How to Alter a Lengha Blouse

はじめに

You may have just bought a new Lengha, or other traditional outfits with a blouse that is not properly stitched yet and is loose. Instead of struggling to find a tailor that can tighten your Lengha blouse, save time and money by following along this guide to do it yourself at home!

This guide shows you step by step how to take in the blouse of a Lengha or any other traditional Indian outfits that come with similar blouses.

Special skills: A running stitch is required to take in the blouse, but this guide teaches you how to preform that task.

Warning: make sure to handle the needle with care, as it can easily be lost resulting in someone getting injured. It is suggested that you wear a guard on your fingers so you can protect yourself from being poked by the needle.

必要な工具と部品

手順1 How to Alter a Lengha Blouse

How to Alter a Lengha Blouse, How to Alter a Lengha Blouse: 手順 1、 1の画像 1

Take the measuring tape and wrap it around under your bust. Take note of this measurement.
Divide the measurement by two and take note. This will be the measurement used to tighten the blouse in step 4.

編集

手順2

Take the blouse, and flip it inside out.
The inside of blouse must be facing outward.

編集

手順3

Lay the blouse with the front facing upward on a flat surface.

編集

手順4

Stretch the measuring tape across the bottom of the blouse and use the measurement from step one to evenly measure how much to take it in on both sides.

編集

手順5

Use fabric chalk to mark where you will be sewing on each side of the blouse.

編集

手順6

Select a thread that matches the blouse preferably, otherwise any color is fine.
For clarity we will be using a yellow thread.

編集

手順7

Take the thread and insert it into the needles hole and pull approximately 30cm of the thread through.
It is fine if there is extra thread remaining after the stitching.

編集

手順8

Put the two sides of the thread together to make a single thicker thread.
Tie the end and cut the remaining thread, leaving you with a long line of thread for stitching.

編集

手順9

Position the needle pointing upward at the bottom of the blouse, where it is marked with chalk to begin stitching.

編集

手順10

Push needle upward through both pieces of the cloth.
Pull through the entire thread until the knotted end of the thread stops the thread from being pulled any further.

編集

手順11

Measure a short interval and push the needle down into the blouse again.

編集

手順12

Continue steps 9-11 until you reach the top of the cloth. This will create a running stitch.

編集

手順13

Tie a knot at the end of the stitch.
Make sure it is close to the blouse. This photo demonstrates tying a knot away from the blouse.

編集

手順14

Cut the excess thread at the top and bottom of the garment.

編集

手順15

Repeat Steps 9-14 for the other side of the blouse.
Normally one side of the blouse will have a zipper. In that case it is not necessary to stitch the entire way through. Rather only stitch the part of the blouse that is already closed up.
In this image, the zipper only opens until the visible point, therefore stitch above that area.

編集

手順16

Flip the blouse right side out, and now you have a complete fitted Lengha blouse.

編集

終わりに

Try the top on and check the fitting. If it seems too tight or loose, then you may have taken the wrong measurements. You may need to cut the stitches and try again. The fitting should ideally not be skin tight but rather allow a bit of room to breath since it is commonly a non-stretch material. Once you are done, you have now altered the blouse to your size and it is ready to be worn.