Taking In Skirt Side Seams

Learn how to take in the side seams of a skirt or dress that is too large. This skirt alteration can be done to fix the fit of a skirt that is too large in the waist, hips, or lower edge. It can also change the style of a skirt that has too much volume at the lower edge, and change it to a narrower style of skirt. Nicki LaFoille shows you how!

Begin by turning the skirt or dress wrong side out and putting it on. Then pin down the side seam where you want the new side seam to be, keeping the seam flat and trying to stay symmetrical on each side. However, if your pins aren’t perfect, Nicki demonstrates how to even it up from left to right once the skirt is back on the sewing table.

Nicki shows you how to achieve a smooth line for the new side seam line and how to gradually bring the new seam line back into the original for a smooth transition.

This process can also be used to take in the side seams of a shirt. Learn about this alteration in the video Taking in a Shirt.

You will also learn how to unstitch the hem to make this alteration invisible. Remove the stitching from the hem enough to fold it out flat, then stitch the new side seam all the way to the lower edge. Trim off the excess fabric, finish the raw edges if necessary, then refold the hem along the original hemline and restitch to secure. The same process can be done on the waistband by removing the stitches, unfolding the waistband and continuing the side seam.

Find more readywear alterations here:
Pants Seat Alteration
Shoulder Seam Alteration
Add Fisheye Darts to a Readymade Garment
Adding Cap Sleeves
How to Hem Jeans