Tuesday, April 15, 2014

The last of the maternity sewing!

This past weekend I finished up the last of the maternity sewing for my daughter! We have just 9 1/2 weeks to go until the due date. HOLY MOLY!!!!! I'm gonna be a GRANDMA!!! 
Whew, such excitement I am feeling :)

Anywho... Onto the details.

These 2 dresses were both an adaption from the Megan Nielsen Perfect Nursing/Maternity top. The shirt I made for her from this pattern came out quite nice and she said was very comfy without being too from fitting. (The other option was more of a body concious tight all over dress and she wanted nothing to do with that at this stage!) 

Changes from the pattern: I added even more room over the belly for more comfort. The original pattern had 3 pleats over the belly on each side and I added a fourth for a total of 3 more inches of belly room. I also just lengthened the front and back pieces to about 29 inches for a nice pleasing a-line skirt.

The brown and pink dress was made with the waist piece and the darts. The skirt is a beautiful cotton jersey that I got at Linda Z's in Arlinton heights. It was a dream to work with and Mel says very comfortable. The pink sweater knit on top is a remnant from my stash that I have been holding onto for a while and was very happy to use up! I did a regular 1 1/4 inch stitched hem and a narrow hem on the sleeves.
In the pictures it certainly looks like she could have used more of a sway back adjustment but I think that is mostly from the protruding belly!!! And since she wants to use these post pregnancy for a little while I just left it be.

The grey and pink dress was made just a bit differently. The floral abstract print is a very thin sheer cotton gauze. So soft and pretty! So this dress was complelty lined, except for the arms. The lining is a soft, thin grey blend rib knit. In reality the to is underlined, the fashion fabric and the lining were basted together and treated as one, I used the serger to finish all the inside seams for a neat look. The skirt is actually just a separate lining. Keeps the dress from being see through and also keeps the fashion fabric from clinging to itself. I used the same pattern pieces, however instead of pleats I did nice soft gathers across the front.  And yes... There is no waist piece, I actually could not find it during construction. Of course it showed up as soon as I attached the waist and the bodice!!  It would have been less bulky with the waist piece but since the fabrics are so soft it worked out just fine. 
For the hems on this dress I just did rolled narrow 3 thread hem. Just a smidge wider than a regular rolled hem. And the lining on the skirt portionwas cut an 1 1/2 shorter and also just a rolled hem. I went back and forth on what type of hem to use! I even made 3 sample hems!! In the end the rolled hem won out because it was the lightest and daintiest and seemed to fit the fabric/use best.

And that concludes the maternity wear sewing projects! 
She got 4 tops, 3 skirts and 2 dresses. The only maternity item she actually purchased was a pair of dress pants. Between my sewing and clothes she got from a friend she has been well dressed for her pregnancy! 

Here is a sneak peek at the baby quilt... Shhhh, don't tell anyone I showed you!

Now, on to baby sewing and of course some sewing for myself :) 

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