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.