Friday, August 2, 2013

Mama's favorite maxi dress


Mama's favorite maxi dress

In years past, I've been kind of sneaky with my announcements, but I'm just gonna come right out and say it. I'm pregnant! So that explains why things have been quiet lately on the blog. This summer has been much less action-packed for me than I thought it would be. I didn't have any pregnancy sickness with Edmund and only a little with Lavinia, but boy, it's been rough this go around! Pregnancy sickness every day from week six. No vomiting (thankyouthankyouthankyou, Lord) but other diverse and odd symptoms that make me feel nauseous most of the time. Ironically, mornings are when I feel the best. I think things are getting ever-so-slightly better, but I'll know I'm 100% back to myself when I can brush my teeth without gagging. ;)

Necessity drove me to do some sewing, despite not "feeling like it." My summer wardrobe is really lacking and I was getting depressed from having so few options when it came to getting dressed. My cute kids (via their daddy) gave me some pretty fabrics for my birthday in June, and one was a length of medium-weight jersey knit from The Fabric Fairy. I wanted to sew it into a maxi dress, but I was hoping to extend the wearability by making it pregnancy, nursing, and post-partum friendly. Yes, it's a tall order, but I was able to come up with a design that fulfills all three criteria! The dress has an empire waist with some elastic shirring to make it comfortable for a growing baby bump. The nursing access comes from the deep V-neck and the faux camisole underneath.

Mama's favorite maxi dress

So as you can see in the photos, I have hardly any bump at all at this point (13 weeks). However, there is room to grow and, since I am still nursing Lavinia three times a day, it's very convenient to be able to nurse in it. The jersey makes it soooo comfortable and because of the longer skirt length, reasonable neckline, and slight cap sleeves I can basically forget what I'm wearing while wrangling my kids throughout the day (it's nice to not have to think about bending over too much, bra straps sliding out, skirt being pulled up, etc.). Now that I've made one dress and gotten most of the tweaks out, I'm planning on making another one, and next time I'll document my steps with photos and write up a tutorial so you can make something similar, if you like. I know I will be wearing this often throughout the rest of summer and, with a jacket or cardigan, into fall!

Mama's favorite maxi dress

23 comments:

  1. Congratulations! I had the same kind of "morning" sickness you described - there are some foods/smells that still make me shudder from that time :)

    your dress is so wonderful. That is exactly the kind of dress I want to wear in hot weather and how clever that it's nursing compatible. I'm looking forward to the tutorial - when you have energy. . .

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    1. Thank you, Margo! Yes, there are some smells I won't be able to revisit anytime soon... ;)

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  2. Congratulations!!! SO happy for you and that is such a gorgeous dress. I just love transitional wear clothes- it's so hard to maintain 3 seperate pregnant/nursing/not nursing wardrobes!

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    1. Thanks, Lauren Christine -- I so agree, I have several transitional pieces that are SO useful!

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  3. Oh my! Congratulations!! The dress looks *so* comfortable, and yes, if you can manage photos with the next one you make, that'd be great! :)

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    1. Thanks, Janel! I'm placing my order for some more knit today so hopefully I can start on the next one soon!

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  4. Oh Laura, I'm so happy for you -- you've got that lovely mum-to-be glow! Congratulations on your wonderful news!

    The dress is lovely. You've done a marvelous job with the design, and I look forward to finding out more about how it's done -- I could see this being (hopefully) very useful in the future! Oh goodness, I just realized that you matched your pattern on the bodice/camisole -- wow! :-)

    Congrats again, and I hope the nausea disappears soon!

    Blessings,
    Shannon

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    1. Thank you, Shannon! I was hoping someone would notice that matching, LOL. ;-) That is the tricky part of using a large print, but I am tired of most of my maternity clothes being solid colors, so it's worth it.

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  5. Aww, congratulations! You look amazing in that dress...and you would never know it was a pregnancy outfit! It looks so beautiful and comfortable. I am also looking forward to your tutorial in the future, as I'd love to change it up a little and make one myself (even though I'm not at all pregnant). :) It's just the style I like...very modest and feminine!

    Blessings!
    ~Rachel~

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    1. Rachel, the concept of this dress is simple enough that you could easily customize it however you like! I will probably give a few suggestions with my tutorial. I'm glad you like it! :)

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  6. Well firstly HUGE congratulations, how exciting. I am also pregnant (23 weeks) with our 3rd & I am a morning sickness veteran!!! I have picked up lots of tips over my pregnancies which I won't go on about here BUT this is THE BEST article/blog post i've read with loads of really good tips that have really helped me, I hope somthing here works for you.
    http://www.lynnspin.com/?p=2604&cpage=1#comment-6703
    This dress is perfect, i'd love to make one! My bump is really growing with number 3 (I stayed very petite previously) so i actaully need maternity clothes but as this is probably my last pregnancy (my husband informs me ;)) I want clothes that are multi functional. Once again congratulations - so excited for you & your family!

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    1. Congratulations to you, too, and thanks for the link! Some of those are new to me but sound good!

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  7. It's just gorgeous, Laura! I've been praying for you with your pregnancy and hoping that you would feel better. And this dress is simply lovely! The elasticized ruching is charming and the print is wonderful! The nice thing about making a dress large enough to fit you at nine months is that it makes you look super skinny at this point in the pregnancy. Lovely work!

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    1. Thank you, Katrina, I appreciate your prayers! :)

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  8. Beautiful, and you did such a wonderful job!

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  9. Congratulations, number 3, how exciting!! You have my sympathy with the "morning" sickness - mine tends to be worse in the afternoons and evenings too. I've been on safe anti-sickness meds, but it has only reduced the vomiting to a manageable level rather than getting rid of the nausea altogether, although that has reduced hugely now I'm 28 weeks.

    All the suggestions of dry biscuits and crackers just didn't work for me, something slightly stodgy like bread or plain cake seemed to help - I don't know whether lining the stomach helps to neutralise acid, but it helps me a little bit! Hoping it gets better for you into the 2nd trimester.

    Your dress is lovely and you look great! xxxx

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    1. Thanks, Rachel! Ladies like you make me realize how much I have to be thankful for since I'm not actually vomiting. I'm glad to hear you are doing better on the nausea front, too. I've been eating carbs so much too; I feel like my diet is normally pretty balanced but "healthier" things like raw veggies or beans sometimes make me feel worse! :-/ I'm sure the only reason I haven't gained 15 lbs. already is that I'm still nursing my daughter!

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  10. Congratulations! That's such wonderful news!

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  11. Congratulations! And glad you are starting to feel better.

    Please, please, PLEASE write up a tutorial for this dress when you are feeling up to it! Upon cleaning out my closet after my fourth pregnancy I realized I have my normal sizes, early pregnancy and postpartum clothes and maternity clothes...all of which usually need to be nursing friendly, as well.
    I commented to my husband how it would be nice to have things that spanned several of those seasons. This looks like it would work marvelously :)

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  12. Cute, cute, cute! The PERFECT Mama dress! I love your waistline treatment too.

    Congratulations, BTW!

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  13. Love this dress! It looks just like something my daughter would wear, who is expecting her first baby this winter. I'm subscribing to your blog, hoping you'll have a tutorial available sometime - no pressure, I know what it is like to be a mama of little ones - you do such beautiful work.
    Found you through Deep Roots at Home and the giveaway for your very cute cardigan pattern. Thanks so much!

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