Easy Refashions: How to shorten a dress

By far the most popular refashionista requests I receive are for back to basics tutorials to help sustainable stylistas get started recreating their secondhand and vintage finds into unique (eco)fashions so I thought I’d start a funky new series devoted to the simple tips, tricks and tweaks that transform dowdy, ill-fitting garments into wardrobe favourites!

Thrift and charity shops (& the back of your Grandma’s closet) are chock full of fabulous dresses suffering from frumpy and just plain awkward lengths so let’s dive right in and fix them up with Easy refashions: How to shorten a dress!

My fave method for shortening a frumpy frock is to grab a dress with my desired length and use it as a guide by simply laying it on top of the dress to be shortened with the shoulder seams lined up.

Then mark the length (give or take a centimeter or 2).

Chop off the excess fabric below the mark.

If you’re lucky enough to have a dress made out of a fabric that doesn’t fray you can actually be done at this point and head out in your fancy new shortened frock!

And give that raw edge a nice clean hem.

Easy transformations with dramatic results are the absolute best!

Removing the belt, undoing that bow and raising the hemline did wonders for this polyester beauty!

From shapeless mumu to swinging 60’s mod with just one snip!

Every single seam of this $1 vintage beauty needed a re-stitch and after a quick length shorten it was ready for a new life (+ the absolute perfect match to my painted shoes, the groovy results of an oldie but goodie tute from 2013 that joined my international relocation and are still going strong!)

Fantastically unique frocks created with very little effort = awesomesauce!

Discover my top tips for thrifting vintage here + learn how to clean and freshen your groovy vintage finds here.

Transform your entire wardrobe for pennies with my groovy CoaR tutorial collections right here: