Introduction

If your shirt, dress, or other garment is too tight around your upper arm, use this guide to install a gusset to enlarge that area of the garment. This allows for a better fit and greater freedom of movement, and can help prolong the life of your garment.

Steps 5 and 6 require you to sew using a straight stitch and a zig-zag stitch respectively. If you do not already know how to make these stitches, the following guides can show you the basic method for each:

This guide will demonstrate the method using a sewing machine, but this repair can also be completed with a handheld needle and thread following the same steps.

Before using this guide, make sure your garment has been cleaned and pressed/ironed, as this will provide the best results during your repair.

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    • Use tailor's chalk to mark 4 inches from the seam joining the sleeve to the bodice on the center sleeve seam.

    • Use tailor's chalk to mark 4 inches from the seam joining the sleeve to the bodice on the bodice seam.

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    • Use a seam ripper to remove the center sleeve and bodice seams up to the chalk marks.

    • Be sure to avoid splitting the horizontal seam joining the sleeve itself to the bodice.

    • Turn your garment inside out so the seams are facing towards you.

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    • Create a pattern by drawing a diamond that is 4 inches by 3 inches on a piece of paper.

    • Add an additional half inch to each side for seam allowance.

    • Cut out your pattern using scissors.

    • On a piece of similarly-colored fabric, pin your pattern using sewing pins to hold it still on the fabric.

    • Using fabric scissors, cut out a diamond-shaped piece of fabric following the pattern you created. This is your gusset.

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    • Line up your gusset against the hole in your garment.

    • The longer sides of the diamond should be pointing towards the cuff of the sleeve and the bodice.

    • Pin your gusset to the garment along the edges of the hole you created earlier.

    • You should pin them together with the edges of the gusset and hole overlapping by about half an inch for seam allowance.

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    • Using a sewing machine or needle and thread, take a quarter-inch stich on one edge of the diamond with a straight stitch.

    • Be sure to remove the pins ahead of your stitch as you move down the edge to avoid damage to your sewing machine.

    • Repeat this step for each of the remaining edges of the diamond.

    • Use sewing scissors to trim excess fabric along the edges past your stitch.

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    • Use a zig-zag stitch to seal the rough edges of the diamond using a sewing machine or needle and thread.

    • Turn your garment inside out again, so the seams are on the inside of the garment.

    • Inspect the gusset to make sure there are no gaps in your seam.

Joseph Meyers

Member since: 27/09/21

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