Pregnancy sewing

Hello!

If you don't follow me on Instagram you won't have heard my good news; I'm pregnant! Due 2nd January. If anyone is interested in my pregnancy journey so far I've been blogging over at whatamygrew.blogspot.co.uk. 

From about week 7 my lower abdomen bloated up and I couldn't wear any of my trousers or jeans! Fairly quickly I had to think of some alternatives. I ended up buying some stretchy drawstring trousers from h&m and some maternity tops to hide my teeny tiny bump. 

We recently came back from Kos and I'd taken a few of my me-mades with me to wear, I found to my dismay that the baggy waisted dress I love so much didn't fit! I assumed, like most pregnant ladies I think, that my normal clothes would fit for a good few months. 

However I didn't factor in the boob increase! I haven't been measured but I've definitely gone up a band size and at least 2 cup sizes!! Which means none of my dresses fit anymore. I'll be honest here my expanding waistline was getting me down a little, partly because I've always been slim but mainly because of all the gorgeous clothes I want to make!

The morning we got back I was brainstorming maternity makes, I've never one to let myself brood, I'd rather try solve the problem. 

I'm off work over summer #teacherperks and have a lot of free time (and a new overlocker to play with!). I'm really grateful of my ability to sew because there isn't much choice in maternity clothes. 

My style has also completely changed, whereas before I used to favour baggy clothes I'm definitely leaning towards a more fitted silhouette. In baggy clothes I just feel swamped and much bigger than I am! Tighter tops and dresses flatter my figure more. 

Here's some of the ideas I've come up with so far:

Plantain shirt - this is a free shirt pattern from Deer and Doe which I already have printed (sewing win!) but not cut or assembled (fail). I read Sew Caroline's tips on making a shirt maternity here which got my cogs whirring. A couple of plantains should keep me going for a while. 

Hudson pants - I need comfy stretchy pants but some slim legged ones. My baggy ones make me look a lot wider especially with maternity/baggy shirts. I plan on making a black pair and a patterned pair too.

Mission Maxi dress - uh, why haven't I found this amazing pattern before!? It's perfect! I absolutely love maxi dresses, they're so feminine and easy to wear. I always find they're not long enough though so sewing my own will fix that. Sew Caroline's ruched sides tip will help this baby fit throughout my pregnancy. I'm thinking a tie dye effect and of course a striped version!

Rub off pattern - I'm currently wearing a slim fit dress bought from h&m years ago. It's exactly what I'm looking for but couldn't find a pattern to make. I'm going to try the rub off method to make my own, or possibly just adapt a mission maxi to be a bit shorter.

I bought a tonne of fabric and am going to spend a few weeks of my summer holiday happily sewing them up!