It can be maddening when you try on a favourite item of clothing, only to find that it no longer fits. Rather than giving up and throwing out your old wardrobe, why not simply adapt them to your changing size by making minor adjustments? You don't have to be a professional seamstress to make a treasured skirt or a pair of trousers the right size again; you don't even have to get out a needle and thread! The simplest way to adapt clothing without actually resizing it is to make your own collar extender. A collar extender is a tool that allows you to wear your clothing without using the original set of buttons attached to the garment. They are useful for pregnant women who plan to return to their smaller size relatively quickly, because you won't need to make permanent adjustments to your wardrobe.

Try on the garment or garments that you need to resize. Using a ruler or measuring tape, measure approximately how much of a size extension you need to comfortably wear the garment again. Once you have this measurement, take the elasticated cord or twine and measure a length double the size of your required extension length. Cut this section of twine off, and tie the two ends together.

  • It can be maddening when you try on a favourite item of clothing, only to find that it no longer fits.
  • Using a ruler or measuring tape, measure approximately how much of a size extension you need to comfortably wear the garment again.

Attach the elastic extension cord to the button. Your button should ideally match the buttons on your garment; if you have one, use the spare button supplied with your garment when you purchased it. Tie the extension cord to the button by the ends of the cord. You should tie this several times to ensure that it does not come apart.

Fortify the extension cord. Take the extension cord section of the collar extender and double it up in a "figure eight" style. Then double this up again, so that the figure eight reappears but the cord is tripled. Repeat this continuously until the figure eight is about 2.5 cm (1 inch) wide or until the figure eight is approximately matches how much of an extension your garment needs; for example, 5 cm or 8 cm (2 inches or 3 inches).

  • Attach the elastic extension cord to the button.
  • Take the extension cord section of the collar extender and double it up in a "figure eight" style.

Attach the figure eight section to the button. Cut off another small section of elasticated twine, a section of about 2.5 to 5 cm (1 or 2 inches) in length. You may also use a small section of wire, such as a tie wrap or a tie tag. Attach the figure eight to the button by gripping one end and tying it to the button using the wire tag or small section of twine. You can then fit this collar extender to your garment by placing the button through the button hole, and the figure eight through the button attached to the garment.