Hey Peoples, I am back!! Pregnancy has been good to me but my only complaint is that I am always tired and lethargic. I know, I know boo hoo for you other women go through worse. I guess what I mean is my enthusiasm for all things besides sleeping and eating has gone out the window. I haven’t been sewing like I should nor have I had a desire to go out. But eventually I had to snap out of that funk because my Baby Shower was around the corner and I had nothing to wear. So pretty much I had little to no time to pull together a look. I could have made it easier on myself by just going to a department store, however there is no better feeling than being able to wear something you’ve made (plus it doesn’t hurt to save a little bit of money).
With making a maternity dress there are a few challenges to run into, well more so if your not use to doing a lot of pattern work and major fitting. The first challenge was to find a pattern that compliments the baby bump. In my case I was carrying high and I naturally have a short torso so something that was close to empire waist or a dress with no waistband was something to consider. After a long extensive search I decided on these two patterns as my potential candidates, New Look 6322 and New Look 6341
The next challenge was figuring out the game plan on how to convert one of these regular patterns into a maternity. With New Look 6341 and 6322 I would have to shorten the torso and widen the waistline to match my current waist measurements as well as add length to the front of the skirt to balance the lift due to the baby bump. My final decision was based upon whether I wanted to deal with adjusting the waistline of New Look 6341 or the 6322. New Look 6322 ended up being my choice, in my mind the darts and pleats on the New Look 6322 pattern seemed more flattering to my bump than the princess seams on the 6341.
Now I have oodles of Sewing reference books to refer to for instruction and technique but I am more of a visual learner. After searching online I ran into this video by Professor Pincushion that demonstrates an easy way to increase the waistline on a commercial pattern.
(My work up for my bodice) For my skirt portion of my dress I ran across Rowena from Rostitchery.com I really appreciate Rowena’s simplistic take on pattern adjusting, it was easy and less cumbersome compared to other pattern adjusting instructions that resemble trigonometry math problems. 
After finishing my pattern work it was time to make my muslin. 
In an effort to curb my spending I opted to go to a Goodwill to for used bedding for 83 cents vs muslin fabric for 2-3 dollars per yard. Not to shabby for a bed sheet. I actually like this dress in yellow, but for the shower I wanted to go with some floral fabric I scooped up in LA this past summer from LA’s Fabric District. 
(That was a coincidence I actually matched the shower decor, definitely not planned.)
The dress came out beautiful but that came with some additional fitting issues. One thing that is important to keep in mind is the ease of the pattern which I didn’t take into consideration when adding inches to the waistline. Also I ran into a snafu when little man slightly dropped days prior to the shower which totally through off the original fit of the dress. So in true fashion I was able to finish the dress (with my quick fix finish tricks) the night before the shower.
Overall I was elated by the fact that the dress turned out to be a winner and my shower was stellar thanks to my family and friends. From this experience I wouldn’t change a thing, I learned some pattern work techniques, I tackled on making a maternity dress with woven fabric and I was able to work calmly under immense pressure.
Until Next Time
Love Coco
Shower Pictures Courtesy of J. Perk Productions
Needle Thread & a Prayer 