Quick Alterations -

Lengthening A Dress

My daughter is definitely tall for her age. Consequently there are few standard items like dresses that will actually fit her. I expressed my concerns about this to my mother-in-law since "Little k" needed a dress for my sister-in-law's wedding. I offered to sew her dress because she is tall and thin, but my mother-in-law bought her a dress instead. Although the dress was wearable, it was, as usual, too short. The dress was non-returnable and non-exchangeable. So, I altered it!

The dress has a full skirt with netting underneath it to support its fullness. For those not familiar with the difference, tulle is a lighter, more flexible material, while netting is stiff and heavier. I didn't have a lot of time before the wedding to alter the dress and my local stores did not have white netting. However, I knew the dress had white netting as a base. So, I just bought the off-white netting the store had available.

Next, I had her put the dress on and measured how much length I would want to add to the hemline. Then, I removed the netting used in the base of the skirt and sewed it to the outside of the lining (in other words, the netting is sewn to the lining so that it is between the lining and the skirt fabric to prevent itchiness) at the length that I wanted. Remember the lining is usually shorter than the dress hemline, so you will have to take that into account when positioning your netting. I added about 6 inches to this dress hemline.

Now, I have successfully lengthened the dress, but the dress will appear flat and lifeless if I leave it like this. This is where my off-white netting comes into play. Next, measure the width and length of the original netting. Then, gather the top edge of the netting, adjust the gathers, and baste onto lining in the same position as the original netting. The dress is now lengthened without losing fullness.

I also added the flower to her jacket, it just looked like it needed a little something more.