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.

@Indulgingmum so she realised she messed up by not telling her friend she was planning to alter the dress and now she's trying to pin it on you.

You've made the right call!

In your original op you say she asked you to make a waist sash out of the hem so she must have known you were taking that much off.Block her.Sorry you put so much time and effort to be rewarded with this stress.

I would have forwarded the brides messages about the dress, that it looks so much better and about it being dull to the actual dress owner - what a bloody cheek

Ahh so the bride knows she’s fucked up and is throwing you under the bus. What an arsehole! Block them both and let them fight it out between themselves.

Do they think they’re living in an episode of LA law? This is completely laughable. I mean in the end they can sue you if they really want to, but they’re not gonna get anywhere with it. And given what you’ve described of the dress, cheap with a horrid fabric, and what you did, taking up four layers and making a sash and all for free, they don’t have a leg to stand on. I would ignore them completely.

It isn't a miscommunication or a misunderstanding, the bride has either not cared to double check it was ok to alter the dress as requested or has gone for the 'forgiveness rather than permission' approach. It's turned out not to be ok (understandably) and she is clumsily trying to cover her tracks. I would forward all messages to her friend, tell both not to contact you again and block.

Yep. Forward all the messages from the bride to the friend

Imagine that a bride asks you as a favour to embroider a little butterfly onto her dress for sentimental reasons. Instead you sew a giant cock and balls on the front and the words Fuck Off Diane! on the back.

The fact that you were doing it for free as a favour and not as part of a contract would cut no ice if she sues you for damages.

No good deed goes unpunished, eh?

They both sound batshit. I'd forward the emails from the bride saying how much better the dress looks to the dressmaker, then block them both again.

Did the dressmaker make the dress for them both to wear?!

I can see why you and your ‘friend’ drifted apart. She’s a twunt.
Fuck em both.

Unless the messages from the bride specified you needed to keep the length, she's batshit and I'm so sorry you're having to deal with this.

The bride is totally at fault here. It's good that you've blocked her. What an ungrateful cow!

It is not the bride who is threatening to sue, it is the dress owner. She has no case against OP because OP had no idea that the dress was not owned by the bride.

I hope before you blocked the bride that you sent her copies of her own texts specifying what she wanted?

It could be interesting to check her FB pages if or when she posts wedding photos. Something tells me she won't be wearing that cardigan.

Off the point, but WTF is this elopement nonsense? She's not eloping, she's just planning to have her wedding somewhere that involves a bit of travelling.

If you look at the quote history you will see that I am fully aware of that.

What an awful experience. And you have evidence of the fact she was delighted with the dress. They don’t have a leg to stand on.
A person best out of your life. As the saying goes a good deed never goes unpunished.

Did she have high heels on when she tried it back on with you?
Perhaps the gap between dress and floor ended up being more than imagined.
It's a shame as you clearly took alot of time and did it in good faith for a friend.
To be honest it was always going to be hit and miss as you said she'd lot alot of weight and really she should have found another dress to fit the body and not so much the other way round.
The issue is certainly going to be from the other friend, she would have been better off getting it from someone who perhaps didn't have any sort of attachment to it.
It was a kind gesture from you, I'd just quietly step away from the situation now x

I’m sorry but the comment the bride made about the dress owner taking her grievance up with you would have me sending one further message to her stating clearly that the bride was who asked you for the alterations to be made, and if all it would have taken was a couple of stitches to hold up the swathes of material from the hem, why didn’t she just do it herself? Tell her that you no longer care about the stresses she may be under and not to contact you again.

Then I’d block them both.

Reply, copying in the original
owner, say ‘as you asked me to make the sash you were fully aware that the hem would be cut enough to make that sash. I adjusted the dress according to your request, and in your full knowledge. You were delighted when you picked it up and raised no queries or issues. I will not engage in further communication about this. ‘

And block both.

I still don't think youa re in the slightest bit to blame for any of this, but for the record, if you're going to actually cut off the hem, I'd have mentioned that to her myself.

How ungrateful. The replies are so irrational, that I think you’ve taken completely the right course of action in blocking them both. They will twist anything you say, even if they contradict themselves in the process. Her poor fiancé is all I can say, she sounds like a nightmare!

@Indulgingmum that sucks and your right it’s situations like this why people are reluctant to do favours and help people.

I would absolutely send all the messages from the bride to the dress owner then walk away. It pisses me off when people like the bride take the piss and don’t get pulled up on it. I’ve done it recently and feel better for calling out the other person and walking away after. You don’t need to engage just say I was asked to do X I did and this was Brides response, and issues you have is with her, don’t contact me again.

You poor thing no good deed goes unpunished eh. I would block them both tbh they won't have a leg to stand on.

I would reply to both at the same time with all the texts that the bride has sent you and make it abundantly clear that you did the alterations in good faith and under the instructions of the bride. Include any comments that are disparaging about the dress before the alterations. Throw that bride right back under the bus she's tried to throw you under.

Also got to laugh at the stress she's experiencing at the "elopement". Surely the whole reason to elope is to remove the stress out of getting married? What a prissy little madam she sounds. 😂