Ever notice the celebrity walking the red carpet in a barely there dress, waving and sashaying while all the important parts stay covered?  Have you noticed how the button up shirts of your favorite male and female TV actors never gap to reveal a bit of skin in between?   Lastly, have you watched a dancer turn, flip and jump and notice the costume stays perfectly in place?

The entertainment industry has known for years how to keep a wardrobe in place using double sided fabric tape.  Whether you are in the spotlight or not, we recommend double sided fabric tape for temporary repairs and quick fixes.

Double sided fabric tape comes in a little roll that looks similar to a roll of scotch tape.  You can find this item at a fabric store, drug store, grocery store and online.  It’s inexpensive, clear, and won’t leave a residue or damage your clothes.  The application is quick and easy with no need to iron or sew.  Fabric tape can be used on a variety of fabrics including leather and denim.  However, be careful when applying to delicates such as silk.

Most common uses for double sided fabric tape:

Quickly repair a hem in your pants or skirt.  Turn the garment inside out and lay it flat.  Cut the amount needed and place sticky side of tape below the hem stitching on the backside.  Fold over the fabric of the outside of the hem and smooth with your hand.  Press to secure.

Secure a bursting button down.  Place one side of the tape right above the buttons.  Connect the other side secretly underneath the part of the shirt that loops over the button

Tape down the top of a gaping shirt.  Tape along the top edge of a shirt that gaps when you bend over.  Connect the other side of the tape to your own skin so that it doesn’t reveal all when you bend down to pick something up.

Other uses for double sided fabric tape include: 

• Tack down a button down shirt collar
• Fix a peek a boo bra strap to spaghetti strap tank tops & party dresses.
• Secure a wrap dress
• Secure a loose sling back shoe
• Keep your scarves and belts in place  

We recommend having double sided tape on hand now before you really need it.  It’s especially handy when traveling this season. 

What have you used double sided tape for?  We’d love to hear your tips! 

If your garment needs permanently altered or repaired, Classic Cleaners has a full service seamstress at our main plant on Bash Street in Castleton.

It’s back to school time and we have some tips for getting your guy or gal ready to take on the world.

Growing Like Weeds

Your kids are growing by leaps and bounds. They could have grown an inch just over the summer break. Before you find yourself sending them off to school in ankle-length jeans and ¾-length sleeve sweaters, do a little trying on.

Ask them to slip on a pair of pants, a long-sleeved shirt and, for the girls, a skirt. Once you have one of each of these items that is the right leg length, sleeve length and skirt length, you can run through the rest of their clothing and compare.

Pass along or donate clothes that are either too worn to keep around or are beyond your child’s size. The same goes for school uniforms. If pants or skirts are just a bit too short, bring them into Classic Cleaners to let the hem out. Our alterations experts can help.

Good Night’s Sleep

Be sure your little one is getting enough sleep. If your kids have been staying up later during the summer months, ease them back into a pattern of going to bed early. Research shows that healthy minds need sleep for improved recall of what you’ve learned, concentration and attention, and problem solving and idea creation.

Our bodies need plenty to sleep so that our muscles, bones, and skin can grow and repair themselves properly. Sleep also helps us fight sickness, which is especially rampant when so many kids are together sharing germs.

Besides encouraging a habit of going to bed early, you can make your child’s bedroom extra comfortable. At Classic Cleaners, we can help with our down pillow rejuvenation and bed linen services.

To help brides look nothing less than stunning on the big day, Classic Cleaners uses decades of experience combined with the most modern techniques to expertly service wedding gowns. As the only dry cleaning company in the Indianapolis area endorsed by the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists, we take pride in helping brides celebrate that special day in style – both in the city and elsewhere.

With beautiful local venues like the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Ritz Charles in Carmel, it’s no surprise that people flock to the area to tie the knot. For others, travelling to tropical locales for a destination wedding is more appealing. Understandably, brides-to-be are often concerned about the proper way to care for wedding dresses before the celebration. Sometimes, dresses are folded and placed into boxes for easier transportation, and even for delivery or storage. Gowns stored, even temporarily, in boxes or travel bags are often tightly packed will require pressing to remove wrinkles and creases. With a gentle touch and attention to detail, we carefully de-wrinkle dresses, careful to avoid damage to beading and other special designs.

Here are some tips on caring for your dress before the wedding:
Stuff with tissue paper. To avoid squishing the dress, pack it tightly with acid-free tissue paper.

Choose your method of travel wisely. Traveling by car might be the safest option, but for those traveling by plane, there’s one rule to remember: never check your dress. Bring your gown on the plane with you as a carry-on. Ask a flight attendant to hang it in the first-class closet.

Promptly remove the dress upon arrival. If you’re transporting a dress, regardless of the distance you plan to travel, hang it up as soon as you arrive at your destination. Sometimes, it’s necessary to have the gown pressed by a professional.

Whether it’s before the wedding, or after, our bridal services keep dresses in ready-to-celebrate condition. By staying on top of the latest trends in wedding dress design, we ensure that our team members are trained to properly care for even the most intricately designed gowns. Brides can rest assured knowing that the pros at Classic Cleaners are prepared to handle the last minute touch-ups that make dresses dazzle on the big day.

For these and other tips on traveling with a wedding dress, visit the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists website.

We’re on the heels of fashion, following clothing and home goods trends to ensure that we’re the best at what we do. To remain always fresh, Classic Cleaners maintains a membership with several industry-leading professional associations. These affiliations help us to stay current with everything fabric-and-textile-related, including the latest trends from the runway.

Classic Cleaners is a member of FabricLink, a professional association that works to educate both consumers and trade professionals on the ins and outs of the fabric industry. To help us prepare for the latest fashion trends coming through our doors, we check out the Fashion Forecast to find out what’s hot and what’s not. Did you know the dry cleaning business was so glamorous?

As a company dedicated to providing the highest quality service, following what’s hot on the runway is all in a day’s work. By staying abreast of current and upcoming clothing and textile trends, we can appropriately prepare for new materials and designs that will inevitably find their way into our stores, possibly requiring special care and attention.

According to the Fashion Forecast, we can expect to see contemporary and metropolitan designs with a distinct Scandinavian aesthetic for the autumn 2011 and winter 2012 season. Shades of pink, green and orange in color-blocking styles will complement primal styles with distinct symbols of nature. Time to go shopping!

FabricLink is a resourceful tool for consumers too. The association’s website provides suggestions on removing stains from carpets and upholsteries in addition to clothing stain removal tips.