Minerva Crafts Blogger Network – Maternity Dress

Here comes another maternity outfit! It’s either that or baby clothes for awhile, so beware!

For my October Minerva Crafts Blogger project I originally was going to make Simplicity 1469, a knit maternity shirt. I ordered 2.5 metres of this great Black/White Abstract Stretch Cotton fabric. When I received it, it was heavier than I had imagined – mainly because I fail to read descriptions. But that said, I loved the fabric. It’s just like my cotton stretch sateens that I’m obsessed with. So I had other ideas: Simplicity 1426 and Megan Nielsen: Ruched Maternity Skirt.

I first made a test muslin with some extra stretch sateen I had at home. It turned out great and is very wearable. It does kind of look like a bridesmaid dress because of the red wine color, but either way I knew I could cut into the Minerva fabric without worry of messing it up. You really only need 2 yards of fabric, or 1.8 metres, for this dress. Overall I think the pattern matching idea worked out really great. I have a very fitted and flattering maternity dress now. I hate wearing huge baggy dresses. I rather show off the baby bump, I’m proud of it!

I’ve made the top before in a size 12 but it’s very modest and hides the girls, so I decided to do this one in a mixture of 10 and 12. My bust is currently 36 inches. I did the straps, waistband and back pieces in a 12 but the bust pieces in a size 10. I added an extra pleat on the very top and didn’t overlap the two bust pieces according to the markings. This way there was a bit more room and is easier to fit my chest into.

The alterations for the skirt were super simple. The skirt calls for a 40% stretch knit fabric. Last time I made the skirt the fabric had about 20% stretch so I made a size Medium, if it had 40% stretch I would have made a Small. My hips are currently 40 inches. Since this Minerva fabric only has a small about of stretch I made a size XL and used a 1/4″ inseam. I wanted this dress to fit snug. I am currently at 28 weeks (beginning of the 3rd trimester) and this dress fits exactly spot on, I’m not sure how it will fit at 38 weeks?

Another part of the skirt alternation was that I added an extra 1/2″ to the fold line side of the back skirt. After that I cut on the fold line. I did this to accommodate for a zipper and a slit. I know this sounds like a lot of extra work but it’s actually really simple and I can sew this entire dress in about 6 hours now.

Once I completed both the top and skirt separately I just matched up the side seams and sewed the two together. I had extra fabric in the back of the skirt so used a ruler to draw an angled line from the very top of the top and then to the bottom of where I wanted the zipper on the skirt and then trimmed it. I believe I used a 10″ zipper. I made sure to allow for the 1/2″ seam, then installed the zipper. Since the skirt has ruching the zipper does bunch up a little bit in the back (see baby bump photo above). I need to come up with a better way to solve this problem. I just left it bunched up a bit because then I know my rear end will fit comfortably when I sit down.

Overall I’m really happy with this dress and my vision. It’s really hard to find a flattering but cute maternity dress. I wanted to come up with a great style of dress to wear to my baby shower. I have another print in mind for this dress and will be making that soon. Both of the patterns are very simple and can be made individually in a couple hours each. I highly recommend both. Also, I recommend giving this hack a try – who says you have to look frumpy while pregnant?!