Making Those Short Skirts & Dresses A Little Longer

image via Design & Style

I have a ton to share but am having a hard time wrangling it all at the moment. I have been wanting to share some ideas about how to lengthen the appearance of short dresses and skirts. 

Inspired by current events, which I'll share in a moment, I thought I would blog about that today. I need this project because I am tall. Needless to say most dresses that are in the stores these days are WAY too short for me....or for any person who wants a dress to come to their knees or just below.

So I loved seeing this Extender Slip DIY on Pinterest and followed it over to Design & Style blog to see the entire tutorial. Just looking at this photo I am thinking about all the colors you could make extender slips in that would be so cute beyond white and cream. Shockingly (not) I am thinking how cute orange would be.

Here are links to other great extender slip tutorials.

Modern Modest Beauty: No Sew Extender Slip

iCandy Handmade: Check out the leaning over photo. Such a crack up because it's so true!

My one thought on the DIY extender slip is that it can quickly go very wrong. I saw a few online that made me cringe a bit. The fullness or slimness of the skirt needs to match the fullness or slimness of the extender slip. Extender slips are not one size fits all when it comes to looking good under any dress or skirt. You may want to have a couple, one slimmer, one fuller to match up to your wardrobe.

Now another option is to just sew a band of new fabric along the actual hem of the skirt. You can sew thick grossgrain ribbon, two-inch binding, or choose your own color and fabric and just add a hemmed panel at the bottom. My sister is so talented and even taller than me. She has done this several times. She was the source of my first inspiration for adding length to a lovely skirt or dress.

I am headed in this direction very quickly. I have been looking for a dress for an event for a while and had pretty much given up. I was settled that I was going to be wearing a skirt, cardigan and a blouse of some sort. I had purchased the skirt, found the cardigan and put it on hold and was on the prowl for a shirt that would sit well with a fitted cardigan. Then I walked into the Gap Outlet of all places and there right on the front rack was the exact dress I had been imagining in my mind for weeks. There were only two dresses left on the rack and one looked like it would fit even though it wasn't my size.

I tried it on, it was super comfortable and it looked like it was sewn to my exact measurements except for one thing. It is six inches too short. It comes way above my knees and that just won't work. But while I was trying it on, I had this feeling that it was my dress and that I could use my sewing smarts to figure out a way to add 6 inches at the bottom. To make things additionally tricky, it's a lace dress with stretch knit lace and lining. So I'm dealing with three tricky situations, lace, stretch fabrics and double layers. I'm not sure how I'm going to pull this off, but I hope it will be worth it.

I tried the dress on again when I got home and was happy that I had zero buyer's remorse. I think I will take it to the fabric store today, get some advice and see what my options are for trims and fabrics. Fingers crossed I can find just the right thing to make it perfect and maybe even more charming than it already it.