Waist Alteration on a RTW Jacket

[krudsma]

When an alterations tailor takes in the waist on a ready-to-wear jacket, how are they going about it? In the past I've tried to do something like what I've outlined below in green, but I always end up with a bubble of excess material on the underarm of the side body panel. I'm usually tapering from zero to about 1.25cm at the waist and then back to zero at the hem.



(this is just a screengrab of a rundschau jacket, shown here just as an example.)

[TSjursen]

You will need to pin the alteration to see where it can be done and what issues it may cause. If the fullness does not want to lie cleanly at the top of the side seam, you must open the armhole and take it in at the top as well. The sleeve can be eased back in unless you have removed a lot, otherwise you will need to take in the sleeve as well. An alternative that often works is to take it in at the centre back (depends on the fabric, run of the stripes etc). That may cause a little fullness near the collar, which can usually be pushed in under the collar seam. It works best if the jacket is a standard size and the person you are altering for has a round back and stoops slightly forward (a lot of people do). In that case the alteration at the centre back is almost always the better option in my experience.

[krudsma]

Ok great, I'll give that a try! If I do wind up taking it all the way to the armhole, do I need to remove the whole sleeve before easing it back in, or can I just ease it in around that seam? Perhaps I'll try and split the difference between the center back seam and the sides.