I must admit that I put aside a sewing project for Finn to whip up this top for myself. Does KCWC include sewing for offspring who are hidden inside a belly? Probably not. Oh well, I considered this a necessary diversion of my creative efforts.
At week 19, I'm finally beginning to appreciate a form-gracing top rather than the fuddy duddy t-shirts I had been wearing to cover up my "not-noticeably-pregnant, perhaps-just-a-beer-drinker" belly.
I love, love, love this top, which is not actually a maternity-specific design, but it happens to do triple-duty as a maternity, non-maternity, and nursing top. It's Jalie 2787. (If you look at Emilie's Favorites, she shares her notes with you about making Jalie tops into maternity tops.)
But let me say a word about maternity clothing this (second) time around. Eew. I don't want to open that box. I never really want to see those clothes again. I remember when I was pregnant with Finn, I couldn't wait to get into maternity clothes. I was insane. I think I went out and purchased my first ugly, saggy-bottomed pair of jeans when I was 9 weeks along. Granted, I gained a lot more weight a lot more quickly with Finn, so I probably didn't really fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans at 9 weeks. (Thank you, constant diet of cheese, crackers, and yogurt!) But still. This time, I'm at 19 weeks and doing everything I can to stay in my regular clothes. A hair tie around the button of my jeans does the trick for now, and I'm considering making myself a homemade belly band. I've also been scouring the 'nets for some stylish maternity-wear tutorials and patterns.
Luvinthemommyhood did a great maternity-wear round up this past Spring. Thanks to her, I happened on this post at Grosgrain Fabulous (awesomely inspiring sewing blog, by the way) about making stylish pants on a budget. I also ran into the website of Megan Nielsen, who sells PDF patterns for sewing your own maternity-wear. I'm really head-over-heels for this shirt.
I went ahead and made the sleeveless version of the Jalie shirt because we're heading to Cabo San Lucas in a few weeks for my dear friend's wedding (for which I have to fit the belly into a bridesmaid's dress - stay tuned for good laughs.) I needed some warm weather options. I'm thinking about making the top with sleeves for when the temperature finally drops below 80 here in North Carolina. Any day now! It's all I can do to keep myself from thinking about pumpkin bread and warm scarves. I'm just sitting here and twiddling my thumbs, making sleeveless shirts to bide my time!
