How can I stretch the waist of a dress?
How much do you have to stretch it? You can press a hot iron against the elastic while stretched to keep it stretched
Do tell us more about the dress, please? Is it a shirtwaist (with a seam at the waist itself) or is it long panels sewn together? One way to give yourself a bit more room is to undo the seams and re-sew closer to the outer edge. This can be a fairly complex project if your dress is a shirtwaist style: do-able, but not simple (considering all the pieces).
This question is difficult to answer because no description of the dress is stated. Better answers would need the type of material, buttons involved at waist (?), elastic, increase (inches) needed, additional material in seams?
If none of the suggestions given provide the inches you need, then you have to try using a seamstress to enlarge/extend the material at the seams.
this may sound weird and crazy but why not just stretch it out a lot with your hands so that the elastics give a little? Of course you run the risk of destroying the elastic band but not if you're careful
if you are talking about pants/ a skirt with buttons a useful option is to just move the button over to give you more room
Sometimes to make footware more comfortable, you need to make them bigger. This page is about stretching shoes and boots.
This is a page about stretching elastic in clothing. Elastic that is too tight can be really uncomfortable. Here is a great tip for stretching elastic in clothing.
If you have a hat that is too tight, it may require stretching to make it fit right. Stretching a hat that is too tight can be easier with certain fabric types.
This is a page about stretching shrunken wool garments. When a wool garment is not cleaned properly it can shrink. It can be a challenge to resize.
This is a page about stretching shrunken cotton clothing. Washing clothing in too hot water or drying on the wrong dryer setting can shrink your clothes.
