skirt alteration

Dear nana4,

Here is what you can do to make the changes you need.

If the adjustment you are making to the skirt is above the upper hipline, then you can make the changes to the existing darts. However it is better to create two more darts in the front and two more in the back, instead of increasing the intake of the existing darts. If you just increase the intake of the existing darts then the dart points may stick out away from the body.

Work from the right side to create the two new darts on the front, first align the stitch line of the front darts and pin them together, then measure 5 to 6 cm front the top of one of the darts towards the side seam and loose baste straight down, catching all the layers with a double threaded needle. You want these stitches to be short, about 7 mm apart, leaving a loop on every other stitch. Click here to see how this is done. Stop about 1 to 2 cm above the existing front dart points. You want these new darts to be shorter.

Now cut the loose basting stitches from the inside down the middle. If the skirt has a lining, then you can increase the loop lengths of the loose basting stitches. This way after cutting down the middle of the loose basting threads, you can also separate the lining from the shell on both sides and cut again down the middle. This way you have marked the lining and the shell all in one step. You have now marked the center lines of the 2 extra darts on the front of the skirt. Do the same on the back

Next you can distribute the excess fabric length along the waistline circumference evenly between the 4 new waist dart intakes. 

If the adjustments you need to make go below the upper hipline, then you may be able to make the changes only at the side seams.

Happy sewing,

Nehzat