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Have you wondered if it is possible to sew clothes bigger?

Tailor like a pro: How to Sew Clothes Bigger to Achieve the Perfect Fit

In this article, I’ve come up with ideas to change too-tight clothing into pieces that you’ll be able to love wearing again. Whether it’s helping a dress that won’t zip up, fixing buttons gaping at the bust, or adding more breathing room with a panel, read on to find out how to make these clothes wearable again.

Can you tailor your clothes bigger?

When people think about tailoring clothes, they often think about taking clothes in. Techniques to make clothes smaller, shorter, or more fitted tend to be more common than making them bigger, but it isn’t harder to make them bigger.

Here are my top 4 ways to sew clothes bigger

• Let out seam allowance
• Undo and press darts for a looser fit
• Make a blouse fit better at the bust by moving the buttons
• Add a panel to a top for extra breathing room
• Sew a corset back dress

Let out seam allowance

Seam allowance refers to the small amount of fabric between the stitching line and the seam. Sometimes there is a little fabric here to let out, but not always.

The amount of seam allowance in the garment depends on how it was sewn.

If there is a little fabric here to let out, sew closer to the edge of the fabric. Undo the original stitching line, and give it a good press when you are done.

Read the article I wrote about seam allowance.

Undo and press darts for a looser fit

You can also undo darts and press the fabric if you don’t want it to be as tailored.

However, proceed with caution as sometimes it is hard to get the crease lines from the darts out. Also, if the item is old and has been washed a number of times, it is possible that the fabric of the dart could be a different colour than the rest of the fabric.

You can also pin and sew new darts.

Read more about how to sew darts here.

Eliminate buttons gaping at the bust with this one simple trick

Make a blouse fit better at the bust by moving the buttons over to the edge of the garment. This allows just a bit more breathing room and relaxes pulling between buttons.

If instead, you want a button-down jacket to fit more snugly, you can just move the button further in so it buttons more tightly.

This is a fast and easy trick to get a button-down item to fit better. And if you don’t like the fit where you have moved the button, you can always move it back to its original spot.

Add a panel to sew clothes bigger

Adding panels is another way to add more space (“ease”) to a garment, while also giving it a unique style.

To do this, you’ll want to open up both side seams and then add a strip of fabric.

Here is a great tutorial I found on this process: How to make a shirt bigger

Fix a dress that won’t zip up with a corset back

Have you ever had a dress that you could fit over your hips but…the zipper didn’t go up all the way?

Turning a dress that doesn’t zip up the back into one that laces up is one of my favourite alterations. I love the way it looks, and it is easy to fit because the lacing adjusts to where you need it to be.

I created this tutorial to walk you through how to turn a zipper-back dress into a corset-back dress.

So here you have my top 5 ways to create more ease in a garment. What ones have you used? Are there any you think are missing from this list? Let us know in the comments below.