?? for Dance Moms

[irish dancer]

DD8 is on a jazz team, it is our first time on a competitive team. When their costumes came in I was told that I could do her alterations myself so I did not sign up for the school seamstress to alter her costume, figured that was one expense I could avoid since I sew. Well, I just picked up her costume so I could get it ready for dress rehearsal next week and there was a bill pinned to it for the alterations. It is not a huge amount but the fact of the matter is I did not sign up to have them done for me. WWYD?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I'd let the person in charge know.

Our costumes had the alterations included b/c the costumes were made from a base and customized. It was one price. Alterations were just to finish it off.

If it was altered, not much you can do except maybe to ask if the dance company will eat the bill since you told them specifically to not alter the costume.

 

[cabanafrau]

If the alterations are to your satisfaction & the bill isn't huge, my opinion is simply pay the bill graciously and let them know nicely that in the future you would like to handle alterations yourself. You have no idea how long or how far your daughter wants to go with this dance endeavor, so it's better to burn no bridges.

IMO, I would prefer to have the costumes professionally altered because most of the fabrics aren't the type I'd care to or have the confidence to work with. You may be much more skilled than I am, so taking care of them yourself would make more sense.

 

[Sleepy]

If the alterations are to your satisfaction & the bill isn't huge, my opinion is simply pay the bill graciously and let them know nicely that in the future you would like to handle alterations yourself. You have no idea how long or how far your daughter wants to go with this dance endeavor, so it's better to burn no bridges.

IMO, I would prefer to have the costumes professionally altered because most of the fabrics aren't the type I'd care to or have the confidence to work with. You may be much more skilled than I am, so taking care of them yourself would make more sense.

I couldn't agree more with the bolded part. Ditto to everything else. I would rather allow the school to handle the alterations. That way, if they mess up, it is nothing on me. Just nicely let the staff know of the "miscommunication" about the current alteration option you had chosen.

 

[Dancemom03]

We've always let the studio seamstress handle alterations b/c that way I'm not at fault if it's not the way they want it. Most times we even let them add the rhinestones if needed too but the cost at the studios we've been with has always been very minimal. Sometimes a judge may deduct points for costumes - anything from suitability to the music/style or for uniformity. It doesn't happen often but I'd hate to see it on the score sheets after the competition and wonder if DD's costume was the problem.

You could mention it to the office staff but I agree with pp that depends upon how long your daughter may dance with that studio. If you think she'll be there for a long time or politics seem to play a bigger role there, I probably wouldn't make any waves unless it was a really substantial charge or the alterations were done poorly.

Whatever you decide, here's hoping you & your DD have a terrific season!

 

[SydSim]

I believe that you can ask nicely without burning bridges "Forgive me if I'm wrong, but are we allowed to do our own alterations to save a little money? I thought that's what I signed up for, but maybe I was confused". This let's them know that you are not upset, but allows them to check into it and offer a solution.

If you don't say anything, this may allow them to continue to do the alterations from now on, although not a huge deal, it's not something that you would prefer.

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

I believe that you can ask nicely without burning bridges "Forgive me if I'm wrong, but are we allowed to do our own alterations to save a little money? I thought that's what I signed up for, but maybe I was confused". This let's them know that you are not upset, but allows them to check into it and offer a solution.

If you don't say anything, this may allow them to continue to do the alterations from now on, although not a huge deal, it's not something that you would prefer.

This is what I would do. Also, I would offer to pay for the alterations this time but accept if the studio decides to pay for their mistake.

I do have to say that you are waaayyyy brave to attempt alterations on your own. I guess if you sew regularly it's no big deal but this would intimidate the heck out of me. Our studio doesn't even offer to arrange alterations. We're on our own.

Did I mention that DD has a competition this Saturday and one of her costumes has still not arrived ??? Freaking out a little bit!

 

[irish dancer]

Thanks everyone for your input. I will be asking her teacher about it today at class, her teacher is the head of the dance company. I have an email from the team mom from the day the costumes arrived stating that we could do our own alterations or have the school seamstress do them. I will be very nice about it and it is not a huge amount but every little bit helps and if she stays with it I want to be sure it doesn't happen again because next time it could be more expensive.

As far as alterations go, this was not a big job. All that needed to be done was tack the collar and tie to the top, put a snap as a closure on the collar and tack a bow to each glove. I am not an expert seamstress but I do sew and even worked in the costume dept during college so I felt comfortable with doing these items.

 

[cabanafrau]

Thanks everyone for your input. I will be asking her teacher about it today at class, her teacher is the head of the dance company. I have an email from the team mom from the day the costumes arrived stating that we could do our own alterations or have the school seamstress do them. I will be very nice about it and it is not a huge amount but every little bit helps and if she stays with it I want to be sure it doesn't happen again because next time it could be more expensive.

As far as alterations go, this was not a big job. All that needed to be done was tack the collar and tie to the top, put a snap as a closure on the collar and tack a bow to each glove. I am not an expert seamstress but I do sew and even worked in the costume dept during college so I felt comfortable with doing these items.

Definitely agree with you, even I would have handled those types of alterations myself. Now, it's when you get into the use of darts, taking in seams, etc. on some of these fabrics that I'd rather pay someone else for the aggravation. For you, even those sound like manageable tasks, so I'd very kindly talk to the director or teacher & let them know. You might want to let them know you have some experience. If you're a new mom to them, they may be nervous you say you can handle this & really are either a screw up or flighty & won't follow through. Believe me, it happens & that causes problems for the group.

ncmickeyluvr, what's the big deal? She won't need the costume until she's ready to perform, right?
Been there, done that. Seems to be standard operating procedure in the world of dance. Good luck on the costume & the competition!