Rompers are a great way to stay stylish and comfortable. They’re versatile, they’re easy to wear, and they fit any occasion as long as you’ve got the correct size. However, if your romper is not the right size or if it turns out that what you ordered was too large or too small, then can a romper be altered?
Yes, a romper can be altered. You could try altering it yourself, which is not recommended, or you could take it to a tailor. Though altering it yourself may seem like it’d be equally effective at getting your romper in shape again, there are some tendencies for the quality, appearance, and fit to be altered.
Therefore, in this post, I will explain why you should let a professional alter your rompers; if you must alter, I will explain how to alter a romper that is big and small. I will also give other hints so you will be able to rock your rompers.
Why You Should Let a Professional Alter Your Rompers
1. Rompers are usually easier to take in than they are to let out
Rompers are typically form-fitting garments that fit snugly. Therefore, it’s often harder to let out a romper than it is to take in a romper. If you do need to let out your romper, you must do so carefully and with caution.
The best way to make this happen safely is by adding darts along the sides of the garment where you want more room for yourself.
2. It’s not impossible, but it’s also not ideal
Rompers are an excellent garment for summer, but sometimes they don’t work out to your advantage. It’s possible to rework the romper so that it fits as well as any other piece of clothing.
However, I have to warn you that this process can be time-consuming and expensive. You may end up spending more money than if you had just bought an entirely new outfit altogether.
3. It could ruin the fabric
While the idea of being able to adjust a romper may seem like an easy solution to solving fit issues, it’s not always a good idea. When you buy a piece of clothing with the intention that it will fit in your closet for years, altering it can cause problems down the line.
While some alterations are safe and appropriate, others will ruin the fabric or be too difficult to do correctly. if your rompers have embroidered details around the waistline, snipping those threads could cause unraveling and ruin your romper.
4. You could ruin the design
The first thing to consider is whether the design can be altered by hand or not. If it’s a one-off piece, there may be no way to alter it without ruining the design and thus destroying its value.
If you find a romper that you love but is just slightly too big, altering it yourself might be possible. In this case, there are two options:
- You could take in the sides and sleeves so they fit more closely to your body.
- You could take in the front panels so that they’re flush with each other instead of overlapping at an angle.
5. You could ruin the look
If you don’t know what you are doing, it’s easy to change something that was once perfect into something that isn’t. For example, if you add extra material in the wrong place, it can make the romper fit awkwardly on your body or even prevent it from zipping up at all.
If this happens with a dressier romper, such as one made from silk chiffon, it can be challenging to fix because there isn’t much room for error when making custom alterations on these types of materials.
6. You could ruin the fit
If you’re not a professional, it’s best to leave the alterations up to the professionals. Your first instinct may be to shorten or lengthen the romper, but this can ruin the fit of the garment and make it look awkward.
If you want more material in specific areas and less elsewhere, try adding darts instead. This will help accentuate your body while still maintaining all of the detailing that made you fall in love with that romper in the first place.
7. You could ruin the quality
As with any clothing item, you can only alter a romper so much before it loses its structure. This is especially true if the material used to make the romper is delicate and expensive.
In some cases, sewing on too many seams or making too many changes to the garment will result in an item that’s not able to be worn anymore. This is why it is advisable not to alter your romper.
How Should a Romper Fit?
A romper should be loose enough to fit over your hips but not so loose that it looks baggy or too long. If a romper is too tight, it won’t fit over your hips and will look awkward.
The waistband should hit right at your natural waistline so that when you sit down, it doesn’t rise above the top of the fabric as a pair of shorts would do with an elastic band around them.
A good length will come down just past where your fingertips reach when standing upright, with both arms hanging naturally by their sides.
If they don’t reach this point, try a size up. If they go all the way down past where they’re supposed to go, then you should consider returning them because they’re probably too long.
How to Alter a Big Romper
If your romper is too big in the waist, hips, or back, you can take it in at those places. Follow the instructions below.
- Use a seam ripper to remove any stitches that are holding together pieces of fabric. You should be able to see where these stitches are located by looking at how the fabric is cut and sewn together.
- Once you’ve identified those spots, add new stitching to make the adjustments needed.
- If the arms on your romper are swimming in fabric and you’d like them smaller, take them in by removing some length off of each side of both sleeves with a seam ripper.
- Then, resew them back onto the top part so they’re shorter than before but not so short that they’ll be uncomfortable when wearing them.
How to Alter a Romper That is Small
If you’ve already tried on your romper and know that it doesn’t fit properly, don’t worry. You can still make it work for you.
- For the arms, the first thing to consider is whether or not the sleeves are too short.
- Now loosen out the sides of the romper and drop them down a bit so that they reach your wrists while keeping in mind where your hands fall on your body when they’re at rest.
- For a short sleeve, you may also want to drop down the hemline of this piece of clothing if it’s too high up on your arm; this allows for more coverage without adding bulk around, where fabrics can bunch up and create wrinkles or creases.
- You can also loosen out the sides if there are areas where the fabric bunches up.
What You Can Do When Your Romper is Not Your Size
1. Alter your romper
If you know how to sew and want to alter the romper yourself, that’s great. You may want to talk with someone who has experience sewing rompers so that they can advise you on what types of alterations will work best.
If not, then it might be best for you to take it somewhere where professionals can help out with this task for you.
2. Find a different romper that fits
As you can see, there are many different types of rompers, and they all have different styles and fits. For example, a romper can be made of denim or chiffon. It might have an empire waist, or it might be short-sleeved.
If you’re looking for a romper that fits you perfectly, it is essential to try on different types of rompers until you find the one that works best for your body type.
3. Take it to a tailor
You could take it to a tailor. There are a lot of bespoke tailors who are magic workers and can make nearly anything fit, so you’re definitely not out of luck if you have a romper that needs work.
You might find that the tailor will be able to make it fit better than when you first bought it, or they may even be able to alter the romper enough so that it looks like there was never any alteration done at all.
4. Sell it online
If you’re not interested in wearing your romper and are looking for ways to make money off of it, you could try selling it online. You can find a lot of places that sell second-hand clothing, including eBay, Poshmark, and Thred Up.
You might also consider taking it to a resale site like Fashionphile and trying to get rid of it there instead. Resale sites will usually offer less than half the original price for an item like this because they’re not buying brand-new items from designers.
But at least you will still be getting money for it. This is better than dumping it at the back of your wardrobe.
5. Donate it to a thrift store
If you don’t have time to take your romper to the tailor, or if you don’t want to spend money on alterations, there’s another way. You can always donate it.
Donating clothes is a great way for you to give back and help someone else in need. It also helps keep our planet healthy by reducing wastefulness when it comes to clothing consumption.
Donating your rompers will help others find affordable clothing options without contributing further damage to the environment or economy.
Conclusion
Romper alterations are totally doable. Firstly, the material of your romper is critical to how easy it will be to alter. If your romper has a lot of stretch, then you might want to think about having it tailored instead because there will be less room for error on account of the fabric’s elasticity.
But if yours is a cotton-based fabric or woven linen, then you should be fine.
Another thing that affects whether or not you can alter a romper is how much work needs to be done. Is there just one area that needs adjusting? If not, I would recommend getting a new one instead.
