Enlarging a sewing pattern

Hi, I ordered a sewing pattern for a dress. Unfortunately, the pattern only goes up to size XL, so it’s too small for me. How can I enlarge it? Should I just cut out an extra two centimeters?

Hi, here’s a simple explanation:
You can cut the pattern piece lengthwise and spread the pieces apart.
That will make it wider. But don’t cut through the shoulders—cut along the front and back instead. Best regards
Serap

Great tip.

How do you go about it so that the pattern pieces turn out right and the whole thing doesn’t end up crooked?
Well, I mean, if you leave the pattern in one piece, you just lay it on the fabric, pin it down with straight pins, trace around the edges with tailor’s chalk or something similar, and then cut it out.
But if the pattern consists of two parts with space between them, then you have two pieces that can move freely and need to be pinned in such a way that the proportions still match despite the size change. Do you measure this with a ruler so that the distance at the top, bottom, and center between the pattern pieces—that is, the width of the inserted strip—is exactly the same, or is there a secret tip?
I hope I’ve made myself reasonably clear. I just don’t know the technical terms in this area.

But if you’re widening a pair of pants with a fabric gusset at the waistband, you can’t use this method, right? That’s something completely different—there aren’t any pattern pieces there, just a gusset, which isn’t a strip with a consistent width from top to bottom, but rather a gusset or triangle?