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.

I rather suspect that the owner of the dress hadn't given permission for this level of alterations and, rather than admitting she asked for this, the bride is trying to make out that OP went beyond what was requested.

The owner of the dress may have a claim against the bride. On the information posted, no-one has a claim against OP.

I have to say that I would not speak to either of them ever again.

The bride is a total CF asking you to alter the dress for her - she’s disorganised and stupid. And selfish - blaming you and telling you that you can fight with the owner. What an awful cow - took advantage of you and then threw you under the bus.

The dress owner is idiotic as well, thinking that she can go and see a solicitor about this nonsense.

Ignore all communications from both of them. Keep screenshots and printouts of all messages.

"All you had to do..."

Then she should have done it herself.

I see this on Reddit all the time - it seems to be a modern (mainly American) misuse of the word.

To my mind, "elopement" is what my aunty did - told her boyfriend to bring a ladder so she could climb out of the window without her parents catching her. They travelled from the village to the city and married there.

Both of them are CF.

When their husbands realise what nut cases they both are - both WILL probably need to wear the dress again for their 2nd weddings.

I wouldn’t even engage with either of them - who don’t even have the balls to ring you, both hid behind their keyboard warrior messages.

I would love to see this on Judge Rinder.

Is he even still on tv?

I'm sorry you're in this position, it sounds as if you did a great job on some very tricky fabric. No good deed goes unpunished....

When you agreed to shorten it, did you explain that this could only be done by cutting off a substantial amount? I find that people who don't sew have absolutely no idea of what alterations involve, let alone how difficult and time consuming they can be. Bride and friend are probably incapable of realising that it's their own ignorance and unrealistic expectations that have let them down

In reality their options were a) live with it b) get someone else to do a temporary fix (maybe) or c) get you to do a proper fix. They need to take on board that what they wanted ie d) a dress that would hang reasonably, move without catching etc without any permanent structural alteration was never on the cards.

I'd have told the bride she's a cowardly little c*nt (and I hate that word) who loved the very necessary alterations when she saw them and who's only now backtracking 'publicly' because her friend is angry. And cc'ed her friend who gave her the dress and knew she was having it altered to fit.

And then blocked.

Fucking hell, obviously never do anyone a favour and no she can’t sue you, she’d have to sue the one she gave the dress too.

well I wouldn’t use the word friend! Agree that both of them sound batshit, the bride is a selfish spineless little madam and that showing the dress owner her messages about how happy she was with the alterations would probably be a good idea as the buck should stop with her. Then block block block! Honestly - poor fiance!

I'd tell them both to f* off and grow up.
Then drop/block.

I wonder if the bride is the same person taking the poster on another thread here to small claims over the condition of a sofa bed she and her partner asked to have left behind at no extra charge when they purchased a flat. Claim it doesn't work and are suing for 1500.

I understood it as that friend is the owner of the dress and now because it is altered she can not use it again... But still, she should talk to the bride who wanted changes...

Crikey, both women deserve each other, best rid.
Legal action won't happen so don't give it a thought..

Firstly take a screen grab of the messages from the bride

Forward all the screen grabs to the original owner of the dress

Text original bride; I received instruction from the new owner of the dress and assumed it was hers to do with as desired. You had no idea it was a loan and was going to be reworn by the original bride. You did the job unpaid as a favour to help a friend, because you were being kind and helpful’

Don't do this. Do nothing. You are not the defendant here OP.

You poor thing. It must have taken ages to re hem and alter the dress. What a cf the bride is. How dare she give the dress owner your number. I’d be fuming in your position.

No good deed goes unpunished!

Glad you have blocked them. Try not to think about it.

These women sound insane

No they can't sue you because someone brought you a dress and asked you to alter it (for free!)

It's easier that you didn't charge.

Don't have anything to do with either of them again.

Just another thought and IANAL. The bride gave the dress owner your number and she didn’t have permission to do so. As she is a private individual, GDPR does not apply. If the sole reason for doing do was for the dress owner to harass you, I’d be wondering if there was a law against that. Obviously harassment is illegal.

The friend owns the dress, so i assume her issue is that OP altered it without her permission.

If the friend takes this to the small courts this course of action could make things more difficult for OP. OP has absolutely no need to respond to either of them or provide screen shots. If the friend wants to gather evidence for a claim, OP has no obligation to help. She did nothing wrong, and the most she should be doing is saving evidence that the bride asked her to alter the dress and was happy with the work. That way, if the friend is batshit enough to pursue a claim she can prove what happened.

Do nothing OP. You have acted in good faith and cannot have known the background.

Don't send anything or respond in any way. If the original owner continues to harass you, call the police.

In the unlikely event that this goes to court, you can be called as a witness only so you should keep screenshots of everything.

This is just a tawdry storm in a teacup involving ridiculous people. Don't get involved until forced to.

Well that’s gratitude for you.
No good deed and all that.
There’s no way she could sue you. There was no contract signed and no money exchanged for a start.
Also why has she got all her minions twittering away at you on Facebook can she not for speak out for damn herself