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Maternity Sewing - The beginning...

13th May 2020

Inspiration Maternity
Maternity Sewing - The beginning...

Well, hello there! Gosh, it's been a while. Before you ask, yes, my beautiful baby boy 'L' was born on the afternoon of January 1st. I won't be sharing any photos of him online but I do have lots of baby-related sewing to catch you up on.

Time moves differently with a baby in the house and while I imagined my days filled with the usual sewing and blogging while the baby slept the reality has been very different. I'll get back to all that on the regular one day but for now I'm ignoring any pressure to be a do-it-all mumma and instead I'm being kind to myself and enjoying this journey.

You'll remember my last post of grand maternity sewing ideas. I thought I'd sew a lot of new clothes to wear while I was pregnant but in the end, I made just a few pieces and managed pretty well on my existing items.

I didn't intend to make any maternity-specific items because no one is pregnant forever so I wanted to channel my sewing energy into items I could wear afterwards as well.

After the surprise wrap dress, I made a second Kitschy Koo Lady Skater dress and a Victory Simone dress. I also tested the new Papercut Patterns Array dress which lasted into the second trimester. The rest of my sewing efforts went towards baby items...but not baby clothes because I was given so many and because babies grow way too fast. I've already felt sad putting away the cute RTW newborn items my baby has outgrown. I may make some special items later but for now I have plenty of new and hand-me-down clothes ready to go.

I decided instead to make more personalised items that I could enjoy for longer. You've already seen the bouncer cover but later, in a flurry of nesting sewing energy, I sewed even more baby items including a funky nappy bag, cute dinosaur curtains and matching lampshade. I hope I can find some time to share these with you soon.

Back to the clothing: I made one exception to my non-maternity only rule and that was to smash out three Megan Nielson Erin maternity skirts.

I broke my rule for this pattern because:

  1. I own waaay too much knit fabric
  2. I was loving showing off my bump and this pattern looked super versatile and comfortable
  3. It was easy and really fast to sew up from the stash (no additional shopping required!)
  4. I saw others raving about it on Instagram

I'm really glad I broke my rule. They really took no time at all to make and I ended up wearing these three skirts A LOT!


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I made the first version from a ponte knit. 


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I love this fabric which I originally bought for a dress pattern that ended up as a failure due to rage quit fit issues. I was so mad at the waste of fabric I hunted down more and stashed it for later. Luckily I kept the dress fail and offcuts because I managed to cut the skirt panels from these.


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This is my favourite of the three skirts because the ponte is thick and supportive.


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My second version is a purple and grey striped Merino and while this fabric was a bit thinner than the ponte it was super comfortable to wear, kept me warm and breathed well.


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My third version was supposed to be from this funky cable knit but after cutting out I discovered the sun had created fade lines running through that I couldn't avoid


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I was annoyed at myself for letting this happen and did a panicky check of the rest of my fabric stash but luckily only this piece seems to have suffered. It was from a $3 sale so I didn't bother to cry over it.

I did immediately cease skirt sewing to ensure no more of my precious fabric would become damaged. As much as I love seeing my fabric on display the UV here in NZ is really strong and I can't risk our sun ruining any more or my stash.

So, if you must hide something pretty then the covering should also be pretty, right? I present pink polka-dot curtain protection!


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#becausegrownup

2x hemmed rectangles with a channel in the top and threaded onto curtain stretch wire, strung between eyelets screwed into each end of the shelves.


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Crisis averted, back to skirt number 3: I decided that I needed a sparkly version that I could dress up to go out in and found this black and silver lurex stripe in my stash.


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This is the thinnest of all three fabrics but was still suitable and who doesn't like a bit of bling?


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I wore it with a red cropped cardigan at Christmas for a festive twist.


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I took these photos (along with quite few others) at about 35 weeks so you can see how long this pattern lasted me.

10 out of 10, recommended! :)

Until next time, happy sewing xx