A Quick Guide to Common Clothing Alteration Terms

Tailoring your clothes is a great idea to get a great custom fit on your dress clothes. However, you might be a bit lost in the process if you don’t know the right tailor talk, so to speak. With that in mind, the team at Elite Cleaners is here with this quick guide on what clothing alteration terms you should know to fit your clothes. Reach out today for the best Wichita alteration services.

Bring Up

The term bring up means to shorten the length of the garment, whether it’s jacket sleeves or pant legs. Your jacket sleeve length should sit about a quarter inch above your dress shirt cuff, while suit leg length depends on your desired break. Shirt cuffs should reach just to the base of your thumb when your arms are flat down by your side.

Break

A break is a crease in your pants above the top of each shoe. A full break has a noticeable fold and is a more traditional style for pants with longer legs. Medium break pants have a smaller fold near the end of the leg, while no break un-cuffed pants don’t touch the top of the shoe.

Hem

Hems are the edges of woven fabric and stop the custom suit from unraveling. Generally speaking, suit pants don’t have hems when you buy them, so you can adjust the trouser legs length depending on your needs. Tailors get the desired hem circumference by folding and sewing the outer fabric to create a cuff.

Inseam

An inseam is the stitched line on each inner pant leg. Raising the pants inseam can give the pants a more defined shape and make them less baggy. Lowering the inseam can give you more room if the pants feel too tight.

Overweaving/Reweaving

Overweaving and reweaving are two clothing alteration terms that refer to methods to repair holes in your coat jacket, pants, or shirts. Overweaving involves extra fabric from other parts of the suit to close holes with a nearly invisible seam. Reweaving involves literally weaving individual threads into the original cloth with only a needle.

Scye

The scye is the suit jacket opening where the arm goes. Scye measurements start at the base of the neck and extend to the base of the armpit.

Rise

The rise refers to the difference between the inseams and outseams of your pants. Generally speaking, shorter people want a higher rise on most suit trousers because it can make them look taller.

Taper

Tapering means narrowing the suit, whether it’s a jacket waist or hip measurement. Tapering provides a more narrow shape for the jacket’s waist, tailored specifically to your body shape, unlike off-the-rack suits.

Vents

Vents are the flaps in the back of suits that provide additional flexibility. Single vents are common on American-style suits, while double vents are more common on suits with European-style tailoring.

Now that you know these key clothing alteration terms, contact Elite Cleaners online or give us a call today at (316) 651-5997 to schedule dry cleaning or alteration services!

Benefits of Elite Cleaners

Quick and convenient, saving you countless hours
Expertly cleaned with care and precision
FREE Pick up and Delivery Service
We include a Laundry bag
2 Convenient Wichita Locations for drop-off services

Give us a Call and

Let Us Take a Load Off!

We’ll pickup your laundry and bring it back to you! Wash and Fold Laundry services are great for busy families and professionals who just have too many other tasks and have no desire to do laundry after a long day.

“Perfect name for this business and they have earned the “Elite” moniker in my book. They not only pick up your sack (that they provide) of dirty clothes and deliver your perfectly pressed clothes in two days, but they do it at a price better than most of their competitors! Oh, and they’ll do linens, curtains, and smoke damaged fabric too! Kudos to the team at Elite, you should be proud.”

— Nathan R.

THE ELITE CLEANERS

Difference

OUR NAME SAYS IT ALL...

We are a company that prides itself on operating with the utmost professionalism and attention to detail. We will take care to ensure that your laundry is as clean as it can be. We also have the friendliest and most helpful staff in Wichita, KS.

Our customers are our number one priority, and we treat them as such. Our services are also consistent: we will have your clothes ready on schedule each time.

If you think that this high level of service comes with a high price tag, think again. At Elite Cleaners, we offer affordable prices for our wash & fold services—as well as all our other laundry and dry cleaning services.

If you are looking for an affordable, reliable laundry solution in Wichita, KS, give us a call at 316-651-5997. We are conveniently located on E 13th Street in Wichita and we will be glad to help you with all your laundry needs. Once you have used our convenient wash & fold services, you will wonder how you ever got by without them.