Can I be sued for adjusting friends wedding dress?

[Indulgingmum]

I have a "friend" haven't seen her for few years we drifted apart. Her wedding has been cancelled twice once with Covid and once with her mother's sudden death.

Her original dress is toooooo big now she's lost loads of weight.

She contacted me
Out of the blue to ask would I take up her new dress as she hadn't time to get a dressmaker because they are eloping.

I make my own clothes so it's something I am
Able to do. I said yes if you're in a fix.

So she brought me dress said it was from her other friend and its needs turned up. When she tried it on it needed a couple other small things fixed too where it was badly constructed.

I cut 19cm off the dress and hemmed it (4 layers) and spent ages unpicking the back seam and straightening it. I then made a waist sash out of the hem as asked.

She collected the dress two weeks ago. I did this as a favour so no money or anything changed hands.

The brides other friend contacted me on Facebook and said I'd ruined her dress. Said she was going to see a solicitor because it was ruined and she couldn't use it again ( it's a wedding dress made with fairly cheap fabric and wouldn't have cost a lot to start with and was badly constructed) when I gave it back it was in better condition than what I received.

Can she sue me for doing this? As far as I was aware it was the brides to do with as she pleased. I've messaged the bride and she hasn't replied.

You were asked to alter the dress and were entitled to assume that the bride had permission from the owner of the dress. The bride would have a case against you if the alterations had been badly executed or were not what was agreed. Her friend doesn't have a case against you at all. She may have a case against the bride if the alterations were carried out without permission, but that is all.

She’s watched far too much American tv. 😂 You can’t sue someone just because you’re unhappy about something.

You have no contractual relationship with her and you didn’t steal the dress from her, so she can’t sue you, so relax on that score and block her.

Her only recourse is to sue the friend she gave or lent the dress to, but on what grounds, is unclear. If she freely lent her the dress expecting it back and the dress has been altered so she can no longer wear it, then tough luck I’m afraid. If your friend paid her to borrow the dress then maybe she could argue they’d entered into some kind of hire agreement? Either way, it’s still nothing to do with you. 🤷🏻‍♀️

No the Bride wouldn’t have a case against the OP even if the alterations were completely shit (which they clearly weren’t), as the Bride has no legal contractual arrangement with the OP as there has been no consideration offered (money or exchange of services etc.)

Have you got any money OP?

She can't sue you if you haven't got any money.

Did she even say it was not her dress when she asked you to alter it? How was she expected to wear it for a wedding if it didn't fit. Sounds like she didn't really care about you or her friend as she had a free dress and free alterations so no complaints from her.

Tell her mate to do one and take it up with her pal

Sounds like bride and her friend are trying to pull a fast one. Just ignore her.

Agree. They are a pair of scammers contacting you out the blue. Block but keep any messages in case they start harassing you. How do they think you got the dress in thr first place, idiots.

I've understood the OP differently from most others. I read it as the dress belonging to the person who requested the alterations but that she has complained to a friend, who has become the spokeswoman. The spokeswoman has let the OP know the dress owner is unhappy with the alterations and legal action is being considered.

Either way, OP, it was a free service that you provided as a favour. No contracts were made and if she's unhappy, she can swivel. if she had exacting expectations, she should have employed a professional service. Life lesson for you both.

No, of course she can't. In future, don't accept any sewing for anyone. You might like to peruse this insta @canyousewthisforme

It sounds as if you are very skilful OP.

That's what I thought too, but this line suggests otherwise:

So she brought me dress said it was from her other friend and its needs turned up.

I would say “I have no idea what you’re talking about - I have never altered a dress for you. I have altered a dress for X, so perhaps you may wish to discuss with her. Do not contact me again.”

This is exactly what I was thinking!!! What would she be using it for?

Thank you all.

I have a string of Texts from bride where she explains what she needs and why she is asking me ( that she has no time to go to professional)

It also shows I said I'd rather not as I'm not a professional. Then I say I will do it as a favour but do not want payment as I'm not a professional. (I already have a paid job and don't need to be muddying the tax waters by taking on sewing jobs too.

I have two messages from her saying the dress fits her better than ever now and it even hangs on her body better.

I've not replied to the dress owner but I have messaged the bride on every platform I have for her!

I will keep all the evidence I have just in case but thanks for putting my mind at rest.

No legal advice to give, but I’m an experienced dressmaker who once made a wedding dress for a friend. My advice is, don’t touch wedding dresses!
Even ordinary sewing work is highly undervalued and people want stuff done for free that should cost £££. Add to that the pressure of a wedding. Grown women get very emotional and silly. Tempers get frayed.
Good on you for trying to help but a wedding dress is like 5 x the responsibility and pressure of a normal piece of clothing. Just say you’ve tried your best and they should take it to a professional dressmaker. End of.

Bit bloody late now!

No good deed goes unpunished! The dress owner's issue is with the bride. She was a proper CF if she had 19cm taken off the length and various other alterations made to a friend's dress without permission.

The Court of Appeal has expressly confirmed that the fact there was no contract in place and no money was exchanged does not prevent someone being sued for negligence. I'm not saying the bride has a case - on the information posted she doesn't. But, if she did have a case, the absence of any contract or payment would not necessarily protect OP.

Send her screenshots of your conversation with your friend and then block. Don't engage with her at all.

You provided no service. No contract and no money was exchanged. They don’t have a leg to stand on

The bride told you the dress was someone else's. I therefore wouldn't have made any permanent alterations without explicit permission from both the bride and the owner - turn up hem and add darts that could be removed, but no cutting.

However, the legal waters of deciding who is responsible.for the damage look decidedly muddy and I doubt it would be worth her while to sue.

I just want to add. The dress is perfect. It is in better shape now than it was when I got it. It seems the owners issue is I've shortened it to fit the bride. The owner is somewhat taller.

It doesn't matter that the dress is perfect for the bride, if the bride is not the owner.

And the absence of a contract is a red herring. That might be relevant if the bride were suing you for not altering to her specification. She's not. The owner is threatening to sue for damage. There's no contract for damage - if you key someone's car you can't get out of paying for the damage on the grounds that you didn't have a contract to scrape the paint.

Block her and don't let this take up any more headspace.

If the owner of the dress was considerably taller than the woman she lent it to, did she not consider in advance that it might need to altered to fit the shorter bride?