Tutorial Tuesday: Adding length with lace

Being long-legged has it's advantages, but unfortunately those advantages don't usually translate into finding clothes. Often, dresses that would come to a normal length on most women hit a bit too short for me. Especially when it comes to wearing something on stage. I found this cute dress at Khol's that was perfect for Easter Sunday, but a little too short for singing, so I decided to fix that by adding lace to it! Whether you need to add length to something or just want to give it a cute and girly edge, this tutorial works for dresses, skirts, and simple blouses. Best of all, it really requires little to no sewing skills, so no excuse! I sewed mine on my machine, but you could easily hand stitch this, it will just take a little longer. Good luck!

 Step 1: Take a piece of lace (or other trim) a few inches longer than the base of your garment. Mine was about 2 yards long. Pin to the WRONG SIDE of the bottom hem, this will allow the lace to peek out the bottom. The stretchier your fabric, the more pins you need. I pinned every 2-3 inches. I recommend staring to pin at a side or back seam. Leave an inch of lace at the start, and at least a couple inches at the end.

 Step 2: When you get all the way around, Stop pinning an inch or two away from your starting pin.

 Step 3: Select your stitch. I chose a long basting stitch, so that if I decide to take the lace off at a later time, it wont ruin the fabric as much as a short stitch. If yours is going to be permanent, go ahead and choose a short stitch or a zig-zag.

 Step 4: Using a matching or coordinating color thread, sew all the way around the hem, backstitching at the start and end. Stop just before the pieces meet. This is also a great time to break your machine. I highly recommend this if you only have 15 minutes before work to get this done.

 Step 5: Line the ends of your lace up, facing away from the garment, pin, and sew a line down the lace, joining the ends.

 Step 6: Finish your garment. Trim off the extra lace, any loose threads, and turn your garment right side out. Great job!

 <3 Laurynn Elise