Thread: Extending the upper hip of an Egyptian style skirt

Well, no one is buying my Eman I have for sale in the swap meet, so now I'm trying to figure out how to extend the upper hip with one of the arm bands without completely ruining it lol.

i'm not much of a sewer...i can hem and that's about it.

any recommendations on how to add in fabric to the back of the upper hip. there is a 6.5inch zipper in the back...and no elastic in the upper hip.

thanks in advance

I'm assuming that you mean you want to make the upper hip wider, but I don't know by how much, so that could effect how this works...but I took a peek at the photos you posted on the swap meet, and here's my idea:

What if you got some gold glittery fabric (or white glitter fabric that matches your costume) and created a sash that wrapped around the top edge of the skirt and then fell down the back in a train? You could open the zipper and hand-sew in a triangle of stretchy fabric or elastic to widen it. Then use the sash/train to cover it up. Should you decide to resell, all of this could just be unstitched and removed. The sash would basically just be a very long rectangle gathered at the area where it covers the zipper of the skirt.

Alternatively, if you're more adventurous and want to try your hand at beading, you could open the waist with the same triangle of fabric, and then cover it with an applique beaded to match the floral patterns on the skirt. You could also have the train trail down from beneath the applique.

I'm not great at alterations, but check if there is any extra fabric down the seams of the skirt. That would be the easiest way to let it out I think...

I Wanted to extend the waist area by 1in using the material from one of the arm bands.
Sorry...at work and can't use the net
Thnx 4 the replies so far

I did this with a bella once to extend the upper hip. I removed the zipper and then sewed strips of arm bands to both sides. I then sewed the zipper back in between those pieces and decorated a smidge to make it follow the same beading pattern.

For this one, cut 2 wedges/triangles out of one of the armbands to put in there. A wedge will make it so you only have to alter where the zipper is and not all the way down the seam of the skirt.

Oh thanks lesedi. That sounds doable. I'm chicken to try it. :(

I second Lesedi's suggestion. I had a Sim once that had been altered (by Sim) to be bigger. The way they did it is just as she described. Remove the Zipper, insert a triangle shaped wedge big enough to make the skirt the necessary size at the top and then re-insert the zipper. Fill in with whatever beadwork is necessary. If you use the armband fabric, you'll have to look very hard to notice the alteration. If you're not comfortable with that, take it to a seamstress who is.

thanks for all the ideas ladies :)

I emailed you...if you are still interested in that swap, I want your eman! I'm ready to let go of the other one. I know I'm ridiculous...but let me know. I would save it from surgery...lol!