How to lengthen a skirt

Most women, when buying new outfits, want to look fashionable and stylish. Every season, designers offer new fashion trends, and it is simply impossible to keep up with them. For example, having bought a spectacular mini skirt of a certain style dictated by fashion, after a couple of months or years you can understand that it is not relevant. An item may be of high quality and perfectly preserved, but many fashionistas will no longer dare to wear it. Simple methods of altering a product will come to the rescue in these situations. One of which is lengthening skirts.

What materials can skirts be made from longer?

You can transform a skirt from almost any fabric. They can be made from different fabrics such as organza, velvet, satin, denim, leather and many others. The main point is the choice of a suitable companion fabric in color and texture, as well as a future design option.

IMPORTANT! Knitted skirts are difficult to lengthen models. Not all methods are suitable for them.For example, cutting in the middle of many materials is impossible due to unraveling and shedding.

Popular ways to lengthen a skirt

There are many different ways to lengthen skirts. Much in this process will depend only on the author’s imagination and available materials. You can give new life to every product.

Working with the hem

Processing the hem is perhaps one of the simplest options and is suitable even for girls who do not know how to sew at all. This method will allow you to add from a couple to tens of centimeters to the product. So, first you should rip open the edge of the hem, remove excess threads from it and thoroughly steam it with an iron through gauze. Typically, the hem of skirts can be up to 4–7 cm or more, depending on the choice of processing by the manufacturer. In the future, the edge can be bent only 1–2 cm or processed using braid, tape and other methods.

Lengthen the skirt with lace

The use of lace is one of the elegant options. The lace ribbon at the bottom of the skirt makes the outfit more seductive. In addition, this type of ribbon is very convenient to work with, since you don’t have to rip out the hem. This option is suitable for wide lace ribbons. They just need to be placed along the edge of the hem and carefully sewn by hand. Stitches should be made small and invisible. You can also stitch a piece of material to the back of the product. This method is discussed in more detail below.

REFERENCE! Recently, one of the fashionable combinations is the combination of lace with denim and leather. These seemingly incompatible materials in many respects look stylish and harmonious together.

Let's use fringe

Using fringe can significantly add length to a skirt.This method can add elegance, solemnity and style to the product. It is necessary to choose the right fringe for the skirt in terms of color, length and pomp. If desired, you can use several layers of this material. The fringe can either match the color of the product or differ from it in color, adding zest to the outfit.

Hem made from a different fabric

For this method you need to find a piece of fabric. You can use either matching fabric or a different color and texture. For example, fashionable combinations of pink and purple, chocolate and white, and many others are in demand. The selected material can be combined with a badlon or other accessories. Let's look at the process step by step:

1. First you need to cut out a strip of fabric of the required width and length. To do this, you can lay the item on the fabric and draw the desired stripe by hand with a piece of soap. This should be done especially in flared skirts or sun and half-sun skirts, since the material goes on the bias there. For straight skirts, just use a ruler.
2. It is necessary to take into account all allowances for seams and folds, if they are provided for in the design.
3. The resulting strip must be ironed.
4. Next, we rip off the hem of the skirt, remove the excess threads and iron it.
5. You can sew the resulting strip in different ways. First, it is connected to the skirt using pins, then it is basted by hand, and then stitched on a machine.
6. So, when sewing end to end, the bottom and the strip form a single seam. In this case, the bottom of the skirt must be processed.
7. Additional fabric is sewn on top if it differs significantly in texture and density from the fabric of the main product. In this version, the top of the strip should be processed before sewing it to the product.
8. At the end of the work, the resulting product must be ironed.

ATTENTION! It is not recommended to use heavier fabrics, as they can ruin the shape of the product and stretch the hem.

Adding a train

Thanks to this method, you can make a full-fledged long product from a mini skirt. In this case, the skirt itself will not be affected. You need to take a piece of light fabric (organza or tulle) and cut out a spectacular train from it. Next, we process the side sections and sew on the belt. It can either be closed with a zipper or made in the form of ribbons. This option is very convenient, because the train can be removed at any time.

Double skirt

Products made from tulle have been in fashion for many years. Almost every skirt can have one or more additional layers on top. Follow the suggested sequence of actions:

1. Let's make a pattern. To make the tulle layer more luxurious, it is necessary to take material several times wider than the hem of the original product.
2. Next, we sew the tulle at a distance of 5–6 cm from the edge using a machine. To do this we use a large line.
3. We connect the side sections of the tulle layer.
4. Next, we gather the tulle to the width of the skirt’s waistband.
5. You can sew on the tulle layer without ripping the belt. To do this, just fold the fabrics face to face and pin them with pins and carefully sew them on.
6. Next, remove all the auxiliary stitches and cut off the excess fabric allowance.

Working with a belt

A more difficult option for lengthening a product is to work with a belt. First you need to unscrew it and choose one of the possible options for further work.

Belt made from a different fabric

To lengthen the product, it is necessary to carry out preparatory work and cut out the future belt. It can be made from any other suitable fabric.As a basis for the belt pattern, you can take a cut belt and expand it. Next, the product must be reassembled. It is convenient to use a wide elastic band as a belt. It will look spectacular on wide and fluffy skirts made of light fabrics.

ATTENTION! Skilled craftswomen can knit a thick elastic band for a skirt on their own. By making the elastic in two layers you can significantly insulate the product. True, you should wear wide sweaters over such a skirt.

Adding a peplum

Quite experienced craftswomen can make a basque. It can also be removable. The peplum visually makes the skirt longer, as it suggests a high waistband. To make such a design, you need to completely remove the belt and zipper, and then make a peplum pattern. It is necessary to do a fitting at each stage to ensure that the skirt is comfortable.

Making a yoke

This option can be used for skirts of different styles. It is also convenient for working with pleated products and wedge-shaped inserts. The yoke can add from 5 to 20 cm in length. Its shape can be varied and is determined by the personal preferences of the craftswoman. For example, a narrow yoke visually adds height to a person, while a wide one, on the contrary, will shorten the girl. Follow this sequence of actions:

1. First you need to prepare the product. To do this, turn it inside out and rip off the belt, facing and clasp. Iron all seam allowances and ripped darts.
2. Next, we determine the location of the lower edge of the yoke and measure the girth along the width.
3. From the waistline on the product itself, put a couple of centimeters down and draw a line for the bottom of the yoke. Excess material should be removed.
4. To build a yoke, you can take a pattern for the base of a straight skirt or use a skirt with ripped darts for these purposes.
5. We cut out the yoke and process the side cuts.
6. Next, we connect the lower section of the yoke with the upper sections of the skirt.
7. You need to make a zipper in the left side seam.
8. To process the upper part of the yoke, we cut out the facing and sew it on.

IMPORTANT! If it is problematic to buy a fabric suitable for a yoke, then you can use any material. In this case, you should choose a long sweater or blouse for the outfit to hide the yoke.

Making inserts in the middle of the skirt

The inserts in the middle of the skirt look unusual. This method can significantly lengthen the product. Let's take a closer look at this process:

1. We cut out a strip of the given dimensions in length and width, taking into account seam allowances.
2. From the bottom of the skirt we measure the place where we plan to sew the insert.
3. Cut off part of the skirt along this line.
4. We pin the insert and the bottom edge of the skirt with pins and connect them together.
5. Next, we connect the resulting element to the main part of the product.

What materials are suitable for inserts

Transparent fabrics work well for inserts. They create the effect of lightness and airiness even on the most massive skirt. Mesh, chiffon or lace fabric looks impressive. Inserts can be of different widths, shapes and colors depending on personal wishes.

In what cases is it impossible to lengthen a skirt?

There are cases when you need to be especially careful when lengthening your skirt. This applies to cases when the cut of the element is bias and the fabric may stretch during stitching. Therefore, after sewing on additional fabric, the skirt needs to hang for a couple of days. Next, excess fabric is removed and the bottom of the product is finished.It is not recommended to lengthen items made from fabrics with complex geometric patterns, such as stripes. And only an experienced craftswoman will correctly cut the material into a cage.

Knowing the possible ways to lengthen skirts, you can reconstruct various things. At the same time, it becomes possible to always be fashionable, stylish and significantly save the family budget. There are many ways, and every needlewoman will be able to find an interesting option for herself. We hope that this article will be useful and will help you make adjustments to your existing wardrobe.