NewLook 6974 - Red, white & navy stars and polkadots dress

I made this dress for Rachel to wear for July 4th. Why I always pick this holiday to make her a new dress and not her birthday or Easter I don't know. I'll have to remedy that from now on.

I purchased these two fabrics from Fabric.com earlier this spring. They are both the good quality cottons I like to use for childrens' clothing. The red star fabric is by Michael Miller and the navy w/ white dots is a Riley Blake fabric.

Originally I was planning to use the navy for the straps, bow, and peeking out of the bottom as seen on the example dress on the pattern envelope. However, I quickly realized all the work of those godets would be lost in the business of the fabric, and so used most of the navy for flat bias piping sewn into the godet seams. I could have ordered more navy for the second layer under the dress, but by then was tossing around the idea of not even lining it because the star fabric is pretty thick.

I cut a size 1/2 for the width and a size 3 for the length. This tiny girl continues to slowly grow upwards but hasn't put on much girth, and I'm always so happy Simplicity and NewLook offer patterns in the 1/2 size.

Hanger pictures:

I used bias strips of star fabric to finish off the armholes because I didn't have the lining to do that job. (No picture of them, though - I completely forgot.) Since the star fabric is somewhat thick and the piping added some bulk, I couldn't put in a 5/8" double folded hem per the instructions. Instead I cut a curved hem facing and invisibly machine stitched it to the inside. All seams were finished with the overlocking stitch from my regular sewing machine.

I always enjoy working with cotton fabrics and had fun making this cute little dress. I don't know if I'll make it again since I actually cut into the pattern pieces instead of tracing them like I usually do for girls patterns. There were too many pieces and I just didn't have the will to do it.

Yellow + white ponte maternity skirt

All the maternity skirts currently available for sale fall into three categories: black/navy/gray, denim or striped maxi. If you want any type of bright color or pattern, you are out of luck. Or, if you know how to sew, you make your own!

It was pretty much love at first site when I spotted this Theory yellow striped ponte at Mood Fabrics. It's yellow, is a ponte knit which is the perfect weight fabric for a skirt, and it's visually interesting with the stripes. I paired it with Burda 7023, labeled "super easy", and that was no lie. It only has two pieces, a little gathering, some elastic in the back, and a hem. This fabric stitched together beautifully and I had no problems matching the stripes along the side back seams.

This is another great Burda pattern with plenty of room for a growing bump. I can see this skirt fitting until the very end.

At the back I used 1.5" elastic and stitched it down along the the top on the inside and the bottom on the outside of the skirt fabric.

And that's pretty much it! If I can find more cute ponte knits I'll whip this skirt up again. I also may have purchased a few more yards of this yellow stripe for a dress for my more permanent non-maternity wardrobe, but don't hold your breath to see it anytime soon. ;)

Black + magenta ikat print jersey faux-wrap dress

Hello! And surprise! I have been missing for a few months because pregnancy fatigue really got to me. Being pregnant at 36 and caring for 3 other kiddos at the same time is tiring. Thank goodness we are having a pretty mild summer so far with lots of rain. It won't last, I'm sure, but I'm enjoying the cooler temps while I can. I haven't been doing a whole heck of a lot of sewing - just haven't had any mojo to work with. In the evenings all I want to do is vegetate in front of the television or go to bed. I'm way better at squeezing in some time in front of my sewing machine in the afternoons. Also, making maternity clothes has never been a favorite thing for me, mostly because the pattern choices are so limited. This time around, though, I've actually found a few cute patterns that I like and want to make up.

I picked out this fun jersey border print from Mood Fabrics without anything specific in mind. It has a different border on each selvage and my plan was to utilize both into one dress. The larger border is the abstract squares I used for the sleeves and belt, and the small border is a black and white concentration of the main fabric that I planned to have showing at the hemline. Unfortunately this dress turned out to be matronly long, so I had to chop off the smaller border to get a length I was happy with.

The pattern I used is #132 from Burda Magazine's June 2010 issue. I cut my usual size 38 and the fit is just right, if a little tight in the sleeve area. Theirs has a skinny little tie belt, but I have a distaste for those types of belts being used on a garment with a horizontal bodice/skirt seam. They never stay where they're suppose to and always need adjusting. Instead I cut a thicker belt and sewed it in between the front wrapping bodice side and the skirt. It wraps around the back freely from the dress and ties in the front and never needs any fiddling.

This pattern has lots of room for a growing belly. It actually droops a little in the front right now, and I expect to wear it straight through to my third trimester. You can see at the side seams that I lined up the horizontal pattern starting at the hemline. With the side front gathers attaching to the ungathered back the pattern no longer lines up, but that can't be helped. The fronts I lined up with the back starting at the underarms. There is a vertical seam down the center back which I did not give much effort to matching up other then at the hemline. I was incredibly surprised when the pattern lined up so perfectly at the neckline and under the belt.

There's a 3/4 sleeve top version of this pattern included in the magazine that I may make as well. I'm due the first part of October, though, and it's usually just beginning to cool off around here at that time.

Oh, and it's a boy. We were really surprised by that news - had gotten it into our minds that it was sure to be a girl so Rachel could have a sister. Poor thing, now she'll have three brothers. ;)