I don’t know what I was thinking when I bought this skirt. It’s probably 2-4 sizes too big for me, I am not even sure. Around the waist, that is. It’s got elastic, so it doesn’t fall down, but it’s hard to wear.
I wear it rarely and with safety pins, but it looks stupid. I was going to give it away, but thought maybe I could fix it.
I can use a sewing machine if it’s a simple, straight stitch. If it’s anything more fancy than that, to Goodwill it goes.
Thoughts?
I dunno about an elastic waistband but my first thought would be to rip out the side seams and see if I could take it in enough to fit. Otherwise, perhaps it could be pleated but that might make the waistband too uncomfortable. Do you have a picture of the skirt?
Hope guys with tailoring/sewing experience are welcome as well. I’ve done a fair bit of sewing, and the main factor in how easily a skirt can be altered is the style, followed by the pattern. For a list of styles you can look at this list of basic skirt types on Wikipedia. A-line skirts with solid colors are a breeze to modify. Circle skirts with patterning, not so much. Amazon has a skirts catalog and along the left hand side there is a set of filters for a-line, full, straight, pencil, and you can sort by one of those to see examples of each style if you’re not familiar with these terms.
Enjoy,
Steven
Why not just take it to an alterations place and ask them what they’d charge? It might be less than you think, and they’d do a better job. I finally gave in and got a pair of pants hemmed for $11 (on special), and they did a much better job than I’ve ever been able to do. Replacing a full zipper on a jacket cost $18, and that would probably be more work than taking in a skirt.
Of course men are welcome! And I think upon reflection I’ll take it to a tailor. It’s got eyelets and pretty designs on the bottom and I think it fits into the “circle skirt with patterning” and I think if I mess with it i’ll just…mess it up. And if they can’t do anything, to Goodwill it goes.
Elastic in the waist? In the back inside of the skirt, use a seam ripper to take some stitches loose on the waistband. Grab the elastic and pull enough out to tighten up the waistband. Cut out the excess elastic, sew the ends back together and close up the opening.
If elastic is sewn in, put the skirt on inside out, pinch up the side seams to get it as snug as you want, then make a new side seam on each side. Cut off the excess fabric. (I did this and didn’t even try to fancy up the waistband ends on the inside. Nobody could tell) You can taper the sides down to the original side seam above the pretty designs and eyelets so you don’t mess up the pretty.