Thread: Lengthening a skirt made from Lycra

Hello bhuzzers!

I had a costume custom-sized for me but everything was too short. I have a bra and Lycra skirt (heavily decorated at the top of the skirt). I have no extra fabric to extend the length. The skirt to just above my ankles.

What are some ways to lengthen the skirt, if any. I thought hanging the heavily bead top of the skirt down would cause the fabric to stretch. Any suggestions? Has anyone altered a skirt like this into a Lycra top and chiffon bottom?

Thank you!

There are some alterations possible.
- wear a chiffon underskirt. Depends on the costume but sometimes works.
- Add ruffles like on the andalusian romance from pharaonics:
Dahlal Internationale
- I had a skirt with walls of fringe from Bella that came out too short. They tried to save it adding 2 inch long fringes to the bottom:
http://img542.imageshack.us/img542/4...vestersh03.jpg
- cutting up the skirt and add chiffon. It works, I don't have pics but I know from others who did it

Photo's, by any chance? Definitely helps to see what we're working with!

Whatever you do, it needs to look like it was a deliberate design choice. I've seen contrasting or matching ruffles around the bottom (and up splits) of skirts; belts made from the beaded top of lycra skirts; a chiffon circle skirt attached to a beaded lycra top-of-skirt... depends on how much more material you want to purchase and the overall look you want, I guess.

Originally Posted by jellytree

Hello bhuzzers!

I had a costume custom-sized for me but everything was too short. I have a bra and Lycra skirt (heavily decorated at the top of the skirt). I have no extra fabric to extend the length. The skirt to just above my ankles.

What are some ways to lengthen the skirt, if any. I thought hanging the heavily bead top of the skirt down would cause the fabric to stretch. Any suggestions? Has anyone altered a skirt like this into a Lycra top and chiffon bottom?

Thank you!

Is it possible to have the costumer correct the error? If it is a heavily decorated skirt, that might be your best option.

I have also added ruffles on to lengthen skirts like this, but yes, so pay attention to make sure it looks like it was supposed to be there! One I did was with stretch mesh and I just added some of the same to armbands so it looked like part of the original.

another option I have done, is when the skirt has a border decoration, is to actually cut the skirt above the edging and then add is matching piece of stretch mesh, so you end up with a sheer section at ankle height.

I have a beaded dress that is too short and it had a slit. I ended up making a skirt in to wear under the dress that was the color of the beads. Because the dress is too short, there is a 2" boarder of color that pokes out. I traced the dress so the skirt is the same cut and I used similar fabric, just a different color. Like others have suggested, whatever you do make it look like it is part of the design and no one will know the original was too short.

I like the idea of adding a ruffle if it seems to go with the design. I'd want to see a deep (rather than shallow) ruffle, maybe in a chiffon or mesh fabric that tones with the original rather than contrasting too much. If the skirt is only long enough to add a short ruffle, I'd actually shorten the skirt so that ruffle can be 5-6" deep -- it should look generous, I think. And definitely add some of the same fabric to the bra (A little ruching or a fabric flower maybe?) or to the sleeves to tie it together.

i also like the idea of cutting the skirt, either straight across or diagonally, perhaps just above the knee, and adding a wide panel of stretch mesh fabric.

Here are the pictures of the skirt....

I'd think about adding a poofy flounce to it - sorta mermaid skirt style.

I would probably cut a jagged edge and wear add a sheer skirt effect. Not necessarily a full skirt, just a fuller skirt than your original a-line style. I would cut away the beaded trim along the edges of the leg openings and hem, do a roll-stitch by hand and use it as accents. I would then tack the ropes of beaded fabric along the upper skirt base, as an accent. If you prefer a double sheer skirt that is also an option. Or some type nonsheer tricot.

The reason I mentioned the jagged edge is so there's little margin for error, no set pattern. Or an angular cut so the skirt is lower on one side than the other. I like the uniqueness of anything that is not straight, that might have something to do with the slenderizing impact on my curve-y derriere.

Instead of cutting or adding to the bottom, you could have your costumer (or do this yourself) add longer triangular purple chiffon panels into the skirt (about 8 of them looks nice and full). It would give the skirt a flattering mermaid look, and you wouldn't have to mess with the length. So long as the full chiffon panels are long enough, it would look great.

Originally Posted by jellytree

Here are the pictures of the skirt....

I wouldn't touch it, not with that beaded edge. That sort of skirt can pull of a sheer chiffon underskirt. Make yourself a matching veil or some such and you have a set you can reuse with later costumes to add variety.

Thank you so much!! There's a lot of great stuff here!

Does anyone have pictures of the underskirt idea? I also like the mermaid skirt idea!

Originally Posted by jellytree

Does anyone have pictures of the underskirt idea?

This probably won't do you a whole lot of good, since its a totally different type of skirt to start with, and its in motion besides. However, for what its worth, here's a picture of Mirage at Rakkasah - if you look closely, you can see a black underskirt with a bright red flounce under my yellow Gypsy skirt. I'm the tall one...

Skirt

Hopefully someone else will have a better picture of a skirt closer in style to yours with an underskirt. I personally like underskirts, they really add to the flow of skirtwork and dancing in one in general - BUT I like large, full skirts. What an underskirt will do for your style as far as handling goes, I'll leave to those with experience!

Here’s a picture of my double skirt solution. I just traced the original skirt for the pattern and made it a lot longer. I didn’t put a slit in it.

That's a pretty costume Karnak, and the underskirt really adds to it.

I agree.

A chiffon skirt would look very similar just a bit softer. Here is a similar example from bellydancestore.biz, Pharaonics of Egypt Eye of Horus #13927 (only with two slits instead of one), with matching veil of course.

It's all about what you prefer.

This is an image from LRose designs catalog of a trumpet/mermaid skirt with the chiffon inserts:

http://www.lrosedesigns.com/anew/IMG_8262_small.jpg

They can be made longer than lycra part of the skirt, and you don't notice the shortness of the lycra part anymore.

Have you tried dancing around for any length of time in this yet?

I've got a skirt that's very similar only without the slit - lycra, trumpet-shaped, mega beaded hips and the same type of beaded edge. It looked a bit short when I tried it on. Soooo, I added a ruffle, about 5 cm deep made of matching mesh. It blended in fine - I used the same to line some humungously inappropriate-for-me cutouts, and IIRC to add a bit to the top of the bra. It worked really well. IMO if the ruffle is the right gatheriness (?) for the depth it looks balanced and on-purpose rather than an apologetic afterthought.

The beaded edge is very helpful because it stabilises the join. FWIW this might be a consideration if you decide to cut and insert a horizontal/diagonal mesh - different weights of fabrics can sit unevenly with just a plain seam, especially if they stretch differently. Also if the skirt is trumpet shaped you risk disaster trying to do this anywhere in the flaring part. Make that cut and you have a top piece of skirt with the cut circumference x cm. Add mesh panel; you need to use shaped pieces if you want to keep the flared line going, so the lower edge of your mesh could be considerably more than x cm. Aaaand, your beaded lower part is now too small to add on to it.

Underskirt, ruffle or longer mesh/chiffon mermaidy inserts (like!) on the seams is a lot safer IMO.

Meanwhile (the reason I asked the question at the start)... as soon as I actually danced in it my lovely floofly ruffle was getting under my feet. Turns out with all that beading, especially I guess along the lower edge, the whole thing stretched out lengthwise anyway. De-ruffled. <sigh>

Um, can we have a reality check? There are basically three different kinds of underskirts: ones that are the same length or shorter and function like petticoats for fullness or as a decorative "surprise"; ones that are the same length and are integrated into the design for modesty because a panel skirt doesn't have sides or whatever; and ones that rarely succeed at disguising the fact that the main skirt is too short. When's the last time you saw a designer selling skirts consisting of a complete, ankle-length, straight, Lycra topskirt attached to a complete, floor-length underskirt as a costume? If you've been able to match the materials well, the latter might not look too glaringly odd, but it seldom fools people. Having a different skirt underneath doesn't look like having a single skirt with an integrated border design, and layering multiple skirts only works with skirts that aren't supposed to be sleek and streamlined.

Per Mahsati's earlier post, if this is a custom-ordered costume, check that the specifications you gave match what they shipped. If you told them to cut the wrong length because you forgot to allow for upward creep with sideways stretch, oops. The vendor might want to help you, but they're not really obligated to if they made what you asked for. OTOH, if you said you needed a 36" length and they sent you a 32", that's their fault and their problem to fix. If they're a decent company, they'll offer to address your dissatisfaction by remaking the skirt or offering you some sort of trade/buyback if the costume is unworn and recently shipped.

My next approach would be too look at whether the skirt could be squeaked down to the right length. I don't know how much play you have at the hips, but it may be easier to add a ruched top edge (like this one Belly Dance Costumes | Belly Dance Store.com: gallery) and then bring the new fabric up into the bra's design (Qamar has some ideas for that here What are you working on in February 2012), than to start working at the bottom.

If the top of the skirt is too tight for that, then I would cut it below the embellishments and add a new "dust ruffle" bottom to it (Sedonia has an example of that style here Add more to lime green costume??). I probably wouldn't mess with getting too fancy with jagged hems and gores. Unless you've got a lot of experience with sewing knits, it's better to aim for an easy solution you can do well than a complex one you might not. If you want to go fancy, then at least leave yourself enough room that you still have the option of re-cutting a straight hem if it doesn't work out as planned.

Or leave the costume alone, resell it as is, and put that money toward a costume that is the right length.

Is the fabric 4 way stretch or 2 way? If 4 way you can probably just hang it for a while and let the weight of the beaded hem stretch some more length into it.

It really doesn't look that short. What about making some ankle bands in coordinating fabric and decorate with same color beadwork. Also try dancing in it and see it tends to ride downward while dancing.

Try the maker of the costum first- if it was a custom job then that's the first place to go.

Then start with some options- and start with the none cutting options first- because once you cut you can't go back.

I'd go to the costumer, but this was a costume that could be sized specifically for you. It's been about a year and when I wore it in April last year, it wasn't so short but when I wore for rehearsal, my teacher and I were thinking "Wow, that's short!" Letting it stretch by hanging it upside down did help, but it shortened up again :/

These are all great ideas!! I figure since it's been a while since I bought it, I should try to find a solution. I live in Japan and the seller gets them from Egypt (the shop is located in Okinawa and I live in Tokyo....). Talk about a long way to travel!