Q&A for How to Take in a Dress at the Waist

Pinning allows you to see how much fabric you need to take in, as well as how the dress will fit once it's taken in or sewn.

Try temporarily pinning the fabric in place or adding some small stitches to the dress by hand.

You could try fusible tape, but this would be a temporary solution.

It won’t, because you’re pulling the dress in as opposed to up, so it should stay at the same length.

You could link together the excess fabric on the inside and baste it to the lining.

This depends on how tight your finished dress is. If you make it loose enough to go over your chest and shoulders or use stretchy fabric, you should be able to pull it over your head as if it were a simple top. If it is too tight to do so, I suggest adding on a zipper or buttons if possible with your desired design.

You would taper it to the hip if the hip measurement is fine. I have removed the sleeves (mark the top of the sleeve where it should meet the shoulder seam) if I needed to narrow the shoulder and under the arm. You must make sure the opening of the armhole remains the same circumference as the sleeve itself. Cut the section of shoulder off and resew sleeve back on.

You could hand sew if you can make very fine, even stitches. Most people, however, aren't able to sew as uniformly as a sewing machine.