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 :) 

A new Megan Nielsen maternity/nursing shirt for my daughter

OI wanted to make another maternity shirt for my daughter. This one is also form Megan Nielsen but is a different style than the last ones I made her. This is the Perfect maternity and nursing top.

This top is a match for the blue skirt with flower appliqués that I made her. It also goes great with jeans and leggings! For this shirt I made a size medium for the bust and tapered to a large at the hemline. I also lengthened the sleeves to 3/4 length. I think it looks almost perfect on her! Next version just needs a sway back adjustment which will be easy to accomplish with that back waist seam. 

I did have to make a second version of the blue inset. It is sort of shaped like a funky Y. With a bit attaching to the shoulder seams and a bit attaching to the upper side seams. Let's the wearers pull open the top to expose the boob for breast feeding. The first one I made I was complelty not thinking and tried finishing the edges without any stabilization and boy oh boy that was a disaster! That light blue rib not just rippled and stretched so far out of shape that all I could do was throw it away and cut out another one!

Other than the sway back adjustment, the fit is perfect with this shirt. I was quite pleased with the outcome..

She has asked me to make a couple dresses for her. So with this top on, I measured to just below the knee at the side seam and the center front so I could determine how much fabric I would need. 

I picked up these pretty grey floral see-through mesh knit and grey lining for a dress for her baby shower. 

It sure has been fun sewing up maternity clothes for my daughter! I can't wait to meet my granddaughter :) 

Here she is at just about 29 weeks, checking out her baby belly in the mirror :) 

Happy Sewing!!

More maternity wear and update on my daughter.

This past weekend was a stressful one! My daughter had her back procedure done on Friday morning. We were very happy to learn that her doctor doing the procedure had called in a favor and had an on/gyn anesthesiologist for her case. This made me feel much, much better about the entire thing! The procedure took a bit longer than normal because they used ultrasound instead of flouro to do the procedure.  Anyone who knows much about these imaging modalities knows that ultrasound is not the easiest way to see things. 

She made it through and they gave her fentanyl as a pain medication. In the post op area my heart was breaking for her! I could see the pain that she was in. This tears a mothers heart apart. They gave an additional small dose of fentanyl so that I could get her home. Once home she was so brave and just gritting her teeth and trying to relax, the pain was so bad that I had to help her to even use the bathroom. By Sunday she was improving and she did go back to work. We really think that the absence of the cocktail of medications after her regular procedures was sorely missed! She usually has a mix of muscle relaxers and pain killers and sometimes a pain patch. She HATES taking the meds but now we really know why they give them to her after her procedures!! Hopefully, this round of injections will be enough to get her through the rest of the pregnancy. 

To help cheer her up I decided to whip a couple of maternity skirts for her. I used Megan Nielsen's Ruched maternity Skirt. This is a very easy project with only 2 pattern pieces. 

This black skirt is made from a super soft jersey. The pictures are hard to see the ruching detail. The ruching is from about 2 inches below the waist band (which is worn above the belly) to about 12 inches down. So across the belly and hips. Please excuse the rest of her CRAZY outfit!!! I was happy just to get her to try on the skirts and let me take pictures!! LOL!!

This second skirt is a bright blue light weight rib knit. The 2 detail photos are lightened way up so you can see the flower details.

I saw this flower and leaf detail on another blog or Facebook and I FULLY intended to give credit where credit is due. However, I can not find the post. It was a remake of a coat into a skirt and I loved the flower details. If it was you or you know who please, please, please let me know in the comments so I can link up!

I just took scraps left over from cutting out the pattern and just freehand cut leaf shapes and varying size circles, payed them up in a placement that I liked and then machine stitched them down. She really loved the detail of the flowers. It was so nice that I made her smile :)

She wore the black skirt to work this week and and said some of her workers were ready to give me orders. That always makes me feel good.

Happy Sewing!

Maternity shirt take 2, success!! And a birthday gift for Dad.

Take 2 of the Ruched maternity T-shirt was a great success! The changes I made gave her the extra room that was needed under the arm, across the upper chest and the upper back. She really does need a sway back adjustment. Too much fabric pooling at the small of her back. However she was adamant about NOT having a center back seam. And it may just go away as her belly gets bigger!

Well, as long as she's happy, I'm happy!

Now that I have a good base fit I have several other ideas for using this pattern.... I also measured her for a maternity skirt. I figure she will need a few things other than stretchy pants for work. 

It's nice to be able to sew for her:)

I also finished a birthday gift for my dad. I'm not 100% sure if he is going to like it. I got mixed reviews when I polled the family about it!!! Everyone liked it, it is a toiletry bag,  but there wsa the thought that the embroidery design may be too girly. He'll have to let me know! I'm sure if he does not like it then mom will. 

The outer fabric is a cream color pleather and the lining is a quilting cotton from my stash. The embroidery design is Gentlemans Grooming Tools from Urban Threads. 

Next up on the work table is a sundress for our upcoming trip!

Maternity Shirt for My Daughter

My daughter is pregnant (WOO HOO!!!!!! I'm gonna be a Grandma!!!!) I'm just a little excited :)

I promised to whip her up some maternity clothes. We picked out several Megan Nielsen maternity patterns. I picked up several different knits at Jo-Ann's this past week from the 50% off red tag sales area. Can't go wrong with a good sale! 

This pattern is Megan Nielsen Ruched Maternity T-Shirt. (http://megannielsen.com/collections/sewing-patterns/products/ruched-maternity-tshirt-sewing-pattern)  Great directions, very easy to put together, complelty done on the serger.

I sewed up this first version as a wearable muslin in a super soft rayon jersey.  She was quite happy with it, me on the other hand was not quite happy with the fit. There is too much pulling from under the arms into the outer chest and looked a little tight across the upper back. And the sleeve were 4 inches too long!! As you can see she is really just starting to show and there is plenty of room for expanding tummy.

I just finished a second version. This one I have added a little more room to the upper back and underarm. I'll see how it fits her tomorrow.