how to: my third (and final?) waistband tutorial

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It’s that time of year again. Spring. When leggings from last Fall are too short, but it’s not warm enough to pair them with sandals and call them capris.

My daughter is a size 7/8 waist and a 9/10 inseam. It’s so annoying.

To the casual observer, it might seem I’m obsessed with waistbands. I’ve already written two tutorials on the subject: taking in the waist on jeans and adding adjustable elastic. But what about comfy pants and leggings? That, my friends, is super easy.

Materials
elastic
small, sharp pair of scissors
pin, needle and thread

Step 1
If you can find a seam, grab a seam ripper to open up the waist. So far I haven’t been able to do this. A lot of times the elastic is actually sewn to the fabric. Find an inconspicuous spot and snip a hole.

Step 2
Measure your/your child’s waist size and cut an elastic the same length. Thread it through the casing right along with the original elastic.

Step 3
Overlap the ends about an inch and stitch together—by machine if you’re too lazy to sew by hand, by hand if you’re too lazy to get out your machine.

Now would be a good time to try on and make sure all is good.

Step 4
Stitch up the little hole you made in Step 1. I used to just add a few drops of Fray Check on the raw ends, but my daughter says it’s too itchy.

I’ll be assembly lining a bunch of these tonight. Happy Spring!

how to: adjust the side seams of a dress in
4 easy steps

how to alter little girl dress

I’ve been waiting for this dress to fit my daughter for two years. When she tried it on this Spring, it was just above her knees, but still too big in the body. The only way she would be able to wear it would be if I took it in at the sides. It was actually very easy. All you need is a seam ripper and some matching thread.

Step 1
Unpick the facing under the arm and the bottom hem a few inches on either side of the seams.

how to alter little girl dress

how to alter little girl dress

how to alter little girl dress

Step 2
Unfold the fabric. Press the facing and hem flat.

how to alter little girl dress

how to alter little girl dress

Step 3
Mark the new seam and stitch. (My daughter is kind of squirmy. I measure in thumbs, not inches. I took this dress in one thumbnail on each side.)

how to alter little girl dress

Step 4
Re-fold the facing and hem. Stitch over the original holes.

how to alter little girl dress

how to alter little girl dress

See? Really easy! I didn’t even trim the new seam allowance. The edges were already finished with a serger, so I just pressed them toward the back of the dress before stitching everything back together.

I have a feeling I’ll be doing this to a lot of my daughter’s dresses this Summer. Let me know if you try it!