some naice new clothes

I’ve been whipping up (k-chaaaaa!) some maternity clothes for Kelly… I’ve been making a lot “for others” lately, all this year in fact, or at least it feels like it! but I’m ok with that; for one thing; it gives me a chance to get that aspirational 30 wears out of my own wardrobe, and for another… well that’s reason enough, I think?  I have lots of nice clothes and I’m enjoying getting the most out of what I have lately  🙂  But I still want to sew! so it’s both fun and enjoyable for me to make clothing for my loved ones instead.  Kelly needs new clothes to fit her fast-changing body and is keen for me to make them, and I am more than happy to make them for her, so it’s a win-win situation for both of us. She recently had a birthday, and we headed out to Homecraft Textiles and Spotlight together and did a bit of shopping; my birthday present to her.

A lovely reader of my blog, Graca sent to me this maternity skirt pattern, Burda 7023, thank you so much Graca!.  First of all, I ran up a little test number, using a soft, grey and white cotton jersey sweat shirting, leftover from this hoodie I made for Sam a few years ago.  The leftover scrap I had was the perfect size for the skirt!  The sizing chart of the Burda pattern was a little weird; Kelly’s hip size put her between a size 20 and 22, the very top of Burda’s size range which seemed quite quite bizarre!  I eyeballed the pattern pieces and decided to size down to 18-20 for Kelly, and of course it fits pretty well so sizing down was a pretty good decision.  Also, of course the skirt is currently huge on her, not surprising given that she is in the very early stages of her pregnancy.  But we both feel it will be a good thing for her to have in the later stages of the pregnancy.

On our shopping trip for the real version we picked up a few very nice fabrics; including a truly gorgeous, creamy/ivory/grey cotton jersey – I bought enough for me to have something too! – and this absolutely drool-worthy rose printed stretch velvet.  I used the Burda 7023 skirt pattern to make the skirt, and “early-maternitised” it a little bit, so it’s more suitable for her to wear during this wintery, early stage of her pregnancy.  I did this by reducing the amount of gathered rise in that front portion of the skirt.  I also installed a drawstring in the front band, so she can pull in some of the extra width now, and let it out gradually as she expands over the coming months.

How?  Firstly; I ironed a square of iron-on interfacing in the centre of the skirt front facing section, and stitched a sort of double buttonhole/figure 8 stitching using a narrow width, short-stitch zig-zag stitching.  I used small shape scissors to cut X-shapes int he square centres of this stitching.  Next, I cut long strips from the ivory jersey I used for the little T-shirt top; these left unheeded naturally roll up in to nice little rolls of fabric.  These I stitched into the side seam stitching of the front/back waistband/facing/casing so the strips are hidden inside, and threaded the ends through my makeshift eyelets.

So, they emerge inside the front waistband of the skirt, and Kelly can pull the waistband in to fit now, and let it out as she grows.  I think this is quite an improvement on the original, which is left to stay big and loose and floppy no matter which stage of the pregnancy you are!

I also made the little top, using the Ebony top pattern I’d bought recently, totally for maternity purposes only of course.  Though I did get an extra one printed out for myself too! ahem…  Kelly has been wearing the striped, raglan-sleeved test version I’d made up, and requested it be streamlined just a little bit, so I brought in the “swing” of the side seams by about 2 inches at each side seam, keeping the side seams straight.  And it still has plenty of swing!  The next request was to bring it in even more next time! though I’m pretty sure the bit of extra room will come in very handy come breastfeeding time.

When making a T-shirt; I like to stitch the shoulder seams down towards the back, and also to stitch the neckline seam allowances down onto the shirt at the back only, like so…. I believe it stabilises this part of a T-shirt which is often subject to the most strain.

This is the regular, set-in sleeve version of the pattern …

btw, when it comes to stitching a hem or an elastic casing in velvet; its pile causes it to become the most annoyingly migratory stuff that slides over itself under the sewing needle, even even when you’re being super vigilant and slow, it just happens!  I found the best way to keep it firmly in place was to pin regularly, like at least every inch! and perpendicular to the seam, with the needle passing through exactly where you’re going to be stitching, and not removing the needle until you’re right upon it.  This seemed to keep everything in place nicely enough…

I already have some other versions in the pipeline, as well as a few as yet unblogged things awaiting in the wings; I need to get cracking and catch up!