My Final Maternity Dress- Simplicity 1360 Again

As I am now 39 weeks pregnant, this will be my final contribution to my maternity "wardrobe" of things I made. I really only ended up making five dresses and three skirts. I was feeling fairly peppy until January, when my favorite thing became taking a nap after work. So not a whole lot going on around here sewing-wise. 

Since it was my third attempt, the knot looks the best on this one. 

I made this from that same pattern, Simplicity 1360, as my other two (floral print here and green one here). This one is a knit from Jo-Ann and it is really static-clingy. I wore this over leggings and with a slip and it still spends all day trying to climb my legs, which you can see in some of the pictures. The floral wrinkles insanely when it is washed, but the print is busy enough to hide it. The green one doesn't have any major problems, maybe since that is the bamboo rayon I bought from fabrics.com?

My only tip for making these is to try it on after you sew the front to the back and really pull and tug on the knot. Most of the time, pulling will open up some kind of gap either above or below the knot that you then need to sew up. Otherwise you end up with a hole directly between the boobs... unless that's what you're going for ;)

 It is great for its expansion capabilities- I can still wear it at nine months and it still has some drape in the front. Less on the sides.

Static cling on the sides. 

 Look at my big baby!

 A little bit squishier from the back, but what do you expect? I have gained 35 lbs, which is still in my target range.

The last few weeks have been really busy and hectic. The baby decided to turn breech about 3 weeks ago and we were trying everything to get him to turn head-down again. Went to a chiropractor, did acupuncture, the moxibustion where you burn incense next to your little toe, laying in all the weird positions from the spinningbabies website, talking to him, flashlight on where you want his head to go, and so on.

 Finally we tried the external version on Tuesday, where the doctor pushes on your stomach to try and physically turn the baby head down. That was really painful, but unsuccessful. So unless he magically turns before his due date, we will be scheduling a cesarean soon. Not quite what I had in mind, but I am getting used to the idea.


I have one more week of work (or less, depending on the baby's agenda) and now I am moving on to sewing baby things finally.

I will post a few more things this week, hopefully, but then I might fall off the earth for awhile!! Wish us luck with our new baby!

Maternity Skirts- Simplicity 1359

I made these skirts in early December and have been wearing them fairly regularly with tights or with fleece-lined leggings. You make the pattern in your pre-pregnancy size and it came out perfectly fine. It is a simple pencil skirt with a belly pattern with no ruching, which I personally dislike. The waist is elastic, so you can adjust it to fit. 

I took all of these pictures with a self-timer after school one day before the light disappears at about 4pm.

 I made three from knits from Jo-Ann. I made simple black one because I was tired of how my maxi skirts would bunch up around my tights. These are all a size 8. 

So neutral...

 I am still wearing all regular tops, nothing specifically for maternity. This is an Ann Taylor Loft one that was always a little big, and all of my Target tops are super stretchy and still work.

Side view-32 weeks pregnant

 This one is a grey knit with small gold polka dots. The side picture was super blurry, but you get the idea.

 This one is my favorite- a very 90s inspired neon cheetah print knit.

 I still look mostly like old Molly from the back (and I really need a haircut!)

 I always wear my shirt over the skirt, but this is just for your amusement! I look like I'm stealing a bowling ball!

I got the pattern on sale for $1 and it also has shirts, pants and a long skirt. I would definitely recommend it for anyone who wants to sew some simple and easy maternity clothes!! It's only four pieces and I made all three assembly-line style in just a few hours. Plus, they are stretchy knits so you will get a decent amount of wear out of them.

Only five more weeks and it's baby time!!

A nice green dress for Xmas- Simplicity 1360

 I wanted to make another version of Simplicity 1360, which I made over Thanksgiving break. I wanted to make a green one, both for general wearing and to have a holiday dress that fits. Jo-Ann of course had no green knits that were nice or the right shade of green. I ended up buying this from fabrics.com with some baby fabric; it is a hunter green bamboo rayon.

 But they had my old credit card number saved, and I was forced to get a new number with the Home Depot data breach. Then I had to fix the number after getting an email like five days later and I didn't think I would get the fabric in time to make the dress. Luckily, I got the fabric on Wednesday and I was able to cut it out on Wednesday night and then sew it up on Thursday.

Sadly, I couldn't find my Santa hat, but I got to have a reasonably festive outfit for our class party on the last day before winter break!

I did a much better job on the knot the second time around!

 This is from mid-December and I am much bigger now.

 Nice and simple back.

 I always blink. I still have quite a few pairs of tights that fit and can be pulled up over my belly (these are from Forever 21) so that's good. This week has been super cold and I am LOVING my fleece lined leggings I bought from Charlotte Russe. How did I not own any last winter?!? They are so warm and comfy and they have no elastic in the waist, so I will be able to wear them until the baby is born.

I cut out the same dress in a purple knit when I cut out the green, so I will whip that up soon and then I will have three! Perfect! They are great dresses and I will be able to wear them post-birth as my stomach (hopefully) resumes its previous shape.

Simplicity 1360: A Stylish Maternity Dress?

I knew I wanted to get some sewing done over Thanksgiving break, as I had five days off! I used Simplicity 1360, which is a maternity dress pattern with a twist under the boobs, and gathers in the center front for expansion capabilities. I bought the knit at Jo-Ann previously, and the pattern when it was on sale for 1.00, so I was ready to sew.

 Don't worry, I don't actually wear heels! All of my black flats are in a closet in my classroom, because I walk to school in sneakers and then change.

 The only part of the pattern that gave me trouble (which actually made me rage-quit on Wednesday and pick it back up on Friday) was the bodice part that forms the center-bottom part of the twist. All of these girls on the envelope are wearing solid colors, the pattern never says anything different for a print, but the back of my fabric is a whitish grey color. So when you pull it through the holes, it actually flips backwards and the white backing was showing. So I had to take it apart, cut out a second bodice piece to make it reversible, and then re-sew it back together. That solved it, but it was an unnecessary frustration. In part because I had never made any top or dress with a twist like that.

 From the back, I still look the same!

 From the side, not so much!! I am due March 3rd, so exactly three months from today! Exciting!

It's pretty and flattering and I am really happy with this dress! I had originally been looking for Vogue 1027, a mock wrap dress, from Kat's recommendation a few months ago. Of course, my Jo-Ann was sold out, but I thought this pattern was similar and it is!

I have one hideous failure to show you later this week, and I am working on my winter coat, which is about half done! Just in time, as I am on my largest coat right now and it barely closes! While I have had it for three years (?!?) I hardly ever wear it because the fur feels really over-the-top, but now I have no choice!!

Soon, soon....

Maternity Maxi Skirt

I bought the fabric and cut out the pattern right on the heels of making this dress at the beginning of September. The pattern is a "See n Sew" Butterick 5837 and I cut it out in a size 12 like the other one. By not leaving any time in between, I did not get the time to realize how giant that would make the shoulders! 

 Terrible fitting, and the whole bodice is lined and turned through a tiny hole, so it's not like it wanted to re-do the whole thing.

 Gack! In the end, I kept the skirt part to make into a maxi skirt and threw the top portion away.

 I have been wearing this skirt a LOT for the past month or two. It is just a simple rectangle, but I did take the time to match up the stripes at the side seams. I left it unhemmed, as it won't unravel. The waist is two parallel rows of half inch elastic, which was meant to sort of copy some knit pants from Target with a shirred waist (minus how itchy the shirring is).

 I can wear it with a shirt untucked over it, which is how I usually do. The print is from Jo-Ann and is just a somewhat thin knit. I have been wearing leggings or tights underneath as it is already feeling like winter here in Chicago.

 Tucked in also works, but it does make me feel like I am wearing a circus tent a little bit.

 I am for sure looking much more pregnant and there's no disguising it anymore! I am just about 6.5 months in.

 Close-up of the waist: the two rows of elastic are pretty comfortable and they don't twist at all. I used to wear it around my waist, but as that is gone, I just wear it under my boobs. I am all about being comfy!

This was a good make- I have two other maxi skirts as well (from Target and Forever 21) and they are working well for being pregnant in the cold weather.

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving, it was so nice to have a five day weekend!!!

Knit Pants Fail- Simplicity 1429

I made Simplicity 1429, which is for knit skirts and pants. I am now waaaaayyyy to big for all of my pants to fit and I wanted some comfortable knit pants that I could wear to work as well. I bought some chocolate brown knit at Jo-Ann and got this pattern on sale. 

I usually wear an 8, so I thought that cutting out a 12 would be a good plan that matches up with my belly. Trolololololololol. Wow, so wrong. They turned out ridiculously, freakishly enormous. In fact, after taking these pictures I had Andrew try them on as a joke and they fit my 6'3" husband. Ha.

Please note: these are the least flattering pictures ever taken. Winter no-light, flash and the most unflattering pants in the world combine to make this look like a diet advertisement. 

Hmm, those pants look saggy. 

 Wow, taking these pills I lost 35 lbs!!!

 They do not fit on any point of my body, including the belly.

 I'm now thinking "pregnant belly dancer" is a Halloween costume I should have considered!

Hope you got a laugh, and I gave them to Andrew as house pants!

Simplicity 1810- Transition Dress

As I stared to gain weight, I looked through my patterns for something loose, or with an elastic waist. I found Simplicity 1810A, particularly view B with the knee-length skirt and no sleeves. I thought it had an elastic waist, until I looked over the instructions and realized it is basically a sack with a waist tie. Perfect!

Simplicity 1810A

I cut out my normal size, XS, since these patterns have a huge amount of ease. And I was correct. Even up 10+ lbs and with new, 2x as big boobs, it is pretty huge and nearly too low-cut to wear!

My fabric is from my spring trip to Mood, it is a cotton knit with a brown and off-white giraffe-ish print. It is thin, but not translucent. It has served me well for the last month or so, being perfect for the hot weather yet also cute with a little cardigan. 

Unfortunately, the fabric had these black marks on it. They were right in the center in two places, but I didn't notice that until I had cut out the dress. Of course they ended up about waist-high, dead center on both of the main body pieces. Luckily the print is busy and with the waist tied, the blend in for the most part. 

Mood fabric with marks

Here it is on my beautiful assistant, untied. It has little tucks on the shoulder below the yoke. Otherwise, potato sack.

Ties not tied

The only mildly interesting thing about the pattern is that the ties are sewn into the back darts. This is because the back is cut on the fold, and it is only one piece. It looks nice and then I can't lose the matching sash, like I am always doing with my Alma blouses.

I wore it to estate sales last Saturday, in hopes that we would happen upon a cool place to take pictures. We drove by this mosaic mural and I yelled STOP!! We took some pictures and then I looked across the street and saw the fox; I love foxes!

The ties give it some shape, although I am rapidly losing mine

I like how the dress' print kind of mimics the man to the right.

  Sorry for the bra straps, I know you are deeply offended! :) I am busting (hahaha pun) out of all of my bras and that is one of the few that fit.

Thanks for looking and I am happy with this dress on many levels. It will help me transition from summer to fall, from secretly pregnant to huge-belly pregnant and I can wear it causally or at work. Yay!

My Rae skirt goes to Rome

I was a pattern tester for the Sewaholic Rae skirt several months ago. I kept forgetting to take pictures, so I threw it in my suitcase to take some pictures of it in Europe. We drove from the Amalfi coast up to Rome and spent a day in Rome. This was due to flights: all the flights from Naples to Corsica were around 700 euros, and if we flew from Rome to Corsica, it was something like 77 euros total. Plus we already had a rental car, and Andrew loves driving, so that was an easy decision. 

Sewing the skirt is super easy, as it meant to be a very very beginner's pattern. It is just an easy skirt to make and took me an afternoon. My fabric is some random knit from JoAnn. Probably the worst part of pattern testing is due to the time constraints, I always end up using some less-than-ideal, shit fabric from Jo-Ann. I don't think the pattern suggested knits, but all of the other prints were hideous. 

My crappy knit fabric

From our hotel room balcony on the Amalfi coast. 

 Later that day at the Coliseum:

 If I had actually made it for vacation, I would have chosen a brighter and more fun print. And maybe hem it a little shorter too. It's kind of a frumpy length, I think. For me and my short legs.

While in Corsica, it rained and then we got to see a double rainbow!!

 I also surprised Andrew with a pig pastry from the patisserie! So cute and it was chocolate on the inside and cake.

Any suggestions for online photo albums? I think I had a flickr account many moons ago. I would be very happy to never put anything on facebook ever again, but my mom wants to see our vacation pictures. Ideas? :)

Casual sundress for Italy

I bought some random clothes at Target right before we left for our trip to France and Italy. I bought the blue/green print dress and really liked it. It is super simple, as it is strapless with an elastic waist and neckline. On a whim, I made a twin for it out of 1 1/2 yards of a black and white knit print I bought at Jo-Ann sometime last summer. 

It was very easy to make, I just measured the top, waist and hem with the elastic stretched out and then traced the shape onto my black fabric with chalk. I cut it out, put in the elastics, and hemmed it. The only difference is that I only had 1/4 elastic and the original has more like 1/2 in elastic. Also the original has a useless drawstring tie over the waist elastic, so I eliminated that to save some time.

Cost: I think the fabric was about $15. I already had thread and elastic on hand.

Time: Probably around 2-3 hours.

We went to France to visit Andrew's family. We flew from Chicago to Paris, stayed in Paris for 2-3 days, flew to Florence and visited Pompeii, then drove to the Amalfi Coast for 3 days. All of these pictures were taken in Positano and Amalfi.

Positano:

Original dress

 Near our hotel in Priano:

A very simple dress, but it still looks nice.

 In Amalfi at the church:

Black and white dress for the black and white stone. The wind was blowing it up a little on the right.

Simple, but very comfortable and perfect for vacation. 

This was a simple make, but I am very happy with it. It doesn't wrinkle, and it is lightweight and comfortable; it was perfect for vacation.


In other news, I finally found out that my former school decided to eliminate the French program, and a teacher with more seniority will finish up the last French II classes this year. That was sad to hear, but it is better to know for sure than to keep hoping. Tomorrow I'm going to school to pack up all of my stuff.

On a positive note, I am going to take the two classes for my middle school endorsement, and take two science classes to get both my Social Studies and Science middle school endorsements. I really loved teaching middle school and science is in fairly high demand. So hopefully next spring, I will be in a more successful place in the job market! It's nice to feel like I have some direction, too.

I have some other things I have made, and I will try to post more of them this week!

Maxi Dress II in Old San Juan

I wore my second Mission Maxi several times on the trip and it was perfect! On our last day in Puerto Rico, we had time before our flight to walk around old San Juan. Andrew took these pictures at both of the forts. It was so sunny and hot that I ended up walking around with it hitched up to my knees.

This dress is the same size as the green one, but it looks less suggestive because the knit is thicker. I bought the fabric at JoAnn at the end of last summer. I had been eyeing it for most of the summer, but they priced it at something like 29.99 a yard, which is absurd for a knit! So the bolt lasted until the end of summer, unsurprisingly. I bought a yard and a half on sale for 30 or 40 percent off. So not any cheaper than buying a dress, but the print is absolutely beautiful. Looks like they still have some here. It's shades of blue and green and reminds me of fish or a lagoon or something. 

 I keep thinking the waist could be a little tighter, but I don't need to look like a sausage... I did lose five lbs on my "get ready for Puerto Rico diet" which consisted of the shocking ideas of drinking less beer and eating less food. Maybe slipping and sliding and trudging through the snow every day helped too. Thanks, Winter!

 I am super happy with this version. I will probably make forty more, so get ready!

 You can sort of see the back above.

 How I wore it for most of the walk around. It also turned out to be National Dog Day, so there were dogs everywhere and all kinds of things going on outside the fort. Lots of kites too.

Thanks for looking and everyone should buy the pattern; it is so easy to make and looks so good, while being comfortable and awesome!