How to enlarge a shift dress

Have you seen this dress?

I must have seen the ad on Pinterest one million times before I broke down and finally ordered it. It was $21, made in China, and the reviews on the company and dress quality were ‘iffy’ at best. About a month later, after seeing the advertisement over and over again, I decided to give it a shot. Worst case scenario, I could repurpose the fabric – am I right? Weeks later the dress finally arrives in the mail…

Let me start off by saying that my expectations were pretty low on this one. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that the quality was pretty dang good! I went to slip the dress on in my excitement only to find that…Momma’s hips don’t lie. The ‘one size fits all’ did not include curvy me. More like, ‘one size fits tiny skinny people’. I could get the dress on, but it pulled funny and was uncomfortable looking around the hips. Not cool. I toyed briefly with the idea of giving the dress away to one of my skinnier friends, but then thought better of the idea. HA! Mememememmememmememememe, I really loved that floral linen after all.

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How to enlarge a shift dress

The easy way

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How to enlarge a shift dress

Did you see my sewing magic trick in the above photo? That’s right, I added knit godets to the side seams. TA-DA!!! Get the DIY below…

• Skill level – advanced beginner
• Time needed – 1 hour

MATERIALS:

• Too tiny shift dress
• Coordinating knit fabric
• Seam ripper
• Fabric scissors
• Coordinating thread
• Measuring tape
• Basic sewing essentials

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Using your seam rippers, carefully unpick the hem at the bottom side seams of your dress.
2. Use your fabric scissors or seam ripper to then cut up the side seam, all the way to the bottom of your sleeve (or armsyce). Repeat for both sides.
3. Measure the length of your side seam.
4. Cut a triangle (godet) from knit fabric, with the stretch going horizontally (left to right). The long side edges of the triangle should equal the length of your side seam.
5. Sew the triangle godet into the side seam of your dress, and finish seams with a serger, pinking shears, or zigzag stitch.
6. Fold hem back towards the inside and press, including the new knit insert. Re-sew the hem to secure.

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Thanks so much for stopping by, and until next time…

Happy sewing!