A Babydoll Dress Fit for a Baby…Bump

The Sew U Home Stretch book has been making the rounds in the blogosphere (totally check out Karen’s, Winnie’s and Rachel’s garments). I totally understand why: the book comes with basic pattern pieces and instructions on how to manipulate them to make various types of garments. I wanted another comfy bump-friendly knit dress so I went with the babydoll pattern. Before getting started I had to grade the pattern up, like usual. I added 6 inches to the bust and 8 inches to the waist. Of course, suffering from baby brain (it’s real, y’all. I forget stuff mid-sentence!) I forgot to grade up the sleeve! Of course I didn’t realize this until after I finished making the dress. D’oh! There’s a wee bit of strain on the bodice from the tight sleeve but it’s not awful. And still totally wearable.

I always have issues when sewing. I’m prone to making stupid mistakes. You name it, I do it. This time around I had issues with the neckband. It was pretty thick so stitching in the ditch proved quite tricky. After unpicking twice, and stretching out the neckline a bit (I need to stop doing that!), I decided I hated the finish. I cut it out and went with a thicker neckband, which I quite like the look of.

I had to take my photo shoot indoors after some unsuccessful fuzzy photos outside.

Changes for next time (because I am totally making another one):

1. Taking an inch off the back bodice. My back is smaller than the front, so there was a bit of a gape at the neck. I unfortunately couldn’t get a clear photo of this.
2. Either leave the sleeves out or grade the sleeve up a bit and leave the puffiness out. I’m not quite in love with the extra volume on my already voluminous biceps. Ya, know.
3. Adjust for the bump: see about lengthening the front skirt so it doesn’t look shorter than the back.

I’m looking forward to making more garments from the book. Having very few successful attempts at knit, I will classify this dress as a win! It’s comfy, fast to sew together and cute to boot.

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I want to give a very special thanks to Evie from Pendle Stitches for gifting me with a lovely pattern and cardigan for baby boy. I was so thrilled to have received such a wonderful gift…I cried. Maybe it was the hormones but I’m quite the sap usually.

And to continue the feeling of an early Christmas and giving, I won a giveaway from Maider and got a parcel of goodies. Thanks, Maider!

All this receiving means it’s time for me to give back. I need to work on hosting a giveaway ASAP! More on that later.