Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Big and Bold

Ok, I'm going to pick on my mom here just a little.  I was in the middle of sewing this wrap dress (and another to-be-blogged floral dress) when she made the comment that maybe I shouldn't use a large floral print because it would make me appear bigger.

Bwahahaha!  Bigger!


Hehehe.  Snort, snort. Chuckle, chuckle.

She may be right.  But there is no hiding my size at this point.  May as well celebrate it, right?


After all the gray and black and blue things I've sewn during this pregnancy, I was really itching to sew something bright and colorful.  I am so ready for spring.  I love this dress.  Love it.  But boy was it a pain to sew.  I never want to see any wiggly rayon jersey again.  Or at least for a while anyway.  This is the other Burda maternity pattern that the wonderful Tj of The Perfect Nose traced for me.  I still can't believe her kindness and all the effort she went to.  I feel totally guilty that I asked for probably the two most difficult patterns to trace; a jacket that had eight billion pieces and this gigantic wrap dress.  When I say gigantic, I mean gigantic.  I've never seen pattern pieces so large.  I know Tj was cursing me as she was taping multiple sheets of paper together to trace.   I have to say it again, Tj-- You rock!  Thank you so much. 


When I first got the pattern in the mail, I thought I would be swimming in fabric.  Turns out when you are eight and half months pregnant that is not the case.  It fits pretty well.  This is the pattern with no alterations except taking about two inches off the hem.  Although I do think I took much larger seam allowances than the pattern called for.  It's very hard to be perfectly precise when using rayon jersey.  I know I took it in a bit just from trying to make everything match.  I did my first ever rolled hem on my serger.  It turned out ok.  I should have used a decorative thread in the right needle spot but I just used the regular old serger thread I bought.  I sewed this dress with the sewing machine and the serger.  I basted the seams on the sewing machine first and then took it to the serger to run it through again.  It was just too much jersey to mess around with.  It was quite difficult to wrangle it all.  The pattern is relatively simple, but the amount of jersey made it a difficult sew.
 

The facings flipped out terribly.  There was no way I was going to under stitch all those wiggle rayon facings.  Not that I think it would have helped anyway.  So I just top stitched with a narrow zig zag.  I'm calling it a design feature.  And I think it will keep the neckline from stretching out too much.   The pleats at the top of the sleeve cap are from the imprecise nature in which I sewed everything together.  I pinned in the sleeves and whatever ease was left was pleated at the top.  I love the big blouse-y sleeves.

I almost didn't make this dress.  I actually ordered two other fabrics before I finally settled on this knit.  One was an ity knit that was so incredibly heavy and the other a crinkly poly jersey that was too sheer.  Word of advice: just say no to poly knits.  This rayon knit came later.  It was a tiny bit sheer in the pink and white flowers.  So I lined it with tricot.  How do you pronounce "tricot" by the way?  I'm sure it's not the way I say it in my head.


  Ignore those wrinkles.  It feels like a sleazy bathrobe inside.  Which is great for a pregnant person.  Tricot reminds me of Halloween costumes.  I'm not entirely sure I would line something with tricot again, but it worked really well for this dress.  It keeps the jersey from showing every lump and bump and it cuts down on the sheer factor.  It was like having a slip attached to the dress.  I wore this dress to a baby shower this weekend.  It was fantastically comfortable.  I'm planning on wearing it every other day until I deliver.  Just kidding.  But I do think I will wear it a lot in the next few weeks.  And maybe I can wear it post delivery for a little while anyway.


And here is the bump at 35 weeks.  Four and half more weeks to go, my friends!  
Assuming she's punctual, of course.

52 comments:

  1. That is a fantastic dress! I only wish I'd had something so incredible to finish off my pregnancies.

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  2. This is one great dress and IMO the "big and bold" fabric combined with the interesting lines (especially the waist tie) have the opposite of a muu muu effect. Win, win!

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  3. You look beautiful. I love the dress. Celebrate!

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  4. Bright colors don't make you look bigger! It's so cute! I am sure with just a few tiny alteration you'll be able to wear it afterwards ^^

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    1. I'm thinking I may take out the pleats on the right front piece. Then it would be a normal wrap dress. Maybe I could get away with non-maternizing it!

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  5. Oh you look so great!!! Wonderful dress! I say "try cot" but I don't know if that's right either. Lol! Do you wear anything store bought? Man, I wish I had the time to sew clothes.

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  6. I say the bolder the better - the dress looks wonderful on you! Kudos for sewing at 35 1/2 weeks - I don't think I was able to lift even a pinky finger when I was pregnant, especially at that stage!

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    1. Thanks! Well, I'll tell you what- I'm done sewing for now. I'm not planning on lifting a finger for the next four weeks!

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  7. Awesome dress!!!! I love it! I hear ya on the slippery rayon jersey! It's a pain in the butt to sew, but it looks so good! Great job on it! Aren't sergers great!!!

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  8. You are so adorable in your new dress! :-) And I think it's pronounced (but don't quote me on this!) tree-co. That's I learned it anyway.

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    1. Grrr! It should say "that's *how* I learned it". I think I need to go to sleep!

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    2. Ok, that's what I've heard recently. I've always said try-cot but I think you are right. Tree-co it is!

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  9. It's gorgeous and I love the bold flowers :)

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  10. this has to be my favorite maternity make of yours. that is simply gorgeous on you! you look amazing in it and i think the large scale print balances everything out. love it!

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  11. I love it! Nothing like a happy print for spring. It's tree-CAW, as far as I know. :)

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  12. This dress is just beautiful on you! The bold flowers you chose are perfect for this style :)

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  13. Why are RTW maternity clothes mostly black? So useful but boooring. Your dress is much better, and the tricot lining is a brilliant idea for a very comfortable and easy wearing inside.

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  14. Gorgeous! The bold flowers and bright colours look lovely on you. It's so nice to see a maternity dress that isn't black!

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  15. Love your dress, you look wonderful!

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  16. Yeah for bold.. Looks amazing on you...

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  17. Awesome!! What an amazing dress to celebrate the last weeks of your pregnancy. I love the boldness of it.

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  18. That is a beautiful dress - and pregnancy really suits you, you looks gorgeous! How wonderful for TJ to trace those patterns for you!

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  19. You look gorgeous, Liza! Bold colours look great on you! And the baby´s so close, I can´t believe how fast it´s almost over...

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  20. Love it! You deserve a fabulous dress!

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  21. Bold no doubt, but you look great and it looks super comfy to wear. Looks like the perfect dress to see you through the end of your pregnancy

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  22. oh how pretty :) love that print on you, and it looks so stylish and cool.. i totally see why you want to wear it until you deliver hehe

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  23. Looks super comfortable, great job!

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  24. Adorable! Love the print, and this style looks great on you. I think the compliment factor for this dress will be high.

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  25. what a wonderful gift--those tracings--and i of course think the print in BANANAS. which is to say most excellent. i like the sleazy bathrobe part, do you feel secretly naughty out and about??

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  26. its gorgeous. i love everything about it. now if only there was this pattern for non maternity. i would make it right away. you look stunning.

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  27. Looks fab and pregnancy suits you well! Definitely tree-coh, from the french for knitted jumper / knitting / knitted fabric etc

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  28. You are so bright in this dress%))

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  29. This is awesome-I love those flowers (your baby tummy is invisible in the front view-when the first image popped up in Reader I went-oh you've delivered? Already? XD The Burda description says the shape is meant to 'regulate itself' and re-size with the growth of the baby XD I'm sorry you had to struggle with the seam allowances it was probably tested on a less stretchy fabric than the one you used but I love the one you used, it suits you and feels like an awesome spring celebration.

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    1. Oh, well thanks! The issue with seam allowances had nothing to do with the pattern. I just wasn't very precise with all that wiggly jersey and I know I took bigger allowances than you added. But yes, my fabric was probably WAY stretchier than whey they used. And again, thank you so much for your awesome gift! I think both pieces are probably my favorites out of all the maternity things I've made.

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  30. I think this dress is amazing and gorgeous! I love the big and bold print and I think it's very flattering. Great work and congrats! I think we are due about the same time!

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  31. Wow, that print is sensational!
    Hehe, I thought of you the other day when my eldest son told me a hilarious story about a uni friend... and I decided I HAD to pass this on to a teacher for future reference ;)
    Goes like this: when the friend was in kindergarten, the kindy teacher asked each of the 5 yr old kiddies how old they thought their mother was and how much they thought she weighed, she wrote it down for each of them and got them to make it into valentine's day cards for their mothers. Apparently he guessed his mother was 90 years old and weighed 300 lbs! she wasn't impressed when she got her card, but she still has it!!

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    1. Haha! Oh, they say the funniest things sometimes. You should hear them now that I have such a giant belly. I hear it all.

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  32. oh you are just too cute!! I love it!! Carolyn, your story is SO funny!!!! I'm sitting at my desk trying not to laugh out loud!! haha

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  33. So striking. You look gorgeous and so comfortable. Good luck with the remaining weeks. I'll be thinking about you.

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  34. I love it! The pattern looks fantastic on you!

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  35. Great job! The dress is SO totally you and I'm sure you can't wait for that precious baby! (BTW, tricot is pronounced TREE-ko.)

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  36. I loooooooooooooove this! It's so gorgeous! Weirdly, I think the large print actually camouflages the bump a bit. You look great!

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  37. this is LOVELY! The print is amazing and the dress is beautiful- highlights your 35 week glow :) and congratulations!

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  38. So nice... I've never seen such gorgeous maternity-wear. Bravo for embracing the bold prints, you look fantastic.

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  39. Oh my god... I LOVE THIS!! So so much! You look so gorgeous, and the bright big flowers are just so cheerful, and I have to disagree with your mom, this dress, the print, everything, is incredibly flattering! Any chance you might be able to transition it to a post-baby dress? It's just sooo good!

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  40. I totally agree. Celebrate that "bigness". I loved being full and expecting last summer. It is such a special time. There is no reason to down play the size of a beautiful expectant mommy.

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  41. Um, I'm in LOVE with this dress, the print and everything about it. It looks great on you!

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