redoing my mastlerlist and all the linked post again heres the one for binder alterations and repairs
someone else made a very nice tutorial on making your own binder
for this youll need to know a running stitch, catch stitch and blanket stitch. you need a good small needle, remember you can always use floss for strong thread. i slapped the images together cause they were taking up to much space
source for the catch stitch image altering 1. taking the shoulder straps in to make the binder shorter from the top, this makes it so the binder doesnt dig into your belly or in your side chest fat 2. hemming the bottom so the bottom is shorter, this only fixes the issue where your binder digs into your belly repairs 1. stitching not covering the edges 2. unraveled stitching/binder coming apart
reinforcing 1. armholes 2.bottom sides first alter, taking in the shoulder straps for this youll use a running stitch. turn the binder inside out and pinch the fabric you want to take in make sure you dont cut off the slack just let it stay and stick out on the inside of the binder, that way if you change your mind or if it doesnt fit right the first time you can always just undo your stitches and the binder will be back to how it was before. anyway then use a running stitch to take it in. it should look like this. you can see the patern of the binder goes at a diagonal but you don’t want to follow that you want to take in fabric in a straight line so it’s even and it still fits the form of your shoulder
second alter, taking in the bottom. for this youll need all three stitches, a running stitch, a catch stitch and a blanket stitch and fray check. dont have a photo of this one so its going to be harder to explain i might draw it for a diagram but flip your binder inside out choose where you want your new edge to be then mark that and mark slack for the seem allowance(you should give the stretchy outer layer three times the seem allowance itll need more. And here’s more information on fray check and it’s alternatives) then do a running stitch without folding anything over the top line before cutting quickly use fray check on the stiff inner fabric of the binder(wait half a hour to dry, wear a mask and do this in a ventilated area) then roll the outside stretchy fabric into itself until theres one times the seem allowance instead of three then with both layers fold them once in do a catch stitch to keep them down then a blanket stitch to finish the edges i hope this makes sense i will be adding diagrams to help diagram :) two diagrams! two seprate methods!! as long as you tuck your ends and sew really you could go either way
i added a second method but dont forget your fray check on the dark blue edges first repair, misplaced stitches for this youll need, catch stitch and blanket stitch(not necesary just for extra extra security). so this is one of the manufacturing errors i was talking about sometimes with gc2b especially their stitches dont cover the fabric edge on the inside like this
so to fix that youd do this
its hard to see but what i did is a catch stitch over the fabric edges and then i went over that with a blanket stitch to finish it off(the blanket stitch isnt necessary i just did it for more security in certain spots) i put my stitches over the original stitches to keep everything in place heres a example where i didnt use a blanket stitch
second repair, unraveled stitches for this you need, catch stitch and blanket stitch ok for this one find the ends of the old stitching that broke off and tie them down, what i did was i used my thread to tie knots in the stitch that hadnt come out right next to the broken or unraveled old thread. do this everywhere you need to and when youre done next you cut the excess thread and start by folding the edges to how they were and stitching them back with a catch stitch then a blanket stitch. should look like this. (the one on the right doesnt have blanket only catch)
but if its just the originals blanket stitch that came out like on the bottom sides of the binder where the inner fabric layer stops and is sewn down to the outer stretchy fabric layer. you only need to tie off the ends and redo that blanket stitching there. heres what that looks like.
first reinforcement, armholes you need, catch stitch and blanket stitch for this the front and bottom armholes are what we reinforce this picture shows why
This is a drawing of a inside out binder with the sturdy fraying fabric panel facing up the blue highlighted sections are where the edges are already finished and the orange sections are where the edges haven’t been finished. because of that those unfinished edges fray and unravel over time and cause that inner rough layer of fabric to slowly fray and come apart.(ill add a way to fix that later) so to avoid that flip inside out and use blanket stitch all along that orange edge. and on the bottoms of the armholes just use a catch stitch to reinforce, if you want you can do the entire rest of the armhole with a catch stitch for extra extra reinforcement. it looks like this
second reinforcement, bottom sides only need blanket stitch for this you want to flip your binder inside out then on its side at the bottom youll see where the rough fabric connects to the stretchy fabric the manufacterer used a blanket stitch to secure where the rough and stretchy fabric meet but that bottom section unravels easy so there were going to do about two inches of a blanket stitch over their blanket stitch before finding their loose thread and tying it off( gc2bs is long even if its tied off(which they dont always do) so you can find it and tie it off twice by doing a stitch and knot where it attaches) it looks like this after
