New Look 6429: the little dress that goes the distance

My official due date was yesterday.  And I'm still pregnant.  But since Anna was two weeks late, I really wasn't expecting this one to come early or on time anyway.  So no big deal. Yet.  I don't mind waiting for another week or so, but I really don't want my labour to be chemically induced again, so I'm doing everything I possibly can to get things started.  So far, this includes:

• acupuncture - I've had a session a week for the last month which supposedly prepares my body for labour and the last session was supposed to actually bring on labour. In fact the acupuncturist was so certain that my last session last Tuesday night would be so successful that she refused to make another appointment - she reluctantly made another one today. But even if it hasn't achieved the intended purpose I have been feeling so much better after each session with less aches and pains and more energy, so I guess it has achieved something.
• massage - I've had a pregnancy massage, and have been making my husband massage my lower back (where the pressure points are) with a clary sage and jasmine oil mix.  Even if that hasn't worked it's been nice anyway!
• extreme housework - I haven't had the nesting urge too strongly this time, but our two year old dishwasher had other plans when it's waters broke all over the kitchen floor.  So after mopping up the floor I then had to track down the receipt and warranty papers which meant a search through nearly every part of our house, so I had a major cull and clean as I went.  Plus with my husband at work during the day I've used the opportunity to chuck out a lot of his junk - he is such a hoarder!
• eating curries and fresh pineapple as often as I can stand it.
• exercise - I've been walking waddling around a fair bit, and I even got out the Nintendo Wii the other day and did some virtual hula hooping hooping.  Lucky no one was home because I probably looked ridiculous!
• gettin' bizzy - according to Dr.Google, the only thing guaranteed to bring on labour apart from chemicals is to have *ahem* adult cuddles and squeeze one's nipples (sorry mum and anyone else if that's too much information!).  Hasn't worked, and in fact I now think it's a conspiracy theory spread by male doctors to keep husbands happy.....
• herbal tea - I've been drinking raspberry leaf tea by the gallon every day, which again hasn't achieved anything but has added to my exercise levels going to and from the toilet frequently.
• tempting fate - in an effort to invoke Murphy's Law I've left a lot of things to the last minute.  Hospital bag? Not packed yet.  Second child seat purchased but not installed.  A pregnancy massage booked in for next Monday, a haircut on Tuesday and another acupuncture session on Wednesday.  Surely that's enough forward plans to be ruined by a spontaneous labour?

Does anyone else have any suggestions that worked for them? The only thing I haven't done that I've heard about is taking some castor oil - I'm a bit reluctant since it sounds horrible and I don't particularly want to have diarrhea and nausea at this stage, but I'm not ruling it out at the two week mark!

So as you can all imagine when you get this hugely pregnant wardrobe options shrink rapidly, even if you have been sewing a lot of things.  Luckily I have a jersey knit dress I made using New Look 6429 (now OOP) which is not even a maternity pattern and I made it before I even got pregnant because it just keeps stretching and stretching.  Sure the seams are starting to stretch, but no popped stitches so far and since I overlocked it I'm somewhat confident it's not going to fall apart whilst I'm wearing it.  This is what the pattern looks like:

It's has loads of positive reviews on pattern review and blogs, but I never particularly liked it.  The gathers across the stomach created a bit of a saggy pouch effect on my previously flat stomach in an unflattering way, and the v seaming at the back where the skirt attaches to the bodice seemed to accentuate my rather wide derriere.  I made this dress long before I started blogging (maybe 5 or 6 years ago now) but never really wore this dress at all until I got pregnant - because then the gathers across the stomach created a much needed pouch for a growing belly and I started to care less about the rear view anyway!

Here's how it looked at 18 weeks:

And here's how it looked today at 40 weeks +1 day:

I'm not particularly a fan of knit dresses - they are too clingy for me and I like structured pieces more, but I have to admit that it's ideal for a body shape of extremes! Hopefully it's next wear will be a rapidly deflating belly....

Burda of the month: 2/2012 #125 maternity pants

When Sharon, a fellow Sydneysider, left a comment on the last post saying that she had already received her March Burda in the mail I thought I had better get started on this Burda lite challenge I've set myself before I get three months behind without even starting.  Luckily the March issue hasn't arrived at my house (which is a little annoying too), although the subscription renewal has - ironically the subscription is through a company called Speedimpex Australia, ha not so speedy at all!

The obsessive order freak within me really wanted to make the January pattern first so I could do these in order, but practicality dictated otherwise: with only 2 weeks to go before 'official' due date I thought it perhaps wise to make the maternity pants from the February issue so as to maximise wearing opportunities.  But even the weather has been against me, after a wet and cool summer we are now (for the last week anyway) having a hot and sunny autumn....

Anyway, here's the pattern from the Burda website:

It's a simple pull on, jersey knit waistband pattern made in the style of kid's pants: sew the two legs separately, put one leg inside the other right sides together and sew the centre back seam, crotch seam and centre front seam in one 'u' shaped sewing line.  Then just sew on the waistband and within an hour or two you're all done!

Well that's the theory anyway, I still had some fitting issues to resolve because the centre back of the pants had major gaping that I didn't think the waistband would pull in, at least not in a flattering way.  So I took a pinch out of the centre back seam, and sewed two small darts in the back as well to get the pants to fit closer.

And then I wasn't confident that the stretch knit I planned to use for the waistband was strong enough with sufficient recovery to hold up my pants - I hate nothing more than walking around tugging up my pants! So I decided to sew a wide elastic around the top of the pants, stretched a little across the back which resulted in some gathers but better to be safe than sorry:

I just sewed the knit jersey to the top of the pants as well, so that the elastic was fully encased inside and out:

And that did the job, the pants are still easily pulled on but are snug enough they won't fall down. I made mine from a khaki stretch cotton sateen from the stash, as was the elastic (bought at a garage sale long ago) and the cotton knit for the waistband (picked up from an op shop long ago).  Here's my finished version (and a 38 week belly):

These are really comfortable, but I see now from these photos that they aren't so flattering, which actually is normal for me in pants anyway what with my pear shape and sway back.  It's funny how when you try something on and look in the mirror things look ok, but when you see a photo from all angle it's suddenly obvious how they really look! Oh dear, my backside really has expanded a great deal, and my hips/saddle bags are even more pronounced in this cut, fabric and colour but you know what? At 38 weeks pregnant I just don't care, these pants provide coverage and comfort and that's good enough for me at this point in time!

For anyone else contemplating making these (and a note for myself in case I ever do something silly like get pregnant again) the changes I would make to the pattern would be to increase the centre back rise because they sit quite low and the waistband is quite visible unless you wear a really long t-shirt, and to decrease the centre front rise because these bunch up a little under my belly although that would depend on how high or low you're carrying.

I would also make the waistband a bit shorter, because as sewn the top of the waistband finishes just under the bust, but it's not an hourglass shape pattern so that the finished width of the top of the waistband is too wide to wear it up:

meaning you really have to wear it folded down in half, which finished mid-belly and gives good coverage but is sort of bulky:

So I'm patting myself on the back for finishing the first step in my challenge so quickly, now to change the thread in my overlocker and make the January pattern so I can get back to the other things sitting patiently in the queue.

wadder recovery session

Things have been very quiet around here, sewing wise.  Not life wise though, I've had quite a few minor calamities these past two weeks.  I'm now 36 weeks pregnant, so I'm having the normal aches and pains and complaints that you would expect when this far gone.  But then a few days ago I slipped on the wet marble floor in the foyer of my office building, doing a gold medal worthy splits manoeuvre and landing on my knees, which are now bruised, swollen and sore and I've overstretched quite a few muscles as you can imagine.  I felt like quite the clumsy pregnant woman until I heard that someone else had also slipped in the foyer and broken a leg, so thankfully I wasn't that injured.  Now I have more reason to laze on the lounge, and even Anna is being quite helpful in fetching things when asked (too bad she doesn't yet grasp the concept of rubbing mummy's feet!).

And a few days before that I had a mild case of food poisoning which saw me spend a good 24 hours travelling between my bedroom and the bathroom (no further details required!).  And the week before that I went in for a routine skin cancer check and the specialist decided to take a biopsy of a mole that looked inflamed on my back, and then halfway through merrily announced that he "may as well" take the whole lot out.  I tried to tell him it was just a bit red because of the super dooper maternity bras I'm wearing these days, but I guess it's better to be safe than sorry.  The results came back with no concerns, except that I'm left with some stitches in my back which is less than comfortable.

Plus our dog has spent the a few days this week at the vets having his corneas transplanted to address some eye issues he was having (yes I am serious), which cost us about $4k and we now have to put drops and cream in his eyes as well as getting 6 tablets a day down his mouth.  And the poor thing looks so embarrassed because he's sporting a big plastic cone on his head!

So enough whinging and whining from me.  Looking on the bright side I only have 3 more days of work to go, and I'll get to meet my new baby in four (or so) weeks and find out the answer to the million dollar question: boy or girl?

I have been busy doing some virtual sewing though, planning an awesome winter wardrobe that is however conditional upon my waistline returning! Lots of colour, smart casual separates and best of all most of it from the stash.  However based on my previous experience the more I plan the less I sew to that plan, so we shall see.

Finally getting to the point of this post: the best way to recover from a wadder is to sew something simple that you know you'll have success - it boosts the self esteems and gives you back your sewing mojo.  So I decided to make some simple sleep shorts for myself, because even though we are having a total non summer (one of the wettest on record) and we've now moved into autumn, my pregnant body furnace is turned way up so these will come in very handy. 

I used some vintage sheets from the stash, some cotton lace from the stash and recycled a very stretchy knit t-shirt for the waistband and came up with these (3 pairs are already in the wash, but you get the idea):

About two hours of sewing, a small dent to the stash (ok so minuscule not even noticeable) and I have 5 pairs of very big girl bloomers to laze around in for the next few weeks.

So now that I've recovered I really must get on with some sewing, I plan to make some newborn sized cloth nappies, replace the elastic in the cloth nappies I made for Anna, sew a change pad cover and make a few cozy cardigans and jackets for Anna and the baby.  This baby had better not come early!  Latest belly shot is looking quite round, but I'm not sure if it's dropped enough to say that it is imminent:

anatomy of a wadder

All week my sewing has been paralysed by my recent wadder that has been hanging over my head.  You see I really really wanted it to work, but at the moment I'm too tired and too lazy to fix it, especially since it is a maternity dress for work and I only have two weeks left at the office (6 days, but who is counting!?).  So unfortunately it will go into the UFO box waiting to either be refashioned or possibly fixed if I ever do something crazy like get pregnant again.

But in the interests of keeping it real around here, and to serve as a reminder to myself to avoid making such a fundamental mistake again in the future I thought I'd share it.  Trust me it's pretty funny 'cos it was such a stoopid mistake, but as with most things in life mistakes come about when you're rushing or just not thinking things through properly.  This was a case of both (but mostly the latter).

When I spied dress #116 in the October 2011 issue of Burda magazine I really liked it, but was unsure if it was because I had been watching too much Downton Abbey and that in reality this dress was a little too French maid costumey for real life.  Especially when you're preggers you've got to be careful not to veer into the cutesy territory.

But then I spied this dress in the window at Jigsaw for $269:

I figured there must be a trend happening for contrasting collars.  So I decided to take this rather plain black wool crepe dress made from Vogue 2818 last time I was pregnant and upfashion it since I hadn't worn it all this pregnancy.








The plan was to sew on a peter pan collar and hem band from some white wool crepe from the stash, and to cut the sleeves to a cap sleeve because we are (sort of) in summer here right now.  So I unpicked the decorative ribbon I had sewn around the neckline, the topstitching, understitching and neck seam all done in black thread on black wool crepe (my poor eyes!), and had to undo most of the empire seam as well so I could turn the bodice inside out.

Well that was a lot of boring and tedious work, which is what led me to a severe case of laziness, thoughtlessness and rushing to just finish the damn thing resulting in a major stuff up.  You see I just traced the collar from the Burda magazine, cut it out and sewed it on without thinking whether it would fit.  Too bad the Burda pattern is for a round high neck dress, and my Vogue dress is a wide necked bateau style neckline - it was never ever going to work as the curves didn't match!  But it didn't twig at this stage....

When I sewed it on, I realised the collar was too short to meet at the centre back zip but thought I could live with it extending just past the shoulder seams since it's meant to be a feature at the front anyway.  So I clipped the collar, edgestitched the neckline, sewed the bodice and lining back together at the empire waist seam (even overlocking the seam!) and tried it on.  It stuck up in the air just like this:

And that my friends is how you make a simple silly mistake befitting someone who has been sewing for 15 seconds not 15 years!

Now that I've got that off my chest hopefully I can find the motivation to get back into my sewing room - only 6 weeks before the next baby is due so I shouldn't waste this time at all!

DIY maternity shapewear

I thought I'd put up another post to see if I could provoke 'anonymous' into posting another passive/aggressive comment asking"why?" like I got to the post before the previous one in relation to me still wearing high heels.  I have heard that you're not a real blogger until you get heckled on your own blog, so yay for me! Even though mine was in the gentlest way I had a chuckle.....

So.  Maternity shapewear sounds like an oxymoron or at least very absurd, but it's all about the support of the lower back and belly, the firming up of the jiggling legs and behind and smooth lines under clingy clothes is just a bonus! I posted a while back about my love for maternity Spanx (which many of you concurred with) but unfortunately I wore and washed those so frequently that they got a big run in the front over the belly panel.  Still wearable but a tad bit annoying.

I was about to buy another pair when I decided to see what else is available because there were a few annoying things about the Spanx - namely that they are made of sturdy pantyhose like material which means they grab onto knit fabrics and even some loose fitting cotton dresses so that the fabric bunches up between my legs in a most unladylike manner.  They are also quite loose across my upper back so that there was a ridge line across my back under my bra - again not flattering.

Surprisingly there's not much else out there in this style, so I decided to try a DIY version when I saw that Big W had the traditional high waisted, bicycle short style made with a satiny finish on sale.  And it worked so double yay.  Here's how I did it:

1. purchase shapewear in a size larger than you normally wear.  I did this mainly because I am a size larger (or two) than I am normally but also because I wanted this fitted but not super sucking in a drop a dress size kind of way.

2.  cut out a 'u' shape where your pregnant belly sits.  I made these back at the end of November last year so I managed to just get them on and trace around the edge of my belly before quickly taking them off - that much pressure on the belly was an awful feeling!

3. from some stretchy fabric in a similar colour (I used some swimsuit lining) cut out a 'u' shape that is a bit wider than the 'u' shape cut out from the shapewear - stretch it out over your belly to see how wide you need it.

4. sew on the stretchy fabric 'u' shaped panel to your shapewear - I just overlocked mine on but you could also use a stretch stitch.

And you're done in about 30 minutes and have probably saved about $20 or $30 too!

I'll spare you all a photo of me modelling it though - that is a sight that no one deserves to see! I will however answer the questions posted in the comments to the post before the last one:

Uta - I agree that the styles in Burda are getting better lately - I thought they were cruelly taunting me because it seemed that the bigger my waistline got the more fitted their dresses became! I can't wait to regain my figure sometime in the (fingers crossed) near future so I can make some of their more lovely styles of late.

Jean - you're right, the roundness of my bump is mostly the baby's bum is sticking out! Anna is so excited, telling everyone that her mummy has a baby in her tummy and kissing my bump frequently but I also made the mistake of telling her accurately how the baby comes out so she is now going around telling everyone that the baby will come out of my vagina! Yes it's correct but it is still disconcerting hearing that word come out of three year old's mouth....

Mysummertouch - I probably won't sew anything for the new baby (except for some more cloth nappies, thanks to Bettina for reminding me!) because I don't know what the sex is but also because I have plenty of newborn sized clothes in neutral colours leftover from Anna.  And I found that in the first few months Anna was always wrapped and mostly asleep so her outfits were never really seen anyway, so I'll make some 3 month + sized clothes after the baby arrives and I know what colour to sew.

And to anonymous who lamented that me still wearing high heels is doing his/her head in and asked why, I guess the answer is that I still can and I still have somewhere to wear them! Pretty poor answer I know, but I have always worn a suit and heels to work even though there is no official dress code and some people dress very casually, but I never feel in a work frame of mind unless I'm dressed professionally.  Plus I don't own many flat shoes and the ones I do have are pretty casual slip ons, so I feel like I'm shuffling around wearing slippers when I've got them on.  But to put your mind at rest I do wear flats when I walking to and from the office, and I certainly don't go out on my days off with Anna to the playground or the museum or the library etc wearing heels - I am so not a yummy mummy!

Another Burda potato sack made good: 3/2009 #113

Trena (aka The Slapdash Sewist) was absolutely correct in saying that I've made the most of the boxy styles that Burda has been dishing up for the last few years - I've made yet another maternity dress from a normal sized Burda pattern with the merest of tweaks to make it cover the basketball I'm carrying around at the moment.  I used pattern 113 from issue 3 of 2009, which looks like this:

And all I did was raise the waistline seam a few inches to instead become an empire seam above the bump, added a little extra width across the front and dipped the hem at the front so that it sat relatively straight, and in no time this is what I came up with:

I used a white and navy blue stripe knit from the stash for the bodice and some navy jersey bought from Spotlight for the skirt.  I sewed this mostly on my overlocker, and just used a twin stitch for finishing the hem and other edges.

I've gotten a lot of wear out of this one so far as it is really comfy whilst still having good coverage.  The pattern is quite deceptive because I didn't extend the sleeves at all, yet they did turn out a lot longer than I thought they would from the pattern line drawing.  But a bit of shoulder and upper flabby arm coverage is good for me at the moment!

Although this was an extremely easy pattern to make, I did have trouble with the neck facings.  I don't know if I traced these wrong or what I did incorrectly, but for some reason the back neck facing was way too wide but the front neck facing was too short so that it wouldn't sit flat.  So in my usual meticulous and highly professional sewing manner *cough cough* I fixed it by cutting a slit in the front facing at the button of the 'v', folding a pleat in the back facing and holding the facing down all the way around with iron on double sided interfacing!

So far it's holding up well, and I only have another 9 weeks of wear anyway....  Speaking of which, that basketball I alluded to? Check this out:

Eeek! This baby belly is so round and so out there this time around.  I seriously had 5 different people at work this week ask me if I was about to start my leave soon and then nearly choke in surprise when I said I'd be working for another 6 weeks! But I saw the obstetrician this week who assured me I am measuring normally and the baby's head is down and not in some weird position.  But the baby hasn't dropped too much, it still sits above Anna's head with a little help of some heels (yes yes I'm still wearing them):

In the comments to the last post Jean asked if I would be induced this time around too.  I'm hoping with all my fingers crossed that this labour starts and progresses naturally (not too long after the due date either!) because I've heard that induced labours are more painful and I could do with a little less pain.  Plus we missed out on the excitement of the dramatic movie style waters breaking, and the mad dash to the hospital so if it happens naturally it'll be like a first time experience (well that bit anyway, the rest I remember with vivid clarity).

I've just found out that my sister in law is going to be having her second son a few months after I'm due, which is exciting for them and good for Anna because now she'll have two male cousins to torment! But as for me I still have absolutely no idea what I'm having - this one is moving around a lot more than I recall Anna doing, plus I am more tired, a different shape and had much worse morning sickness but I'm also running around after 3 year old plus working part time, am nearly 35 now and having been trying to maintain a better diet this time around so I don't think anything there's anything meaningful in those differences.  I'll have to wait and see, just like nature intended!

The final stretch

I've clocked up 30 weeks of pregnancy this week, so in theory 10 weeks to go.  Since Anna was 2 weeks late (and even then required quite a lot of inducement to come out) I'm not holding my breath that this one will be on time.

Ironically this time I feel much heavier and have quite a lot of aches and pains but I haven't put on as much weight as last time. In fact I have a few maternity clothes I made last time that are still too big for me to wear - I wore a skirt to work during the week that I got sick of pulling it up so I accessorised with some bulldog clips to cinch it in!

But still I have grown out of a few clothes due to my expanding rear and hips, mostly my casual clothes which is what I need most now given that I only work part time this time around and spend quite a bit of time at the park, the library, the museum or other kid orientated places.  So even with only 10 weeks to go I'm still sewing maternity clothes  - I have the fabric and the will, so why not?

This latest dress is the ultimate in comfort but is not one of the best looking dresses I've made, but for once appearance isn't exactly at the forefront of my mind as I try to waddle around in our summer (which has been quite mild to date thankfully!).  So I have actually been wearing this quite a bit, although I feel a bit sloppy and blah.  The only review for this pattern on Pattern Review notes the same issue, so I guess it's not just me.





















I used Burda 4/2010 #122 which need very little modification to make it maternity friendly.  In fact after wearing this a few times I'd say it needed no alteration at all, but to be safe I added a bit extra width to the front dress panel but it's so roomy that I don't think I needed to do that at all.  I also stuffed up by sewing the front bodice and lining together at the neckline and the shoulders, plus the same with the back bodice so I couldn't join the front and back together at the shoulder! D'oh..... But I was too lazy to unpick since I sewed this dress mostly using my overlocker, so my dodgy solution was to just lay the front piece over the back, topstitch along the shoulder and then sew on four buttons to cover it up. Yes, I was even too lazy to make buttonholes!

The other changes I made was to leave off the front opening placket and instead I just sewed on a few buttons on the front where it should be have been - I just couldn't be bothered making the placket since I knew I wouldn't wear this unbuttoned.  The pattern also required a double layer of the fabric (recommended jersey) but I thought that was unnecessary and too hot for summer so I only made a single layer for the dress body and just a self lined bodice.  And I left off the rectangle square at the front that makes a channel for the tie, instead just leaving the tie loose so I could tie it above the baby bump wherever I wanted.

The fabric I bought from the Remnant Warehouse a few months back when I bought the swimsuit fabric.  I don't recall the fabric content label, but I just thought it was a cotton jersey in grey marle with fine black stripes.  After washing it and smelling that unmistakable wet dog smell I realise it's actually wool jersey which made the price I paid ($9.95/m at 145cm wide) an even bigger bargain.  I might remake this blah dress into a simple skirt post pregnancy to get some better use out of the fabric.

Speaking of the swimsuit fabric, yes Kyle it really does say Nookie Beach which is a bit funny given the connotations but it's actually a fashion label here in Australia and I guess this is remnant from their summer line a while back.  And thanks everyone for your flattering comments - we really are our worse critics but I am finding also that the older I get and the more lumpy and bumpy I get post child(ren) I am also getting less self obsessed about how I look.  Yes I am aware of my faults, and I try to minimise them through what I wear, but I've also realised that this is as a good as it gets - I'm sure when I'm 60, 70 or 80 I'll wish I look like I do now!

In the nick of time: Kwik Sew 3416 done

It's probably way too late for Christmas related puns, but I did manage to finish sewing my maternity swimsuit on Christmas night just before we left the next morning for our holiday.  And I'm so glad I did - I like how they turned out so much that I only wore the ones I made and not the tankini I had purchased 'just in case'.  And they didn't fall apart either - they withstood swimming at the water theme park, the beach and the hotel resort pool with nary a popped stitch (phew!).

This is probably the bravest photo I've posted on my blog so far, but hey this is what I look like at 27 weeks pregnant - lumps, bumps, bruises, pale, freckly skin and one sizeable baby bump:

To recap I used Kwik Sew 3416, view A although I made two shoulder straps instead of a halter strap. 

I modified it to make a maternity swimsuit by increasing the length of the front body piece and gathering at the sides so it created a ruched effect across the belly. I also added a bit of extra width across the front as well, but just cut the bodice and the crotch/bottom section to match my current measurements.  Here's the inside of the gathered section:

The other change I made was to fully line the swimsuit instead of just lining the bodice and crotch section as per the pattern.  I did however follow the pattern exactly for the rest of the sewing since this is my first swimsuit attempt, with mixed results.  It looks good on the outside - I twin stitched the edges so it looks pretty much RTW from the outside:

but it is a huge mess on the inside though! The straps get sewn on last so the raw ends of the straps are visible, and the overlocked edge with the elastic stitched on by zig zag looks quite messy.

Worst of all though is the way the bra cups are sewn in.  The pattern says to snip a cross at the bust point of the lining fabric, stretch the lining fabric over the curve of the bra cup and zig zag stitch around the edges of the bra cup.  Then you have to cut away the lining fabric close to the stitching line so that the bra cup is exposed, like this:

Not only does this look a little bizarre and most unlike RTW, but the raw edge and the zig zag stitching is a little *ahem* itchy against that sensitive area of skin (sorry if that is too much info!).  If I were to make this again I would make put another layer of lining fabric in that covered up the bra cups to avoid this.  I would also possibly insert an underwire into the bodice as well to give a bit more shape and definition - you can see from that side on shot above that I am not overly endowed in the chestal region, but what I do have has sagged after pregnancy and 13 months of breastfeeding so I could use a little 'lift and seperate' action happening!!

So for about $20 I have made myself a pretty decent pair of maternity swimmers.  Whilst I do think swimsuits are extremely expensive (the last non maternity suite I purchased was $165), I do take my hat off to the sewists - these are extremely fiddly and rather time consuming to sew comparative to the size of the garment!

learning from my mistakes......and then some!

After my failure to make the white shirt from the last post long enough in the front I was determined not to do that again.  Well I've certainly avoided that problem with the latest blouse I've sewn, with tons of length to spare.  In fact if my bump grows big enough to need the extra length I've included this time around I will freak out.  See for yourself:

Ha ha I crack myself up sometimes! I suppose I could re-hem the front and shorten it slightly so that the dip at the front is not so exaggerated, but that would mean adding something else to my extremely long to do list so I think I shall live with it.
In answer to Dib's question posted in the comments to the last post about whether I'm only modifying Burda patterns for maternity wear the answer is no - it only seems that way.  I try to pick patterns that already have a hint of maternity about them so that it's not too difficult to modify them, and it just so happens that Burda have been specialising in patterns for loose flowing smock / potato sack styles that are ripe for modification!  But the added benefit of Burda is that since I'm already tracing them out it's convenient to make the modifications to the pattern at the same time.

But for this blouse I used Simplicity 4589 because it was an easy style to modify given that it has no shape to it whatsoever.  All I had to do to make it work was to increase the width of the front by about 10cm, and increase the amount of gathering under the yoke to accommodate that extra width.  Actually I used a series of small pleats across the front because I think it looks neater than gathering.  I also made a matching tie to wear with it because without cinching it in it has a bit of old fashioned smock look about it.

I made this in a soft cotton which I recently purchased from Spotlight for no particular reason, so I was glad it didn't join the stash and instead got make into something quickly.  The fabric though had huge potential for misplacement at the bustline (if you get my drift) but thankfully with the gathers across the front I shouldn't have that problem. 

Although this is comfortable to wear, looking at these photos I think I should have made the next size up across the bust because it looks a little tight under the arms.  Clothes not fitting me at the bust is certainly not a problem I've had before!  Perhaps widening the yoke would let the front fall more freely.

In answer to the comments in the last post, Carol I think the reason the white shirt stayed clean is because I work it to work and didn't spend the day with Anna.  As with all toddlers she is a major mess magnet and I usually get some fallout from her too!  Gail I am hoping to wear this post maternity, I'm sure that by adding the pleats at the front and elastic casing around the waistline that it will be a flattering fit. 
And now to get on with the rest of my to do list - why is it christmas seems to come around more quickly every year?