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.
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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.
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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.
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Add an additional half inch to each side for seam allowance.
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Cut out your pattern using scissors.
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On a piece of similarly-colored fabric, pin your pattern using sewing pins to hold it still on the fabric.
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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.
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Pin your gusset to the garment along the edges of the hole you created earlier.
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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.
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Repeat this step for each of the remaining edges of the diamond.
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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.
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Turn your garment inside out again, so the seams are on the inside of the garment.
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Inspect the gusset to make sure there are no gaps in your seam.
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