How to lengthen a skirt (or dress)

Honestly, I did get a little nervous to just start adding frill to my wardrobe so quickly! I decided that I would start on Little Gal and her Little Sis's wardrobe first. After all, I am all for lengthening the amount of time my girls can wear their (or my) favorite dresses. :)

If you are a beginner, this project is for you! All you need to know is how to sew a straight line.

If you attempt this little project, you will need:

a too short skirt or dress

sewing machine

thread

frill or lace for more length

I found all of these fun pre-made spools for blanket edging at Walmart of all places. Joann's had a larger variety but I forgot my coupon, so I left empty handed. I was lucky to find eyelet, and ruffled edging, perfect for a spring-time dress make-over. All were 2 - 3 inches wide.

Start with one too-short dress or skirt...

Then decide how much longer you want it.

Make sure you find your frill, eyelet or lace in the width that you need.

add a little lace, and voila!

Longer, and cuter I might add.

One thing to remember with using the eyelet or pre-made rolls; the edges are unfinished. If you have a serger you can fix this in a jiffy. If not, you can "pink" the edges using some pinking sheers to keep the fabric from fraying when it is washed. It is much easier to "pink" the edge before you sew it onto your garment. This picture below of a Valentine's Day banner I made a few months ago shows a pinked edge.

I folded the fabric over twice at the beginning and end of the frill and just sewed right over it to hide and protect the unfinished edge at the end of this button up dress.

After fixing Little Gal and Little Sis's dresses, I decided that eyelet would be cute for me too!

I even snatched a "denim" color roll for this little casual dress.

A little vague, but mostly I just wanted to share my ideas to get yours flowing! I promise I will go into more detail when I post a more grown-up way to lengthen. On to part II.

Hello spring, here I come!

Cheers,