Sew, Crochet, Knit: Simple DIY alterations and fixes to store-bought clothes

Have you gotten some clothes that looked cute in the store, but then end up not wearing them for one reason or another? I have a few items that I put into a storage bin because I wasn't wearing them. Recently, due to the nice warm weather we've been having, I switched out my cold-weather clothes for warm-weather clothes, and rediscovered these items in my storage bin.

As I looked these items over, I realized that I stopped wearing them for very simple reasons. Not only that, all of the problems that I had with these clothes were problems that could be fixed with sewing!

For example, the top button of the teal dress below wouldn't stay closed reliably, and I became so self-conscious when wearing it (I would look down and check all the time to make sure I was still buttoned) that I just stopped wearing it.

With my new-found confidence in sewing, I decided that I would fix this particular problem with a hidden sew-on snap button right above the top button.

These are the sew-on snaps I picked up, in size 3/0 (the smallest).

The sew-on snap button completely fixes the problem and it only took a few minutes to do this fix!

Even better, the ruffles on the bust of this dress hide the thread, so it is completely invisible from the outside.

Another item I found in my storage bin was an orange tank top. I bought this orange tank top in Japan several years ago, but I stopped wearing it because the overlapping edges of the V-neck did not provide sufficient coverage, and my bra was often visible if you looked at the side with the opening.

This was another super-easy fix. After confirming that I would still be able to get the top on if the overlapping edges were sewn together (I used a safety pin to pin the edges together, and tried putting on and taking off the top), all I had to do was stitch the overlapped part down. I decided to go with orange topstitching to match the ribbon in the middle. Another piece revived!

Can you see the orange stitching?

I also dug up an old pajama top. I wore it so many years that the elastic had lost all of its elasticity.

You can't even tell that it has elastic attached to it!

The elastic was old, yellow, and generally totally gross.

I removed all of the old elastic with a seam ripper, and sewed in new elastic in its place. (1/8" elastic that you can find at your local sewing/crafts store.)

Voilà! It looks like it did 7 years ago!

I also found some denim shorts that I wore so much that holes developed below the back pockets! This fix didn't even require sewing. All I had to do was iron on some patches on the inside to reinforce the weak area. The patches are also readily available at Jo-Ann or your local sewing/crafts store. Iron on high heat (dry iron) for 40 seconds to set it, and it's done!

I positioned the patches to cover the weakest parts (where the denim had worn thin).

You can't see the patches from the outside. You can only white threads where the two holes used to be. I don't mind having those threads there. If you mind, then it might be trickier to fix your shorts.

These shorts will be good for another few years now.

A couple of years ago I bought Martin-fit gray pants at Banana Republic in the petite size/length. At the time I thought they fit, but soon after getting them I realized they were too short and looked ridiculous. (They might have shrunk a little in the wash, too, contributing to the problem.)

Looking at these pants again I was inspired to redo the bottom hem.

Pin the hem up while wearing the pants for the best results!

It was even easier than expected. The Martin fit luckily has an extra rolled up layer at the bottom, so I had enough length/fabric to work with.

The blind hem setting on my sewing machine took care of it.

You can only see the stitching on the inside of them hem-- on the outside it is almost completely invisible.

Last but not least, after years of use, the strap on my strapless bra had stretched out, rendering the bra pretty much useless. (Who wants to have to find a private spot every few hours to adjust your bra to keep it from sliding down too far?)

I was getting ready to buy a new one when I suddenly realized that I might as well try to fix the old one.

Step 1 & 2: use a seam ripper to remove the ends gently (you're going to reattach them). Cut off the right amount from each side, keeping in mind you have to trim both sides.

Step 1 & 2 on the other side.

Step 3: In most cases, trimming off some fabric will mean that the width is not the same as the hook closure anymore. You will have to gather the fabric to make it fit. Baste close to the edge using the longest length stitch you can, and pull to gather the fabric.