Thread: Will hanging a skirt really add length?

I just received a costume I ordered about 3 months ago, and the skirt is about 2 inches too short. The fabric is a stretchy lycra. Should I try hanging it? Or should I just send it back? I love the costume, and it fits perfectly except for the length. And I really want to wear it for a show I have in early march. Any ideas? Thanks!

Hanging it won't help.

Is this skirt designed to be worn with a separate belt? If so, you could consider surgery on the TOP edge of it. In other words, remove the elastic at the top if there is some. Buy some fabric in a similar color if possible. Cut a long skinny rectangle that is a couple of inches longer than the top edge of the skirt, and about 3 inches wide. Sew one long edge to the top of the skirt. Finish off the top edge as described on this page of my web site: Belly Dance Costumes: How To Make A Casing With Wide Bias Tape

Of course, the above instructions are useful ONLY if you will be wearing a belt that is wide enough to cover the surgery on the top edge of the skirt.

No, I received a Pharaonics that was two inches two short. I hung it up, hoping it would stretch but it has not.

I think the hanging-a-skirt-changes-the-length business goes back to the olden days when dancers had to make all of their own costumes, and the style of the day was the circle skirt. A skirt that has been cut on the bias (the diagonal of the fabric) may be affected by gravity and may grow longer on the bias as it hangs. Therefore, you would need to "hang" your skirt for some amount of time before you could even up the bottom and make the final hem.

A professionally made skirt, particularly one made from a non-bias-cut woven or knit, is not likely to stretch under normal circumstances. If the skirt fabric is predisposed to stretching, this should have already been dealt with during the manufacturing process. I suppose if you had a lot of weight on the hem, you might see an increase in length if the skirt was hanging for a long time, but it's unlikely it would result in an even and attractive hem. It would probably just get saggy and stretched out of shape at the heavy spots. (In other words, you probably won't have much luck lengthening a skirt by clothes-pinning weights on the bottom.)

Nope, sorry. Your skirt is probably doomed to be the length it is now. Your options are pretty much limited to Shira's fix, getting a new one, or cobbling it onto the bottom of a midriff cover (if you can go that low without getting indecent).

Like others said, hanging won't help. If it's a circle skirt and has been done the right way, it had already been hung, so it really won't stretch anymore. And even then, it would stretch in some places and not in others.

Basically you can add either to the top or the bottom. What Shira suggested for the top is great.
If the skirt is not too full, you can maybe make an underskirt. I have done that once with a Pharaonics, it was the "Dripping in diamond" costume, so the top was lycra and the bottom chiffon. It was just a little too short and a bit too sheer. So I made an underskirt with similar fabric (could not get the exact one) , made it longer, and decorated the edge with gold lame hem, plus added the wiring. It looked nice.

The entire skirt is made of lycra and there is no separate belt. Otherwise, those ideas might work. Guess I will have to think about sending it back. It is just so pretty tho :(