Dresses!!!

Hope you all had a great weekend! I wanted to start this week off with a peek at some of the dresses I've been sewing for myself on days off. So far, I've used two patterns: the Schoolhouse Tunic, from Sew Liberated, and Burda 8377.

Wings

My very first, from scratch, maternity project! Mom & Dad gave me the pattern for my birthday, back in November. Almost immediately, I went out and bought the softest, most beautiful fabric I could find and got busy sewing. Though the dress's shape is simple, parts of the construction are a tad tricky. Specifically, I'm referring to the drawstring waist. I spent all kinds of time trying to mark out where to place the drawstring casing, which is on the inside of the dress, but sewn on from the outside. Not a fun exercise. Otherwise, easy peasy!

Oh, and what is this stunning fabric, you ask? Why, it's a cotton lawn by Alexander Henry called Como - I picked mine up at Fabric Depot using my 40% off coupon, 'cause the lawn's are a bit spendy! Oh, and I keep forgetting to photograph the dress with the sweater I like to layer over top, but it's this one. The colors are perfect, and both the dress and cardi are luxuriously soft. I feel beautiful when wearing them.

Little Birds

Leah, a co-worker at Close Knit, confirmed my suspicions that the School House Tunic could make a great maternity dress. She said that she made a few a size or two larger than normal and wore them quite comfortably through her pregnancies and to nurse. Sweet! My first version was made with another Alexander Henry print, called "june song", which I picked up at Bolt.


In addition to going up a couple of sizes in both the bodice and skirt pieces, I left off the pleats and instead gathered the extra skirt fabric at the front of the dress. (Thanks for the suggestion, Mom!)

Adrienne was awesome enough to help take some photos at the end of a long day at work, which goes towards explaining the considerable wrinkles in the dress and the crazy lighting. You might recognize the cardigan as this one, finished in November.

Petite Fleur

My second SHT, maternity style. I wasn't quite sure if I'd have enough room in the skirt of Little Birds, so I went up yet another skirt size for this one. This time, I left in the original pleats and I also dropped the front hem down an inch. Actually, I had intended to do that with the last one, too, but got distracted and didn't follow the cutting line I'd marked for myself. Oops!


The fabric for this one, picked up at FD, is from Free Spirit's "Nest" collection and is called "Berries," but I think the print reminds me more of little flowers. So there. I wore it for a shift at Close Knit, where Jenni very kindly helped me get photos, with this cardi and was very snuggly all day. The hat and scarf have been around for ages, made with yarn gifted to me by Sanna at the start of my knitting career.

Impressions

My most recently finished dress, out of another Alexander Henry print, "dasha," picked up at Bolt. This time, I bought some awesome tracing paper and a wheel to help mark the lines for the drawstring casing, which made the process a bit easier. If I make another, though, I'm just gonna apply the casing to the outside of dress, like I did here, which would also have the added bonus of eliminating the need for buttonholes.

Obligatory side-view. These photos were taken Sunday the 16th, so this is pretty much how I'm looking now.

I wore this outfit last Sunday for a brunch date with my sweetie, cardi info here. We tried a new-ish place over in Sellwood, called Hash, and were pleasantly surprised by how yummy everything was. Sometimes I have trouble trying new brunch places 'cause we already don't get to our tried-and-true favorites as often as I'd like.

After brunch, Ryan took me to the Portland Art Museum, where we saw a visiting piece by Thomas Moran (stunning), this new exhibit (thought provoking), and the main reason for our visit - some "new" Monet's. The museum currently has not one, but two Waterlilies on display, as well as two other Monet's. I'm not ashamed to say that I stood in front of one of the Waterlilies and cried. (Lest you think it's all just pregnancy hormones, this would not be the first time viewing work by Monet has moved me to tears!)

That's enough of my rambling on and on for now. There are currently 3 more maternity dresses in the works, as well as several finished baby projects to share - and many more on the way, so stay tuned!

Oh, and another big "Thank You" to Adrienne, Jenni & Ryan for helping me get some of these photos!

Comments

  1. Gorgeous dresses and knits! How talented you are, one lucky Bubba to have a Mommy who Makes, take care

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  2. Everything looks lovely - how great to be able to be so busy and creative while you wait! Being pregnant is great, but being stylish and pregnant is awesome!

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  3. The dresses turned out great! It is so great to see your baby bump. It made my heart go pitty patter! Love, Mom

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