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.

Thanks everyone. I think you provided the reassurance I needed.

I was led to believe the dress was given to the bride not leant. She had a very sad story about loosing so much money because the wedding has had to be cancelled twice before.

I was led to believe giving her the dress was a good deed.

I'm a dressmaker. My occupational background is not in law so I was asking this question on a legal matters page.

My understanding is the law is a complicated process and I was really worried after she said she was speaking to a solicitor.

I have blocked both eejits on
All accounts so I'll wait on the postman bringing me a summons.

Just laugh and forget about it. She lent her dress to the bride, her issue is with the bride for getting it altered.

What an unpleasant episode. Of course she can't sue you, what lawyer would take on such a silly case.

OP says the bride originally wanted the hem turned up and stitched. So the question is did OP agree all of the alterations with the bride beforehand or did she just press ahead knowing what needed to be done. The request for the sash could have been made on finding out that the dress had been cut.

They wouldn’t, but she doesn’t need a lawyer for the small claims court.

Glad you've blocked them both because I think your so-called "friend" is in on this little racket.

You say you haven't been in contact with your so-called "friend" for some time. I don't even believe her sob-story about a wedding (eloping, is she? That's convenient!).
They bought a cheap dress off Ebay and thought they'd scam some money out of you.

Ignore the pair of them. This is no friend.

I hope they do try and sue you because they’ll just get laughed at.

Make sure you screenshot all of the messages she’s sent you (if they’re WhatsApp she can delete them).

These will show what she asked you to do and how pleased she was with it etc and so they won’t have a leg to stand on.

OP did you tell the bride you would have to cut the dress and alter the seam before you did it ? I don’t think it makes any difference because if you were led to believe the dress belonged to the bride then you acted in good faith. I’m just curious because you said the bride brought the dress wanting the hem to be turned up and stitched, but you later said she wanted a sash made from the offcuts, which suggests the bride agreed all the alterations beforehand.

The only person she could claim against (and it's extremely unlikely that it would succeed) would be the bride. You were acting in good faith on the instructions of the bride.

Oh my god, whaaaat? 😮
Wtf is making people so entitled?

OP, I'd second what everyone upthread is saying - send the crazies copies of all messages and then block.
I really, really feel for you right now - what a kick in the teeth.
You did an incredibly kind thing which involved hours of effort, and these two cheeky gits are taking the piss.
If the bride asked you to make a sash for the waist from the excess length, she obviously knew that scissors would be involved.
Wouldn't trust a word that comes out of her mouth!

No good deed goes unpunished

No it sounds like the OP did a really good job and the bride was very happy with it. Unfortunately, she was a completely different size to the dresses owner so, when bride returned it, it would no longer fit owner should she wish to use it again. It wasn’t friend’s dress to get altered in the first place, so owner should take it up with friends. Sounds like friend is passing the buck regarding what she did wrong.

I think it's between the bride and the friend who lent her the dress. As far as you knew the bride had the owner's approval for the alterations. It must have been perfectly obvious that the dress was going to end up shorter. There is no way that you can do some sort of tuck or hem taking in 19 cm. Anyway, how often was the friend planning to wear the cheap wedding dress?

Hard to establish any amount of damages and the agreement was between the bride and her friend to boot.

I can't think that they'd find any lawyer prepared to take this one on. The costs of trying to litigate this matter far outweigh the costs of some tacky polyester dress. I agree with @prh47bridge. And seemingly like her, I do have a law degree. I'd block bride and the owner of the dress.

No chance. Tell the Facebook woman what the bride requested, then don’t communicate further. Do you have any texts etc of the brides requests? Both of them are humongous clusterfucks.

Ffs this is ridiculous op what a great thanks for your hard work. My mum took my wedding dress up as she used to be a seamstress and it’s by no means an easy job!!
They sound like the judge Rinder type 🤣

At law it is not a contract without payment. In legal terms the payment is known as 'consideration'. She is off her head.

Not to be alarmist but what you are describing is disconnection from self.
You are no longer working in your own interests but in his interest. This will result in a sense of powerlessness, rudderless sensation and a feeling of being lost and alone. Your feelings of safety come from making decisions that are healthy and productive for you, when we start basing or outsourcing those choices to others it can leave a person feeling unsafe, afraid and on guard.

Try some counselling, create some space in the relationship and consider how this has happened.

You are being consumed almost.

wrong post!

It didn't matter if it was dragging a bit. I didn't ask you to fix the back seam - you did that to make yourself look good. I will be wearing a cardy so no one will see it.

If she is eloping, who is going to see it?? Bride is a dick amd karma will get her.

Youve got all the messages, so save them all into a folder.
Id pass them on to the original owner of the dress and tell her that you had no idea that it was her dress, that these are the correspondence you had with the other 'friend' and that you are confused and outraged at being thrown under the bus when you were literally begged to do this as a favour.
That if she wants to waste time and money on attempting to sue you, then thats her choice if she thinks she has a hope in hell.

Then id message the other woman and tell her that you dont appreciate being thrown under the bus like that, and what was the point of her pretending she loved it so much at the time, and then acting like such a bitch later.
Tell her shes a two faced fake bitch and that you hope her marriage fails and that youve hexed the dress now.

Then block.

I wouldn't take this well at all :😭

Legally, whether or not there is a contract or payment is irrelevant when considering liability.

I don’t agree with your approach. You need to think smarter and be one step ahead of them.

Unblock her, and respond to her message contradicting her version of events with the truth. If you don’t correct her now, there may be questions around why not if you disagree with her version of events in the future. You are essentially creating your own evidence and paper trail now and backing yourself up.

She was delighted when she collected the dress that it fit her so well and she said herself the little sash I made from the hem really finished off the dull waistline!

Say this! I’d also be tempted to add in that she was aware the dress would be cut/altered and she agreed to that in advance so you’re not sure why she has changed her position now, and at no point did she say the dress was not hers. Add that she said she was struggling financially etc.

I don’t know the law around this but I don’t think ignoring them and blocking them is the answer. If things do progress to court, you will come across better by engaging with them to a certain extent and looking like you tried to resolve the issue instead of being uncontactable to the extent their next option is court proceedings. If they do try to progress matters, your response shutting them down might be enough to knock this on the head. You not responding, doesn’t help yourself.

She's wearing a cheap wedding dress with a cardigan? Sounds gorgeous.

True but I can’t think that would go anywhere either; people in the uk don’t get sued for helping out a friend by taking up a dress.

Liability can arise from a contract or from a duty of care. I am unsure whether the latter exists in this case.

Honestly, I'd counter-threat and say you will be taking them to court for unpaid labour 😄

£900 please. Say many adjustments were requested along the way. And also leak the screenshots on FB so their family/friends can see what losers they are, including the bride's in-laws and employer.

Merry Xmas!