Because I'm kinda tall (5'10"), it's sometimes hard to find dresses that are long enough for me (especially in Hawai`i, where most girls are around 5'4"... lots of Asian/ Southeast Asians in our population!) One of my solutions is to buy long dresses and hem/ alter them! I especially love Ross, heh heh; although you have to be really patient and paw through the heaps of clothes, you can often find some really cute pieces for a really affordable price (uh, hello under $20)! Besides, why would you alter something that was really expensive?
I'm currently making my way through a small stack of really cute long dresses (can you tell I love the pattern in the picture? It's so retro!); because I want to use them for work, I'm cutting them around knee length and using a rolled hem (but I don't have the right foot attachment for my sewing machine, so I do it all by myself). If you're going to alter your own dresses, I would suggest you stay away from jersey or stretchy material, and you use an iron!!! Cut the dress at the right length (use a measuring tape; make sure you leave some allowance for rolling the hem). Fold over the raw edge twice (so that there is no raw edge visible). Pin and iron. Use a straight stitch to sew the hem down (close to the loose edge of the fold) When you're finished, check for any hanging threads! Add a cardigan, belt, and nice shoes, and you have a nice new dress!
