you’ve recently lost weight and want to still make use of your wardrobe full of clothes. Thankfully, there are several easy alterations and tricks that’ll allow you to convert those ill-fitting garments into cherished, tailored pieces.

1. Easy Alterations for pant waist

Have you been gifted some ill-fitting pants? Too big, too baggy, but gorgeous nonetheless? Nobody likes to keep pulling their pants up every 4 seconds. Not to mention that some baggier pants are not all that flattering. The trick to crafting those perfect-fitting pants is taking in the waist and rear seam before slimming the legs accordingly. To alter the waistline, all you really need to do is alter from the center-back of the pants. First, you’ll need to remove the belt loop and then measure how much fabric you need to take out. You can use pins to mark the point where the alteration will need to be done and start sewing from there.

2. Long sleeves

While long and wide sleeves are in right now, they aren’t for everybody. They can be somewhat impractical – especially when it gets chilly and you want to put a cosy cardigan on top. So what if the dress or top of your dreams has wide sleeves? Alter it!

The easiest way to cut down a voluminous sleeve is to stitch a continuous line from the armhole all the way up to the opening of the sleeves. It’s important to note that when a sleeve is too loose, it usually means that the armpit is sizeable, too. Start by taking from 1.5 cm all the way up to 5 cm from the underside sleeve seam – from the wrist, through the underarm and into the side-boob seam in order to create a slimmer sleeve.

3. Take in a shirt easily at the side seams

Have a blouse or shirt that technically fits but just doesn’t look right? That is the perfect candidate for a few easy alterations! Pretty much anywhere a straight seam exists on a piece of clothing, it’s possible to make an alteration. So take advantage of this fact and make that free-flowing, ill-fitting shirt your new favourite.

All you need to do is check that it has a straight seam on each side – the rest is an easy fix. If the blouse or shirt in question has sleeves, things can get a bit more complicated – as you’ll need to fix the underarm area too. Just make sure the shirt has enough space in the underarm to allow for a bit of fabric to be removed.

4. Add darts with easy alterations

Darts are your saviour when it comes to altering a top. Commonly used in blouses, their purpose is to improve a shirt’s fit at the bustline. In the world of alterations though, darts can also be quite useful if you want to shape pants or a skirt. For example, if you’re after pants that actually stay up, darts can be placed over the fullest part of each bum cheek, which is where the most fabric is.

You can also use darts to slim down a baggy jacket. This is especially handy if you have broad shoulders and always need to buy your jackets a size up just so they fit around your upper body. Simply open up the jacket’s lining and add two darts to the back of the jacket. Make sure you start behind the sleeves and work all the way up until you reach the hem.

5. Make a maxi skirt or dress a couple of sizes bigger

Have a stunning dress but can’t seem to make it fit? We’ve all been there. It can be frustrating to know that with only a couple of extra centimetres you’d be able to rock the dress. Well, there a couple of tricks that can help with that. Firstly, the zipper trick. If the dress in question has one of those invisible zippers, then you’re in luck. In order for those invisible zippers to be installed, there has to be extra fabric – which means, if you remove it, you get those extra centimetres of fabric back, hence making your dress bigger. So if you don’t mind a regular, classic zipper on your dress then go for it.

If you’re after a couple of extra centimeters on an easy-flowing maxi dress or skirt, you can add those sought-after centimeters to the sides, using the side seams technique. You’ll be adding the extra fabric equally on both sides in order to make it fit well. Make a little trip to the fabric shop and find one that matches that of the garment you’re trying to alter – the print or colours will depend on your taste, but just make sure the material matches (so if the dress is made of viscose, choose viscose).

Turn your trash into treasure

It can be frustrating when you have an item you like and it doesn’t fit well. Don’t stress, it’s easy to make any garment fit you like a glove. With the 5 easy alterations tricks mentioned above, altering ill-fitting clothes is totally possible.

If you’re not the DIY type and prefer to leave the technicalities to the professionals, find your nearest LOOKSMART in Australia or New Zealand and have a tailor turn your trash into treasure.