I got this skirt in a bag of hand-me-downs. I love the print and the style, but it was a little too big. I looked at the waist and realized it would be so simple to take the waist/hips in a bit. There’s a zipper on the side that I absolutely do not want to mess with! I also don’t want to do anything to the hem. So, all my adjustments will taper out before I get to the hem.
Before I could take anything in, I needed to undo the stitching holding the facing down. Fortunately this was easy since they just did a couple little stitches at each seam.
The easiest adjustment is to the back. There’s a seam down the center back that I can very easily take in. I tried on the skirt and clipped it where I want my back seam. Pin it and make sure to taper it in gradually so that you don’t need to mess with the hem. Sew it and try it on to make sure it fits. Then trim (and serge if you want) the excess from the seam.
To help balance out the amount I took in at the back (so the side seams aren’t noticeably towards the back), I also took in the front darts a little bit. I only took each dart in about 1/2″ (green line in photo below). After I tried it on again, I trimmed (and serge) the darts to help them lay flatter. Otherwise you end up with a really thick spot in the waistband which can be hard to make lay flat.
The final step is the tack the facing back down again. Just a couple quick stitches on the side and back seams plus the front darts and it’s secured. Iron the facing and darts to flatten out the new seams and you are good to go!
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