Mama's favorite maxi dress #2 -- stripes!

This is not only my second version of my "Mama's Favorite Maxi Dress" design, it's also a pregnancy update! I was 13 weeks when I posted the first version, and now I'm 26 weeks. How the time has flown and how I've grown! But this gives you a chance to see how the design works for both maternity and non-maternity, since I barely had a bump the first time.

I wanted to choose a very different fabric from the first dress, so I made this second version out of a blue striped knit from Girl Charlee. When the fabric arrived, I hemmed and hawed about whether to use it for this dress because it ended up being much more lightweight than I thought it would be. I waited on the project for a couple of weeks, then decided to go ahead and try to use it. When I laid the fabric out however, I found that it was really badly off-grain. I've worked with a fair amount of knits over the past several years and I've never seen one so warped. I did some online searching to see if there was anything to be done to fix it, but what I found said that 1) off-grain knits really can't be corrected and 2) it's just a sign of poor-quality fabric. I did write to Girl Charlee to politely tell them of my "fabric issues," but never heard anything back. So I probably won't take a chance with ordering from them again -- bummer! Has anyone else had this problem or have you been happy with your purchases and the customer service from their website?

So needless to say, this version was a little more challenging because of the lightweight fabric and the skewed grain, but I once I found the time to work on it, I did manage to produce another dress! I decided to underline the front bodice pieces so that the lines of the faux camisole wouldn't show through, and I'm glad I did. I used some ivory modal knit I had in my stash -- another online shopping bust, in which the fabric turned out to be much too lightweight for the project I had in mind. Oh well, it actually works really well as a knit lining!


I also left the length a bit longer on this version, although I have a feeling I'm going to have to re-hem it... I like the elegance of a nearly-floor-length dress, but not so practical for going up and down stairs while carrying a little one (and usually carrying something else in the other hand!). I'm a little too apt to step on the hem and go flying!

As far as my pregnancy goes, everything is going well and I've been feeling fine this second trimester. I nursed Edmund until he was two years old, but Lavinia ended up self-weaning when she was around 16 months (when I was 17 weeks pregnant), so I'm no longer nursing, although the nursing access on my dress will become extremely handy once again when the baby is born. I'm almost into the third trimester (home stretch!) and am starting to get those physical quirks that make carrying a larger baby uncomfortable. Oh well, I'm grateful even for the discomfort because by the time the end comes, I'm really ready to get that baby out, even if it means going through the challenge of labor and delivery. ;-)

We don't know this baby's sex and we don't plan to find out. And we don't have a name picked out yet -- or should I say, Douglas and I haven't been able to come to a satisfactory agreement yet. Actually, if it's a girl, Douglas gets to name her his choice, but if it's a boy I'm a little more opinionated. We had a bunch of boy names picked out when we were first married, but Douglas has lost his enthusiasm for our secondborn son name over the years. So we're still mulling over choices!

It has been really fun to carry a baby now that Edmund is old enough to understand what's going on. When we first told him we were having another baby, he was so happy and surprised! It's a precious memory. He is excited and even felt the baby kick the other day, when I was sitting on the couch reading to the kids. I'm not sure Lavinia understands the reality of "baby inside mommy" but she is so interested in babies, I know she'll be thrilled when the baby is born. It won't be long now!