"Too tight at the hem" Top Fix

Here is a very simple fix for a top that is just a bit too snug at the bottom.

I bought this top from a charity shop recently just because I love the colour and the size seemed about right for me. When I got it home and tried it on it was just a bit too snug round the bottom (it's bottom not mine - or maybe it's both!)

It doesn't look TOO bad here, a tiny bit "sack of potatoes" maybe. There wasn't much room for movement though, that bottom band was stretched to the max!

At first I thought maybe I could just remove the bottom band but I didn't want to loose any of the length. I also considered taking off the band but adding lace, like I did on this t shirt here. I didn't have any suitable lengths of wide lace in my stash but whilst I was looking I found some lovely handmade looking lace that is pretty with the coral top.

In the end I kept this really simple and used what I already had.

Undo or cut depending on how your top is made, the  side seams on both side about 10cm or 4".

Try it on to make sure you've gone high enough to make it comfy to wear.

Trim any seam allowance away.

On my top the seam joining the band to the top was starting to unravel a little so I added just a couple of stitches to secure it:

Pin a length of lace long the raw edge, folding the edges under like so:

Stitch the lace into position. I stitched mine by hand. The pinning was a bit of a fiddle and I imagined it would be even trickier to machine stitch.

Hand sewing didn't take long and means it's easy to adjust the lace into position as you go. If you feel confident on the sewing machine you could easily wizz it on the machine.

Repeat on the other side and that's it, done!

Not the best photos ever but you get the idea, my "photographer" was not available so I had to take these of myself.

The fit is SO much better now, much more comfy to wear and hopefully a little bit more flattering.

I think this would be nice with ribbon or bias binding, maybe even scraps of a patterned fabric instead of the lace. Oh, the possibilities! Do you have a top that needs just a bit more give around the bottom that this idea might work for?

I'll be linking up to all these great link parties, why not go and have a look!