DIY Skirt Extender

We all have them.  That skirt or dress that isn't too short until we try to cross our legs.  It can be hard to find dresses that are long enough.  I have had a dress sitting in my closet for years that I have wanted to wear that was given to me but it has always been just a little too short for my liking.  (not the dress in the picture though haha)  But this last Mothers Day I wanted to wear something new but I didn't want to go out and buy a new dress.  Because I'm cheap.  So, I had a thought come to my mind.  At Seagull Book and at different boutiques I had seen skirt extenders.  Which as the name suggests, are a skirt that you wear under your skirt or dress to lengthen it.  They are really cute, but it was Saturday night and the nearest place I could get one is an hour and a half away.  So I decided to go the DIY route, and it only cost me $5!

I had a black slip already, so I went to Walmart and got two rolls of black lace ribbon.  I also got some iron on webbing hoping that it could be a no sew project, but that didn't work out too well, and I did have to use my sewing machine, but it was really simple sewing so it wasn't a big deal.  Now, I am NOT an expert at anything to do with sewing, but my very minimal knowledge let me put this together and I sunday morning I was able to wear my "new" dress to church, because it was now long enough.  Here's how I did it:

My slip had a big slit in it, so I used some black material and covered up the slit using the iron on webbing. The webbing worked really well for that, but not so well for the lace part.

Now, depending on what the lace you get looks like, this may work better than it did for me.  The kind that I was using wasn't very solid, so the webbing didn't have much to stick to.  If that makes any sense.  The very bottom layer of lace was a different kind that I already had on hand, and it had a thicker border along the top that stuck to the webbing. But the lace I got at Walmart was much thinner and didn't have a border along the top, so I had to sew it on.

So I just sewed a few rows on.  Making each one just a little bit higher than the last row, if you can kind of see in the picture.

Here is what it looks like finished.  I did 4 layers of lace.  My sewing machine was having some user issues so it isn't perfect, but it holds together strong and you can't see the imperfections when you're wearing it.  I think it turned out pretty cute!  $5 in ribbon.  Can't beat that!  If you don't have a slip, go to Goodwill!  I got another slip there for like $3 that I plan to make into another cream colored skirt extender.

Go make one for yourself!