Brant Seymour’s recent partying at a law students’ function resulted in a rip in his suit pants. The following Monday, he dropped the slacks off at Alterations by Lena to have them sewn.

“It’s a nice suit and it’ll cost too much to buy another one,” said 22-year-old Seymour. “I need my suits for school and to wear to events with lawyers and judges. And I plan to work at a law firm this summer and I’ll have to wear suits.”

He met Lauri Lapiana at the counter of the Williamsville business, and she was talking to owner Lena Galleti about fixing a broken zipper on her husband’s jeans and hemming her white pants.

“I’m going on vacation and I want to wear these pants, but the legs are too wide and long; they were dragging, so I brought them to Lena to shorten them,” said Lapiana. “I didn’t want to buy a new outfit and spend $30 on new pants. So now I’ll just have to buy a shirt.”

Seymour and Lapiana opted to save money and their clothes by taking them to Galleti, a seamstress who has been in business for 20 years.

“We repair and restyle everything—from wedding dresses to jeans,” Galleti said. “Whatever it is, come in and we’ll do it—it doesn’t matter.” There’s no need to pitch that outdated jacket or skirt with the torn hem, or even that dress that’s now two sizes too small. Galleti and other local seamstresses and tailors can alter clothes to meet modern fashion standards, increase the size of certain garments to fit your new waistline and mend those unraveled seams.

“If it doesn’t fit you anymore, I will cut new fabric and add to it to make sure we save that dress for not much money — less money than to buy a new dress,” said Chayban Chayban, a tailor who has been in business for 40 years and has six stores in the area.

When Lapiana, an Amherst resident, picks up her clothes, she’ll pay a couple of dollars for the jeans and $15 for her pants, which will have less flare and stop at her ankles.

Marati Gopalakrishnan, a regular customer of Chayban for a decade, recently picked up a cashmere coat at Chayban’s Walden Galleria store that was cleaned and had its badly shredded lining from years of wear replaced for $100. Gopalakrishnan, who paid $1,000 for the coat 20 years ago, said the upkeep of the coat is less than buying a new one and it preserves it, as well.

Resewing loose buttons, hems, fixing seams and other common minor repairs can average between $15 to $20, and your garments are available within days, depending on the tailor. Seymour, who lives in Williamsville, usually discards his clothing that he deems ruined or worn out. But he wasn’t willing to dole out hundreds of dollars for a new suit, so he sought out a tailor. He even took along a second pair of pants with a similar tear. His bill will be $12 for both.

Tracey Palisano, a sewing teacher who was the lead seamstress for the Extreme Home Makeover, said people could do these smaller mending jobs themselves, but many lack those basic sewing skills.

“I’ve come across people who don’t know how to sew on a button, and want to throw out clothes because buttons are missing and they can’t put them back on,” said Palisano, who runs and owns Sew Creative, a sewing school in Hamburg.

Catherine Pitek, a former costume designer who does her own alterations, said sewing is a lost skill for middle-class Americans and most local tailors are immigrants, including Chayban and Galleti, hailing from countries where sewing is common. Palisano said cheap clothes in stores created a “disposable clothing” culture, where it’s inexpensive to replace garments.

But, for those interested in picking up some sewing skills, there are options. At her studio, Palisano teaches adult and children’s classes for $45 a month, meeting once a week for an hour and 15 minutes.

“I’m one person that is trying to bring it back, and with this economy, people are getting excited about sewing,” she said. “It’s very satisfying and exciting to make things from scratch. I feel like, by doing the sewing classes, little by little I’m bringing an old trade back to society.”

Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores offers “Sewing 101,” a $35 one-session, 2z-hour introductory sewing class. You also can get one-on-one sewing machine lessons at Elmwood Village Fabrics for $30 an hour. There are other area locations, such as Marie’s Sewing Center in Lockport, that teach sewing basics.

Altering a garment to meet current fashion trends or for a better fit can be more expensive and labor intensive, and usually requires an experienced tailor. But Pitek said garments made out of quality fabrics, such as silk, linen and wool, and treasured pieces are worth the sometimes costly repairs.

“If it’s good fabric or has sentimental value, retailoring is a good idea,” she said.

Galleti said: “If something is cheap, why restyle? It really depends how good the garment is.”

Galleti said miniskirts are popular this year and women have been bringing in their longer skirts to have them shortened, which costs between $20 to $25. Around this time of year, she also shortens her customers old jeans to create shorts and charges $12 for the work. She often reduces the sizes of lapels and collars and shortens sleeves on blouses and jackets to give old garments new, fashionable life.

That ancient double-breasted, one-button jacket in the back of your closet can be modernized to a stylish single-breasted, three-button with retailoring by Chayban. It costs about $150, which he says beats buying a new $500 suit.

Chayban also makes custom-made clothing, which is more expensive than ready-to-wear items. But he says his customers appreciate the value of a better quality garment and a perfect fit.

“It’s cheaper to buy off the rack, but it doesn’t last you long,” he said. “It’s made in a factory — one size fits all, not for your specific build. With an off-the-rack suit, you can’t make it bigger if you gain weight. With a custom- made suit, you gain 50 pounds, I can still make it bigger.”

He added that a well-tailored suit can be a functional part of your wardrobe for 10 to 15 years. He charges between $500 to $5,000, depending on the fabric and style. Chayban said it is common for his customers to come in with their own sketches or pages torn from fashion magazines of clothing they want made.

Lemonie Hill, 64, agrees. He has been a customer of Chayban since 1988 and has 100 custom-made suits, shirts and pants crowding his closet. Some of those suits are 20 years old and he still wears them.

“They last longer, look nicer because they’re made specifically for me, and they are unique and reflect my unique taste,” the Buffalo resident said.

But if the personal touch isn’t as important to you, there is one more option. All you need is a measuring tape. Custom-tailored garments can be ordered online, to be made by tailors in Asian countries. You send your measurements and select the fabric, and the clothes are sewn and shipped to you. It can cost as little as $200, depending on the Web site.