Maternity Clothes Suck!
Why does it have to be so hard for a short girl to find well-fittting maternity clothes? Seriously? Is it too hard to make maternity clothes in petite lengths? I don't think I am asking too much here folks.
After finally being frustrated with the state of maternity clothes for short people, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I made myself 5 new skirts (inspired in part by my friend Katie) with on sale fabric. Each of these skirts cost me about $5 and took less than 35 minutes to make (once I got the first one done, which required 2 redos).
Are they going to win an award on Project Runway? Not a chance. Tim Gunn would be all over the fact that I used black thread for all three skirts. But the first two skirts were black and I was too lazy to switch the thread out. However, they are long enough for me to sit on the floor tailor style while playing with Charlotte and still cover me. Plus, I made them super comfy, giving my belly plenty of room to grow.
To the right is a picture of me wearing one of the skirts to church yesterday. By the time I asked Bruce to take it, I had been sweating way too much in the hot, FL sun and decided I wouldn't subject you to my crazy hair and sweaty face.
The short story of how I made these was to find a skirt I own with a good fit and length. I laid it out on the fabric I bought and cut around it. A real seamstress would have done things like pin it down to get an exact measurement, but, well, I'm not a real seamstress and I won't fake it for you.
Once the skirt was cut, I sewed the 2 pieces of fabric up the sides. This was the easy part even though my lines were not cut perfectly straight. I hate pinning fabric, so instead, I ironed down a casing at the top of the skirt and sewed it down. Don't forget to leave an opening for your elastic... if not, well, then you will have todig through you sewing bag find your seam ripper and pull some stitches out. Not that I'd know anything about that!
After the casing came the hem. I like a double-folded hem so I don't have to worry about strands of the fabric pulling loose. So, I ironed down 1/4" and then folded it again before sewing the hem up. My hems are never perfectly straight, but then again, I am not trying to sell my clothes to anyone!
After the hem, it is time to thread the elastic and sew the skirt up. There are tons of easy skirt tutorials to be found on Google. Just take a look at several of them and you will have a good idea of how to do this. Don't waste your money on a pattern though... you'll basically be given instructions for how to cut out two trapezoids.
Later this week I'll show you what I did with the scraps from the three skirts. Good luck! Let me know if you decide to make a skirt. I'd love to see your pictures!
Are they going to win an award on Project Runway? Not a chance. Tim Gunn would be all over the fact that I used black thread for all three skirts. But the first two skirts were black and I was too lazy to switch the thread out. However, they are long enough for me to sit on the floor tailor style while playing with Charlotte and still cover me. Plus, I made them super comfy, giving my belly plenty of room to grow.To the right is a picture of me wearing one of the skirts to church yesterday. By the time I asked Bruce to take it, I had been sweating way too much in the hot, FL sun and decided I wouldn't subject you to my crazy hair and sweaty face.
The short story of how I made these was to find a skirt I own with a good fit and length. I laid it out on the fabric I bought and cut around it. A real seamstress would have done things like pin it down to get an exact measurement, but, well, I'm not a real seamstress and I won't fake it for you.
Once the skirt was cut, I sewed the 2 pieces of fabric up the sides. This was the easy part even though my lines were not cut perfectly straight. I hate pinning fabric, so instead, I ironed down a casing at the top of the skirt and sewed it down. Don't forget to leave an opening for your elastic... if not, well, then you will have to
After the casing came the hem. I like a double-folded hem so I don't have to worry about strands of the fabric pulling loose. So, I ironed down 1/4" and then folded it again before sewing the hem up. My hems are never perfectly straight, but then again, I am not trying to sell my clothes to anyone!
After the hem, it is time to thread the elastic and sew the skirt up. There are tons of easy skirt tutorials to be found on Google. Just take a look at several of them and you will have a good idea of how to do this. Don't waste your money on a pattern though... you'll basically be given instructions for how to cut out two trapezoids.
Later this week I'll show you what I did with the scraps from the three skirts. Good luck! Let me know if you decide to make a skirt. I'd love to see your pictures!
LOVE the skirts..I'm thinking of being daring enough to try and make my own. I had a very frustrating shopping trip last week..am I the only one who doesn't want to pay a fortune for a skirt I can't sit down in??? Maybe it's just me (and you!).
ReplyDeleteGreat job! I am very impressed. I would love to know how to sew.
ReplyDeleteGreat job! When I was pregnant, I had to hem all my pants. I couldn't find anything in the right length to save my life!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the pregnancy clothes thing. Years ago when I was pregnant with David we went to Hawaii (I was about 8 1/2 months along) and I made up a bunch of dresses to wear and they were the coolest, most comfortable thing I could have worn. Of course if I were being honest they were just big ugly tent-like mumus but I really didn't care at that point. I was like a beached whale as it was.
ReplyDeleteLove your skirts though--and I have to say you look pretty darn cute.
You are so stinkin' adorable. Ok, now that THAT'S out of the way, I had an awful time finding maternity clothing as well. I lived in shorts, capris and dresses that would have been very short on a tall person! I think I had one skirt that I wore ALL. THE. TIME! That is why the October project isn't so difficult for me. I found 3 dresses I loved and had them hemmed and wore them for both pregnancies. You are so creative and frugal and I just love it!!
ReplyDeleteAwww, thanks Shawna. I'm planning to convert some men's dress shirts into maternity tops, just haven't gotten around to it yet. I can't stomach the idea of spending $19.99 on what is essentially an oversized t-shirt.
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