Showing posts with label pregnancy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pregnancy. Show all posts

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Ruched Maternity Tops

I love the look of ruched maternity tops. I am carrying all out front, so if I put on a regular maternity tee, I look like a linebacker. The ruching defines that tummy, so it's obvious that you're pregnant, not fat! However, I had several regular maternity tees (they are usually cheaper and often what you find second hand) that I wanted to wear, so I brought out my favorite sewing trick - elastic thread. Yes, you could use regular elastic for this, but I find I get more consistent results with the thread (I sew on a vintage Bernina, which I adore, but it does not have that nifty three step elastic stitch). I have a more detailed account of how to sew with elastic thread on this post, but here's the quick and dirty:
I started with a plain Jane maternity tee. Sewing on the RIGHT side of the fabric, I made three rows of elastic thread next to each side seam.
I ran the stitches from just above the hem line to three to four inches below the armpit. Once you have sewn both sides, spray with water and then steam iron the stitching. It cinches up like magic!
That's all there is to it! Of course I couldn't stop with just one...
I had total pregnancy brain with this red shirt, and accidentally added my rows of stitching to the back, not the front of the shirt. So, to fix my mistake I just did three rows on the front side of the seam, and three rows on back. It works just fine and gives really nice gathers to the back of the shirt. Instead of a mistake, I prefer to call this a style detail.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Maybe...

Probably. It is still up for grabs, though. The doctor did an ultrasound last week and thought it was a girl. I had the big one today, and the ultrasound tech thinks it is a boy, but she could only see a scrotum, not a penis. The little bean was moving like crazy the whole time. I have a stack of fabric, both male and female prints, but I just can't bring myself to attack the boy stack, yet. We'll see if the nurse midwife wants to do another in office ultrasound at the end of the month. If not, maybe I'll try the new 3D private service in town. Darn. The kids want to know who gets a bunk bed. I want to sew. The baby wants us to wait. And we still don't have a boy name.