jeans tailor for unusual body shape
Hello community,Help! I need to find an awesome tailor who can alter or make jeans to fit a small waist and large hips. I've always had a hard time finding pants which fit, but since turning 50, it's become impossible. it seems that 10 pounds have migrated from my top half to the bottom. I'm 5/2" and am a size 10/12 in the waist and 14/16 through my hips. Recently a tailor told me they can't change the fit as much as I need them to. A different tailor worked on another pair but one of the pockets is off center and they still don't fit correctly. The whole situation is incredibly demoralizing and makes me feel like a freak. If you know of anyone who can work their magic to help with a problem like this, please let me know!
Sep 10, 2019
Parent Replies
I have always had a waist relatively much smaller than my hips, making it very hard to find pants/jeans/etc. The stretchier material in jeans these days is helpful, but one strategy I used to employ a lot was buying larger jeans to accommodate my hips/butt/thighs (I've got gymnast thighs) and then having my seamstress make "tucks" in the waist to make the waist smaller. Of course, then there is a smaller opening at the top of the jeans through which I usually have to do an athletic shimmy to fit my butt through. But it works...most of the time. Longer zippers or lower rise waists can increase the size of the opening at the top. Stretchier material helps, too. My seamstress is in El Cerrito, and she is maybe in her 80's now, but she still does my alterations. She at least used to do original custom sewing ("dress-making"), but I have never used her for this. Maybe she can make a pair of jeans for you?? Her name is Ms. P. Reilly. (Her first name is Thai and means something else in English, so I'll just put "P" here.) Her phone number is 510-526-7211. She operates out of her home on Stockton Ave., El Cerrito.
I would get a tailor to make your pieces rather than trying to alter ready to wear, or think about sewing the pieces you want yourself. These kinds of adjustments are pretty routine for the sewing community, and one of the reasons many people getting into "memade" garment making in the first place. For example, see Closet Case's founder's testimonial here, https://closetcasepatterns.com/about/
I know that Douglas at Britex in SF (the wool guy) has a tailor he likes that could replicate some of your pieces to fit you now, but I don't know who it is. There are a couple of tailors on Piedmont Ave, as well as Piedmont Fabrics, and the staff there are really helpful and might have some ideas for you. There's a Meetup group for Bay Area sewists that is really friendly and great with helping people with their fitting issues. There's even a fitting event coming up this October. https://www.meetup.com/Bay-Area-Sewists/?scroll=true Good luck with this, it's not fun to fight your wardrobe.
As for pants... try custom pants with eShakti.
PS - You might have a condition called Lipedema, like I do. Weight gain in lower half, especially after menopause. It's important to take care of yourself in a particular way if you have this chronic condition. https://www.webmd.com/women/guide/lipedema-symptoms-treatment-causes