Black and white
Here's a dress I made earlier in the month to wear to a wedding. The fabric is a synthetic charmuese from Jo-Ann Fabrics. I made it specifically to wear underneath this silk jacket that I made three years ago. Luckily I never did get around to putting a button closure on that jacket or else I wouldn't have been able to close it over my new bust measurement!! (I use a vintage brooch to hold it closed.) Pregnancy changes your shape in bizarre ways...
Like previous maternity projects, I didn't use a pattern, but winged it based on previous dresses I've made. The bodice is sleeveless and has a surplice neckline (rather like this dress), with an inch-wide band of fabric joining the bodice and the skirt. The skirt is a little longer than I would have chosen, but I left it that way on my husband's advice. As my belly grows, it pulls the hemline up. Hence some of the dresses I wore earlier in my pregnancy are now too short for me to feel comfortable wearing in public! This dress will NOT have that problem!
It is nice to have something more formal than a knit dress that I can wear with pearls and heels. (But it introduces the problem of wearing pantyhose while pregnant...!)
Labels: sewing
posted by Laura at
2:43 PM
11 Comments:
It's beautiful. It looks like you went to a maternity shop and paid a lot of money for it.
Want a story about wearing pantyhose while pregnant? I avoided it like the plague until I had no choice-7 mos pregnant, Thanksgiving '08. Everyone said just to buy queen sized and they'd fit fine under the belly. Not so. They dug in, causing pain so bad I was in my brother-in-laws bathroom desperately searching for something to cut the waistband with. I finally found a nailclipper which did the job. That was the last time I wore anything but knee-highs during pregnancy. I never wore that dress again (it was too short for knee-highs).
~Emily (came here thru S&S)
You look lovely! The setting for the photo is very appropriate. Your skill at sewing without a pattern is amazing.
How do the shoes feel? No need for hose is a blessing of summer pregnancies...
Haha, Emily -- I know the feeling! I did wear hose with this dress, low on my hips, but they do start to "dig" uncomfortably after a while, especially when one is sitting. I notice Motherhood Maternity sells pregnancy hosiery but I'm a cheapskate and I don't want to pay for shipping, especially since I'll probably snag them right away!!
Thanks, Mom. I prefer to sew with a pattern but it's nice to be able to come up with something even when I don't have one. The fit of this one isn't 100% perfect but the jacket hides any flaws. Those shoes are actually fairly comfortable -- the heel is low and they are not too tight.
Laura, your dress is lovely! You look great! I say ditch the hose *or* wear knee-highs if you feel utterly compelled (and as long as the dress covers them, of course). Of course, your legs might get cold during this season--when I was Very Pregnant it was May/June...which was good. Flip-flops for my swollen feet were the only shoes I could wear!
Oh, it's beautiful! (as is that baby bump of yours!) I don't know if they do everywhere or not, but I found maternity pantyhose at Target. It was part of one of their nice lines and just set up with the rest of the display.
This is so beautiful and you look so BEAUTIFUl. I love that you made this dress and I also LOVE the jacket. You are so cute pregnant by the way And congratulations too on the baby :)
Great post!!
*Love* the dress, as I do with pretty much all your sewing projects, Laura! :-)
Have you considered thigh-highs stockings?
Thanks so much, everyone! Tilly, I had not thought of checking Target for maternity hosiery. I will take a look next time I am there.
April, I did think of thigh-highs, but very unfortunate past occurrences have made me foreswear the "stay up on their own" kind. ;) Alas, I doubt that pregnancy-friendly suspender belts would be any easier to find than maternity pantyhose!
Hmm...that's interesting...I've only once had a problem with the "stays up on its own" type of thigh-highs.
It's such a beautiful dress, and you look gorgeous! I'm always so impressed by your sewing projects. Everything turns out so wonderfully.
I must say, though, that wearing pantyhose while pregnant must deserve some sort of award. I don't even wear them while not pregnant!
You look beautiful! Many blessings!
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