Gold Polka dot Erin Skirt

Its been a few months since my last post but as you can see that little baby bump is coming along nicely! This means I am now at that really awkward stage of my pregnancy where my bump is too big for my normal clothes but not yet big enough for maternity. Such an awkward time I really hate trying to find something to wear. One of the things I did do though was pull out my Megan Nielsen Maternity collection of sewing patterns in a hope I can bridge the gap and get myself some maternity wear which both fits my style better and tries to use up some of the fabric I have stashed about.

Here you can see I made the Erin skirt and I used the leftover gold flecked ponte roma which I bought for my Christmas party dress. I still love this fabric, but my machine still hates it! Using ponte roma on this skirt was a really good choice, its stretchy enough to fit over my growing shape but firm enough to add a little support to my bump. It will of course work in a thinner jersey or anything else with enough stretch but I would recommend something with a little bit more structure.

The pattern is very easy to sew and has very good instructions. You add a bit of stretched elastic to the side seams to ruche the area around the tummy to add more fabric to cover the bump. If you look at any shop bough maternity tops this is normally how they do it too. The skirt it meant to come up over the bump and comes in a knee and midi length. Because of the length I find this skirt really flattering and its really easy to wear. You could pair it with a short tshirt/jumper or an over the bump over the top, its very versatile.

I actually bought this pattern pack when I was pregnant with Master Fox, but that was over 2 years ago now and my sewing must have vastly improved as I tried to make this skirt once and it went so horribly wrong I never actually ended up making anything from this pattern pack at all. Its such a shame as its such a lovely skirt. I think the problem I had was all down to the fabric which was a very thin poly jersey and it struggled so much to get the elastic to go in. I'm really pleased I didn't give up on it though I must have worn this skirt about twice a week since I made it I love it. My tip for the elastic is to tack each end in place before you put it under the machine, that way you can control the stretch as you go.

I'm actually finding that I am having a bit of trouble with body confidence this pregnancy. My bump is a funny B shape rather than that perfect D and I generally feel very big and I don't like how I look in most clothes. This is actually the 3rd time I took photos of this skirt as I couldn't get any I was happy to put on the internet. Its such a shame as I know I should just be enjoying my growing tummy but I think this is something that every pregnant woman must go through at at least one point in their pregnancy. I am doing my best to just ignore it and move on but it is taking conscious effort to do that at the moment. It doesn't help I am surrounded by lots of very slim pregnant people at the minute, who have remained slim with tiny little bumps, where as I just feel like I'm all squishy boob and belly.

I think I need to sew myself a few more outfits like this that flatter my style and shape and will help to give me a bit of confidence.

On the plus side though we found out that little baby Fox number 2 should be a little girl! I'm very excited to be able to experience one of each and obviously can't wait to sew up a few dresses. I will apologise in advance for the raft of baby clothing posts that will end up coming your way over the next few months, but they are cute so I am sure you won't mind.

x

The Craft of Christmas Past

Are you still in the festive spirit? I know I am.

We might be past the official event now, but with a lot of us, including the kids, still on holidays and the chimes of New Year in the not to distant future I thought we could have one more quick post before we start trying to make those resolutions. 

I made a couple of quick items of festive headwear just before the last day of work. A tiny tiny elf hat out of felt (above) which is attached to a hair clip to make it great for wearing at a a jaunty angle. I also made some reindeer antlers on a headband to match my Christmas jumper. The headband is just some fleece antlers stuck on to a headband. I did try to wrap the headband in felt and glue it down but this just didn't work well for me. Instead I decided to wrap it in wool to cover up the mess underneath. This technique would work well for other headband ideas.

I have officially scrapped the Sewing Bee tunic, the instructions in the book are stupid and I have done too much seam ripping to selvidge this now. Instead I am attempting to make myself a pretty new frock for New Years. Fingers crossed it all goes to plan.