Forgetting to remember

Today marks one month until my due date, but it’s also the first anniversary of my miscarriage. Although I spent a lot of time remembering my miscarriage during the first months of this pregnancy, when the morning sickness was so much milder than usual, my former due date passed in March unnoticed. And so I wasn’t sure if I would remember when today came. Nor was I sure what to expect if I did remember.

I didn’t forget this time. While I was sad to think of the baby we will never hold in our arms, I didn’t spend a lot of time moping. I suppose that’s a result of the passing of time combined with the distraction of another baby kicking me in the ribs. Or maybe it was something else. I don’t know; this was my first experience with this kind of loss.

I actually remembered the date on my way to church this morning, while driving in pouring rain that would make anyone a bit melancholy. I found myself choking slightly on the familiar words of the hymns and liturgy, but then as we chanted the introit of the day I found myself comforted by these words from Psalm 55:

Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

and:

Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!

While the words of men can be helpful in a time of need, it never ceases to amaze me how the true comfort is always found in the word of God. Thanks be to Him!

33 weeks & counting

Here I am with my blooming belly, as seen through the eyes of 10yo C:

Catching up

I can’t believe it’s been over 2 weeks since I last wrote! However, along with the usual busyness I’ve been preoccupied. On top of that, Mom was here this week; having company always takes priority over computer time. All that said, this will be a brief post sharing some of the blog-worthy items from the past couple weeks.

• I’ve visited the midwife a couple more times (routine checks); thank goodness my weight gain has slowed down to a normal-for-me pace, but no one seems to be able to do anything about the fact that the summer weather makes me hot & tired (& sometimes crabby!).
• I’ve managed to cross one project off of my sewing list, a St. Nicholas Day gift for all my boys~hopefully Larry isn’t reading my blog today.
• I finally (maybe) made some decisions about homeschool books for next year, and even ordered a few of them! The checkbook is wheezing already.
• I helped R finish her first embroidery project:
• As already mentioned, Mom was here this week. We went to the park, the library, Panera, the farmers’ market. . .as well as spent some time at home. But I can’t believe I only took one picture!   (yes, little britches is learning to wear big boy britches this week!)

2 more maternity wrap tops

I really like the navy & white top I made from Kwik Sew 3487, so decided to make a couple more versions out of cotton lycra jersey. This time I used XS from shoulders to bust seam, then tapered out to the length & width of a S for the lower half. I also machine tacked the wrap shut so I won’t have to use a safety pin. I didn’t make any  design changes to the lime & blue top. On the floral top, I eliminated the front band and ties, plus used decorative elastic to finish the neckline & armholes.

Sewing countdown

This week I realized I only have 3 months until ‘d-day.’ Yikes! How am I supposed to get all my sewing done?! As usual my sewing list is too long: some specifically baby-related; some Christmas gifts that I won’t have time to sew with a new baby to snuggle; some UFOs that are starting to get on my nerves; and of course some clothing items to keep my family from running around indecent.

After panicking over this for a couple of days, I decided I would probably get more done if I stopped panicking and started planning. I used my computer to print up a simple 2 column table: the first column is numbered with weeks pregnant (28, 29, etc) and the second, larger, column is blank so that I can I write in my sewing plans and/or accomplishments. I printed in ‘landscape’ mode and left a very wide margin on the right hand side for notes.

I started by making a list of what I want to get sewn before #6  arrives, and then gave each item a priority (1-need to sew, 2-want to sew, 3-can wait). I resisted the urge to fill in the whole chart with my lofty plans, and instead just wrote down what I have already sewn plus what I plan to sew next in this week’s box.

As an added bonus, the sewing room just got cleaned, straightened, and slightly reorganized this weekend, when Larry had to take my cutting table out to fix it. The room is still a work in progress, but it’s so much more tempting to go in and sew awhile when things aren’t falling on my head. Stay tuned for a photo tour, hopefully in the next week or so. . .at the moment I should stop blogging and get sewing!

I feel pretty

I bought some pink & white seersucker from JoAnn’s, wanting a new sundress. Being pregnant makes me a little extra-warm. I had a style in mind, but hadn’t quite figured out how to best draft it with my pattern software. Then, on a later J’s trip, I saw a Simplicity pattern that was almost exactly what I wanted *and* it was during a 99c sale, so I decided it would be easier to add maternity ease than to completely reinvent the wheel.

Initial alterations:

• Use size 12 through the shoulders tapering out to size 14 for the rest of the dress.
• Raise the neckline 1″ at center front tapering to 1/2″ at the shoulders~past experience and a quick tissue fit proved the pattern as-is would be too low on me.
• Add maternity ease. The skirt of this dress is in 3 panels, with one seam at center back and the other two at side front. On the side/back panels, at the side front seams, I added about 1″ in width and 3/4″ to the waist seam. I added another 3-4″ in width to each side of the center front panel, as well as raising the waist seam up 3″ at center front.

I used a pink & white striped seersucker for the dress and white cotton batiste for the lining (the bodice & waistband are lined). While sewing, I made a couple more changes. I left out the waistband interfacing because I want it to have some give, and I used an invisble zipper instead of a lapped installation on a regular zipper (personal preference, reinforced by what I had in my zipper stash ).

Due to the way the dress was constructed, and lack of an available helper to pin the back shut, I wasn’t able to get an accurate try-on until the dress was nearly sewn. At which point of course I was too lazy to take it apart enough to fix the problems I found!

Last minute fixes:

• Raising the neckline 1″ turned out to be too much, resulting in an unflattering look. I ended up hand basting elastic thread through the center front bodice seam to gather it up and shorten it.
• I was also reminded of why I should have used my pattern software: the armholes were cut too low and gaped. Obviously it was too late to raise them, but more hand basting of elastic thread helped with the gaping issue.

End result:

 It’s cool & comfortable, and I love that the maternity ease is where I need it (in front) and not where I don’t (back & sides). I’m already looking for fabric to make another sundress so I can fix a few things!

Notes for next time:

• Raise armholes, and figure out how to fix gaping (suggestions/advice?).
• Raise the zipper about 1″ higher in back (it only comes about halfway up the bodice, then there is a button at the nape of the neck).
• Redraw neckline again. I’m tempted to trace from Jalie 2005, as that v-neck works very well for me.
• Divide the maternity ease more evenly at the side front seams, rather than adding most of it to the center front panel.
• If I’m not using a stripe (and I probably wouldn’t, for variety’s sake), scoop out a bit of the waist seam on the front waistband (so that it curves up, rather than being straight across).

Impulse skirt

 One of the best parts of sewing is being able to go from piece of fabric to wearable garment in (sometimes) a matter of minutes! Such was the case with this skirt. I decided yesterday morning that I’d like a white skirt to wear with my navy & white top today. I found a piece of white cotton lycra in my stash (probably from Sewzanne’s) and grabbed Elizabeth Lee Designs #307. The skirt pattern is basically 2 rectangles, with some subtle waist/hip shaping; in other words, the kind of project where you don’t really need a pattern. I cut the back using the pattern piece as-is and then eyeballed adding maternity ease to the front. I cut it about 8″ wider (or rather 4″, since I was cutting on the fold). I also curved the front waist seam to be about 3″ higher at center front.

Construction of this sort of skirt is ridiculously simple: side seams, waist elastic, and hem. I used drawstring elastic for the waistband. I probably should have used a shorter piece of elastic, but since there is a drawstring it’s not a problem.

Voila! Skirt in less than an hour. . .it may not be my most flattering style, but it was fast to sew and more importantly, comfortable to wear. For anyone curious, I am about 6 months pregnant and I carry all in front. Most maternity clothes assume you’ll get big all over, so it’s nice to be able to sew my own with ease where I need it (and not where I don’t).

Quick (& cheap) adjustable waistband

One of the nicest things about sewing my own clothes is the custom fit, but sometimes my shape and size change, as with my current 9 month/35# weight gain plan. Especially with pants, an adjustable elastic waistband is a useful thing. Buttonhole elastic is one way to accomplish that, but it’s not available locally and I find that the button digs into my sensitive belly. Drawstring elastic would probably work, but my favorite method uses plain old 1″ elastic, the kind I buy in bulk. I prefer a soft knit elastic as part of it will be exposed.

I make pull on pants, with a cut on casing for the elastic; you could do the same thing with a separate waistband, but this is faster. I sew the pants as usual, but leave a small 1″ opening at center front, such that when the casing is turned under the opening is on the inside of your waistband. When you sew the casing seam, you do not leave another opening. Cut the elastic to fit your full term belly; if you need some sort of guideline, I add about 20″ to my non-pregnant waist. Thread through the casing using your opening at center front and then stitch the ends of the elastic together. I then pull all the elastic into the waistband so that the ends are buried somewhere, rather than part of the tail I’m about to create. Now, pull a loop of elastic back out of the casing until the pants will fit your current waist. Stitch into sections, as shown, so that you can gradually let the elastic back out as you finish growing that baby. Finally, make sure the elastic is evenly distributed and then stitch in the ditch at the side and back seams so it won’t twist inside the casing.

Note: I used an old standby pattern, Burda 3255. Easy to sew and includes pockets, a rare but wonderful thing in maternity pants! I hope to post a modeled picture later, once I get a chance to sew a blouse to complete the outfit.

Kwik Sew Maternity Top

I love wrap tops, and I love Kwik Sew patterns. So when they came up with a maternity version (KS 3487) about the time I got pregnant, I had to have it!

Here is my first version, using navy & white cotton interlock. While stash diving, I thought I remembered that navy/white/nautical were ‘in’ again this summer. . .but I like these colors whether my memory is right or wrong.

I actually made it a few weeks ago, right before the weather turned COLD again! Thankfully it’s warming back up, and I’ve worn this top about 3 times in the past week or two. I usually make size small KS tops, based on their chart, but the fit is never quite right (I’m picky about fit!). So this time I went with an extra-small, which fits quite nicely! I may outgrow the belly before baby arrives, so when I make it again I will taper it out to a small below the ‘waist’ seam.

The top went together quickly, in spite of having a few more pieces than a plain knit top. I only have 2 gripes, and they wouldn’t be very noticeable if I hadn’t used contrasting fabrics. The first is that the neckband is only in front; in back there is a facing. The second is that the ties tend to slip down instead of staying right over the waist seam; as I continue to get bigger (and bigger!) maybe it will stay put.

I will definitely make another version or three of this pattern; I think a knee length dress version would also be cute! First, though, I need to finish the sweatshirt I promised my lost boy. . .

I am woman. . .see me bloom!

Yes, I have officially hit the awkward stage of pregnancy~all the clothes in my closet are too tight but the maternity clothes would look rather silly. So I’m wearing my overalls today since they are clean. Last pregnancy I reached this stage in the summer and I could get away with wearing a dress every day; it’s still too cold for that right now.

It’s funny, this in-between stage never bothers me on the other side of pregnancy. Maybe it’s because I can hide the lumpy belly behind a sweet baby. Maybe it’s because everyone knows why I’m wearing fat clothes by then instead of wondering “is she pregnant or letting herself go?” Maybe it’s because I’m too sleep deprived to care at that point.