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Fashion & Textiles vocabulary · Sizes & Fit

Alteration

Meaning in fashion & textiles, with examples

/ˌɔːltəˈreɪʃn/nounCommon term

In fashion & textiles, alteration means: A change made to a finished garment so that it fits a particular person better, such as shortening sleeves or taking in the waist.

In Turkish: tadilat, düzeltme, değişiklik

How it is used

Department stores, tailors and bridal shops offer alterations, often for a fee. Common alterations are hemming trousers, shortening sleeves and taking in or letting out seams. In pattern work, people usually say pattern changes or corrections instead.

Example sentences

  1. Free alterations are included with every made-to-measure suit.

  2. The bride needs two more alterations before the wedding.

Common collocations

  • free alterations
  • alteration service
  • make alterations
  • minor alterations
  • take inTo make a garment or part of it narrower or tighter by sewing the seams further in, for example at the waist or side seams.
  • hemThe bottom edge of a garment or sleeve, folded under and sewn so that the raw edge does not fray; it can also mean the act of sewing it.
  • fittingA session in which a garment or sample is tried on a person or form to check and correct its fit before it is finished or produced.
  • seam allowanceThe extra fabric between the stitching line and the cut edge of a pattern piece, which makes it possible to sew and finish the seam.

More terms: Sizes & Fit

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