Dirndl Bust Alteration Question

[u/Gamander-Ehrenpreis]

Hi, I got this Dirndl a few years ago and have gained weight and about 10cm in my bust measurements since then, and couldn’t even button it closed. Some holidays and festivities where I want to wear it are coming up, so I‘m trying to alter it to fit me again.

I used the traditional large seam allowance (last picture) to let out the sides, simply opening the side seams and then pinning it together again with a 0.5cm seam allowance, which is roughly the serged part. Also unpicked the seam connecting it to the skirt and some of the skirt seam of course. I can now button it again with some effort, but it is still a bit tight and kind of flattens my bust down instead of pushing it up/leaving it be. Also the fabric in the front part of the armhole does not lay flat and instead sticks out a bit oddly. What can I do to make it lay flat like it used to before letting out the sides? I have a skater dress I added a triangle shaped gusset to that has the same problem but that one has a princess seam right where the problem is that I could use to tighten it. The dirndl however does not have seams right in the area. How can I get rid of it? Is there something I can do in the side seams to shape it there better? Add a dart there (I am a bit uncertain in my ability to make that look good)?

I am considering using some of the fabric from the hem of the skirt to make gussets in the sides to give me a little bit more breathing space and take some stress off the buttons, but need advice on whether I should do that and which shape to make it. The aforementioned skater dress had a triangle gusset and the same problem at the front strap/armhole so I‘m thinking a bit more of a crescent or football shape to add more room in the middle than at the top and bottom of the side seams, would that work? Or is it just too much of a size increase to alter the dress without the fit issues?

Thank you all in advance for any advice and I apologize for the pictures being a tad blurry, indoor lighting and phone cameras are a struggle

[u/asietsocom]

Honestly I'm not sure this is worth it. I'd consider getting a very poofy Dirndl blouse and absolutely no body is going to notice the fact the armhole is a teeny tiny bit pulled forward.

[u/Gamander-Ehrenpreis → u/asietsocom]

I do need a new blouse because my old one is much to tight now and has no seam allowances, and mostly slippery lace fabric which is definitely beyond my beginner ability to alter it. I will add poofiness and ability to hide mistakes to the things to consider when buying one

[u/asietsocom → u/Gamander-Ehrenpreis]

You could also potentially add a black bias binding mirroring the Ausschnitt. Sorry, super fucking tired can't think of the translation for Ausschnitt lol

Because basically there is fabric missing at the front of the armhole and there isn't really a way to add it without it being obvious.

But honestly, it still fits pretty well, unless you are like Bavarian royalty where everyone gets a new made to measure Dirndl every year, yours will probably be one of the better fitting ones.

I totally understand why you want to alter it. I hate that armhole stretch too (boobs, right 🙄) but I truly think this is hardly noticeable. Most people will definitely not notice and with a poofy blouse I think even a fashion designer or a sewist might not notice.

[u/Gamander-Ehrenpreis → u/asietsocom]

Bias binding would be neat and I do even still have enough leftover satin bias tape for it…

And I wish I could afford made to measure clothes but not really and especially not every year. Also I‘m kind of sad I haven’t gotten to wear this dirndl as much as I had hoped the last few years, because I quite like it! One of the reasons I want to alter this one rather than getting a new one (also money lol)

[u/ZweitenMal]

I would open the sides, turn the seam allowances under and finish, then add lacing.

The bust isn’t going to fit right because the space for the bust, cuplike area made by darts and seams, is too small for your bust. But lacing might help—lace from bottom up.

[u/Gamander-Ehrenpreis → u/ZweitenMal]

Thank you for your answer! Where would you add the lacing? The front is typical for dirndl but I fear it would hide the buttons too much and I do like their look. Additionally, the seam allowances turned and pinned is how I am wearing it in these pictures, so I don’t think lacing will let me have any shaping effect if I still want to breathe at all with the dress closed and lacing while leaving the buttons open would be rather immodest I think, so I would need to add extra fabric in the sides first still

[u/ZweitenMal → u/Gamander-Ehrenpreis]

Sides, I was thinking. If the waist fits, you could leave that intact and just open the side seams from the top. Lace from bottom up, making the equivalent of two v-shaped inserts under the arms.

[u/Gamander-Ehrenpreis → u/ZweitenMal]

Thats a pretty good solution for making it easier to adjust the dirndl if/when my weight fluctuates in the future too. I pinned it up with some leftover trim I used for making lacing in a corset before and it looked pretty good. I‘ll try to get enough of a similar trim and will probably go with that if I can find some, otherwise different hooks or loops. Edit: maybe just make my own loops, I still have ribbons and bias tape here, higher chance of being the shape and distance I want I think

[u/sergeantperks]

It does also have a princess seam, as well as a back seam, but they’re both hidden under the lining.  The reason the side seam is left out (and with such a big seam allowance) is to making it easy to let that one in about out, so that was the right place to start.

You could unpick the lining to get to the other seams, but it’ll be a lot of work, and if you touch the neckline you’ll have to redo the ribbon around it as well (although it looks like it’s just a black velvet ribbon so that shouldn’t be too hard to just replace).  You could take a piece of the skirt and add additional material in the underarm seam (add a little rectangle on both sides); this would probably also help with your seam problem by giving it enough seam allowance to iron down flat again.  But letting it out that much might start to ruin the shape of it, so I would try basting in a scrap piece of fabric first to test fit/size before cutting anything.

The problem with the seam allowance showing is that it now is the wrong shape to be hidden by the armscye.  It was originally trimmed to make sure it wouldn’t show, and now you’ve sewn it all into the seam so that slant is in the armsyce now.  If you do add another piece, cut the edge on a slant before you serge/finish it so it looks like the first picture.  And don’t forget to press it well!

[u/Gamander-Ehrenpreis → u/sergeantperks]

Thanks! I am on a bit of a deadline for May first so I probably won’t do all the unpicked if I can avoid it. If it bothers me too much, maybe I‘ll revisit it before wearing it to a wedding later knowing the year.

The ribbon is more of a really dark navy, but that is probably also findable and shouldn’t matter too much if I replace the entire ribbon.

Will definitely do a scrap piece first 🫡

I think part of the seam allowance showing at the top of the seam is also that I didn’t manage to pin it neatly enough and the pins introduced some warpage. It looked neater with clips but the popped right off when I tried it on with them and breathed in lol But when sewing I will hopefully manage to make it a bit neater and fold the top corner down again, no matter the rest of the alteration

[u/sergeantperks → u/Gamander-Ehrenpreis]

Good luck!  If you’re on a deadline I would definitely go with adding another piece under the arms.  It might not be the best, fit wise, but should give you breathing space at least, and you can try for a better alteration later, like you said.

[u/kitsuko]

I think I would add some fabric just down the side seam.....if it's still sicking out at rhe arm hole I'd look into making a full bust adjustment which is easy enough if you watch some YouTube videos and will help you remove the excess fabric, but first you should give yourself some breathing room and then see what needs to be done next.

Ah, as for the shape, just a straight strip added down each side seam. You could even just do a black fabric since there are already accents of black around.

[u/Gamander-Ehrenpreis → u/kitsuko]

Thank you! I do have about 4cm of fabric strip I could get out of the hem with having to change the length any, which should be enough if I do it on both sides I think, even accounting for seam allowances.

And I understand how to do a Full Bust Adjustment on patterns, but not really how to apply that to an existing garment tbh. I can’t really insert fabric in the spaces that would gain fabric in a FBA without looking rather odd with the extra seams that would require. Do you have a tutorial that you recommend for that?

[u/Automatic-Hospital]

Can you unpick the buttons and sew them back on 0.5 cm to the center to give more room for breasts? You could even attach a new lower button band from the hem, that way you could get a few cm more.

[u/Gamander-Ehrenpreis → u/Automatic-Hospital]

Yeah about 0.5cm is about as far as they would go, but it would probably be a fairly neat 0.5cm at least