Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Simple Resizing Ideas

 Hello Readers. Sometimes our clothes get too small. And maybe sometimes too big? Life happens. Stress, cookies, illness, age, it can all change our weight and shape. Today's post is about some simple resizing techniques that I have used and that always work for me.

Before and after.

This outfit needed some help. I was loving the neutrals but the fit of the clothes was all wrong. The sweater was mine and got too small like 5 years ago. Pandemic snacking changed everything. The corduroys were such a nice warm camel color. I got them from a clothes swap and was determined to make them work.

I got to work on the pants first. The easiest way to make them smaller was to turn them inside out, try them on, and mark where I wanted them to fit. I sewed along the side seam and made a new seam. I only needed an inch or so off each side to make them fit better. I also had to hem them because I am short.

The sweater was going to take a little more work. But it wouldn't be hard to make the sweater a little bigger so I can wear it again. I am going to cut it open on the sides and fill in the gap with a ribbon.

I used my scissors and cut the seam open. 

I used a zigzag stitch to sew over the lace and I made sure I was stitching along the edge of the sweater where I had cut it open. I left some extra ribbon at the end so I could fold it under for a nicely finished edge at the wrist.

Here is the finished sweater. The sweater is bigger because the ribbon added 2 inches to each sleeve and 4 inches to the body of the sweater. You could use wider ribbon to add more space to it. The length of the sweater is unchanged.

My whole outfit fits so much better This picture turned out a little weird but it showed the lace added to the sweater so well, I decided to use it.
 The best thing about these methods to change the size is that you could use the same idea for making the sweater smaller and making the pants larger. Using the side seam as the guide for sewing new seams or adding something into the seam is an easy way to go. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.
 
***Year End Update- I love anything cashmere so I am still wearing this sweater all the time. It matches a lot and beige corduroy pants in winter are a go to item.








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