Fall maternity dress

Last Saturday I got inspired to do some fall sewing of my own. I love the color of this knit fabric -- a warm, autumnal purple. I didn't have a pattern, but I based it generally off of a maternity top I found at Goodwill, combined with a J. Crew boatneck tee. Douglas kindly fixed dinner so that I could sew it up in time to wear to church and a party the next day.


Despite my lack of a pattern, I think it turned out fairly well (the beauty of knits is that they stretch enough to cover most mistakes). I took some measurements from the shirts I mentioned, then "eyeballed it" when drawing out pattern pieces. The sleeves ended up a tad tight, since I forgot to take into account the fact that my limbs are (ahem) a little more plump these days. Sigh...

I found this page helpful when it came to reinforcing the shoulder seams and binding the neckline. To make the skirt, I simply cut out two rectangles of fabric, sewed them together, then attached them (with symmetrical pleats in front and back) to the bodice.

I saved the pattern pieces and plan to use them again to sew a basic, cream-colored maternity top this week.

A beautiful coat

If you don't want to be in the mood for fall, then by all means DON'T click over to see Marjorie's coat-in-progress at My Cozy Little Whimsy Nook. If, on the other hand, you don't mind sighing over herringbone tweed, a scalloped collar, sweet gathers... well, go on!

Foggy morning

We have been having the most lovely, British weather this summer. My husband took these photos from our apartment balcony, which happily overlooks a serene soybean field, rustic farm buildings, and distant trees. It is a treat to sit out on our little "porch" in the early morning, (decaf) coffee in hand, and enjoy the perfect temperatures. In the evenings, we can watch the fireflies blinking through the dusky shadows as the sun slips past the horizon...

eBay!

I just listed a variety of items on eBay -- some historical costumes, some vintage, some home-sewn, some modest skirts, some cute tops. Take a look!

Quiche

Earlier in the week, I made an impromptu quiche for dinner with ingredients we had on hand.

• start with a pie crust
  
• slice up two roma tomatoes and line the bottom of the crust
  
• chop up some broccoli and toss it in
  
• crumble a little feta cheese and scatter it around
  
• chiffonade any fresh basil you may be able to eke off your sickly basil plant and toss it in
  
• beat up six or seven eggs, add a little soy milk and some salt, pepper, and nutmeg, then pour it over the veggies into the pie shell
  
• bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes

It was delicious!

Maternity skirt

I made up a maternity skirt last week out of some on-sale cotton from Jo-Ann's. I didn't have a pattern, but I used these instructions as a loose guide. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to add the elastic and knit band onto the cotton skirt. I anticipate making some more!

At 22 weeks, I really cannot fit into anything non-maternity anymore. This has alerted me to the fact that cute maternity patterns are very tough to find. A quick search of the "Big 4" pattern websites reveal about three or four patterns per brand, mostly out-of-print, and all a little bit "blah" style-wise. I have some ideas for my own designs, which hopefully I will be able to sew up without too much drafting trouble. In the meantime, Goodwill has yielded a few cute tops, so I am getting by! :-)