How To Upcycle Clothes That Are Too Small

When we talk about sustainable sewing, there are many different ways to approach it. Sometimes we start with fabric — working from yardage, deadstock, or reclaimed textiles to make something new. Other times, we begin with an existing garment. That might mean transforming a beloved shirt, refashioning old clothing, or drawing inspiration from the details of something already in our wardrobe. This garment-first approach is about expanding our toolkit as makers, giving us another way to sew with creativity, resourcefulness, and abundance. It’s also a great way to upcycle clothes that are too small into pieces that fit and feel good.

For plus-size sewists, garment-first sewing hasn’t always felt accessible. Many beginner resources were written with smaller bodies in mind, offering quick fixes like cutting down an oversized old T-shirt or taking in old trousers — options that rely on you finding thrifted clothes that are bigger than you need. Strategies to make clothing bigger, such as upsizing garments by inserting gussets and invisibly altering them using fabric harvested from hidden areas of the garment, were usually the preserve of costumiers and professional makers. Today, though, with more and more plus-size sewists taking to social media to share their expertise, these techniques are finding their way into mainstream sewing conversations, opening up space for plus-size, transgender and non-binary sewists to use garment-first approaches to make upcycled clothing fit and work for them. In other words: if you’ve ever wondered how to make clothes bigger or how to resize clothes for comfort, these techniques give you the answers.

Older Really Is Better

Vintage garments often provide a better starting point if you want to refashion clothes, especially items 15 years older or more because they really were built better back then.

Sustainable sewing and sewing with thrifted clothing is more popular than ever, and one of the big drivers for this rise in garment-first sewing is the sharp decline in the quality of high street clothing. Fast fashion construction methods, fabric, and even the haberdashery retailers are choosing for their garments aren’t the quality they were even 15 years ago. Vintage garments often provide a better starting point if you want to refashion clothes, especially items 15 years older or more because they really were built better back then. If you’re curious to dive deeper into why modern clothing is such poor quality, the Clotheshorse Podcast is an excellent resource for bite-size and easy-to-understand information about textiles and sustainability, from someone who has worked in the industry. 

In this post, I’ll walk through practical, step-by-step ways to upcycle clothes that are too small to create comfortable, wearable, unique clothes that will last a long time. We’ll cover structural adjustments that add space where it’s needed, proportion changes that rebalance length and width, re-styling ideas that improve comfort and allow for adaptive adjustments, and surface transformations that disguise alterations or make a feature of them depending on your style. Each section includes inspiration and the final section of this post is packed with resources so you can try these techniques with confidence. 

These ideas are especially useful if you want to learn how to refashion clothes that don’t fit anymore.

1. Structural Adjustments (Fit + Movement)

Sometimes the issue isn’t style but space — the garment simply doesn’t allow enough ease for comfort and movement. Hidden gussets and panels are one of the oldest tailoring solutions, and they remain one of the most effective. Adding triangular gussets at the hips or bust, or diamond-shaped inserts under the arms or at the trouser seat, creates extra room to allow for movement. The Tailoring Book (DK, 2024) offers detailed, modern guidance on inserting gussets and panels.

📌 In Practice: Altering a T-shirt

Altering T-shirt is a great beginner project for garment-first sewing. When a T-shirt fits at the neckline and shoulders but feels tight through the body, you can cut open the side seams and underarm seam on the sleeves and insert a panel or gusset to give extra room. A triangular gusset in the side seam works well if only the hips and belly need more room, and a long rectangular strip from the hem right the way to the cuff works well to add room in the sleeve too. Experiment with a diamond-shaped gusset if you need room in the bicep and shoulder, but the t shirt fits in the body.

If the shoulders and neck are too small, try transforming the whole garment into a raglan style with contrasting sleeves — adding space through the shoulders while creating a fresh design feature. This is one of the simplest ways to upcycle a shirt that’s too small into something wearable again. ​

2. Proportion Changes (Length + Balance)

Sometimes a garment’s proportions are what make it unwearable — too short in the body, sleeves or pants legs that don’t quite reach. In particular, AMAB sewists may find that they need to lengthen sleeves on tops and inseams on pants, especially when altering womenswear that was drafted for a shorter, curvier body. AFAB sewists may find that they need more width in the hips when altering menswear that was drafted for a straighter body with less variation in circumference in the hips, waist and chest.

Lengthening of any area can be achieved by adding bands, tiers, ruffles, cuffs, or other shaped extensions. When we lengthen areas we need to add extra fabric, and that can sometimes be harvested from elsewhere in the garment if the adjustment is small, or it can be made from additional fabric. This 'pieced' section can also be used to alter the overall style and balance of the garment, for example by adding a peplum at the hem of a too-short top to add movement and width. Adding two or three tiers turns a crop top into a dress. 

📌 In Practice: Adding a Ruffle Hem

When a dress feels boxy, or is a little too short, adding a 3" ruffle hem like I did in this blog post can transform the look of the garment and add length. Don't stop there either - ruffle hems are hugely versatile and can be added to the edge of any part of a garment, be of any length, and vary in density of ruffle from a barely there wave to a structural statement.

3. Re-Styling (Shape, Comfort + Adaptability)

Re-styling can be to change the look of a garment and give it a new lease of life, or it can alter the garment's function and make it work for your lifestyle again. For example, flutter sleeves can replace restrictive sleeves and change the look of a garment at the same time. Necklines can be reshaped by removing collars, cutting in bigger necklines, or adding panels to change the neckline shape. Waistbands can be converted to elasticated ones for comfort, but also to accommodate flux either over the course of the day or over time as your body changes.

Adaptive changes — like adding snap plackets, magnetic closures, zip access flaps, elasticated cuffs — make garments accessible to more bodies and abilities. All of which are modifications that can be made to existing garments, even vintage ones. There really are no rules when it comes to sewing and altering your own clothes. It’s about learning how to make clothes fit better and work for your needs without starting from scratch.

📌 In Practice: Converting a Waistband

A too-tight buttoned waistband is easily modified. Removing the waistband and replacing it with an elasticated one transforms a restrictive garment into one that moves with your body and is easier to get on and off — particularly useful for thrifted trousers or skirts where the rest of the garment fits well.

Try it yourself by removing the waistband from an old pair of jeans and replacing it with a wide yoga band made from knit ribbing or cotton Lycra with good stretch and recovery. You can also reshape the top of the jeans so that the rise works for your body, cutting away at the front to accommodate a tummy, and adjusting the waistband shape to correspond.

Get into the habit of imagining how you would transform your clothing if you could to make it work better for you - and then give it a go.   

Restyle your clothes to work for your body

You can reshape the top of old jeans so that the rise works for your body, cutting away at the front to accommodate a tummy, and switching out the waistband for a yoga waist.

4. Surface Transformations (Finishing Touches, Visible Mending)

Surface changes may not alter the structure of a garment, but they can make adjustments feel intentional and cohesive and they can add personal flair. Dyeing the whole garment can unify pieced sections making gussets less noticeable, or refresh the look with a completely different colour. Visible mending, embroidery, or decorative stitching can disguise alterations, or highlight flaws such as small holes and turn them into design features.

Crafts that create fabric - such as knitting, weaving and crochet - can be used to fill in areas that need added fabric. You can create new gussets or panels, or cuffs, collars or hems, so long as the area does not have to withstand heavy wear. This can be a creative way to refashion old clothes when fabric yardage is limited and showcase a different skill.

I've seen some very striking summer jeans enlarged with lacy crochet panels inserted down the outseams, and T-shirts transformed into halter necks with beaded crochet.

📌 In Practice: Apron from a Skirt

This is one of my favourite things to do when I find skirts in thrift shops that I love but are too small for me to wear. By opening the back seam of the skirt and adding bias binding across the top edge for ties, the skirt becomes an apron. I sometimes crochet a scalloped edge around the skirt part, which adds charm and reinforces its new purpose.

Surface-level transformations can refresh or repurpose clothes in ways that honour both the fabric and your creativity.

Retro Refashion

Jeans can be upsized with crochet panels inserted into the side seams.

Where to Learn More

Garment-first sewing opens doors to creative and practical alterations. If you're ready to learn these techniques step-by-step, these books are highly rated for their clarity, depth, and real-world application:

• The Tailoring Book (DK, 2024) — a beautifully illustrated guide, ideal for learning how to insert gussets, panels, and make fit adjustments using tailoring-level techniques.

• The Sewing Bible for Clothes Alterations by Judith Turner — a beginner-to-intermediate handbook with over 400 illustrations explaining everyday alterations, from shortening trousers to reshaping jackets.

• Clothing Alterations and Repairs by Chelsey Byrd Lewallen — combines technical instruction with a sustainability focus, useful if you want to build a longer-lasting wardrobe.

• Remake It: Clothes by Henrietta Thompson — less technical, more inspirational, packed with resourceful ideas such as turning collars or upcycling details in unexpected ways. Great for thrift flippers and creative upcyclers who want less conventional approaches.

📌 I’d love to see how you use garment-first techniques in your own sewing. Tag me @inclusivesewing so I can cheer you on and share your makes with the community.