by Claire on March 7, 2010
There’s an end in sight to what I should call my daughter’s never-ending pregnancy. The doctors had us convinced that she would deliver early due to risk factors in this pregnancy and early contractions that started back in January. So we’ve had false start after false start, only to be sent home and my daughter told to take a hot bath and relax. It’s been very frustrating not to mention that the contractions has caused my daughter’s fibro to flare too. (Yes, we both have fibro. Great, eh?)
However, the great news is that baby Laila has proven everyone wrong. She is strong and healthy, and the doctors are estimating (as of last Friday) that she’ll be a “chubby” 7 and a half pounds or so. (They admit their estimates based on her size can vary by 15% or so.)
My daughter is now scheduled to be induced on her due date at 40 weeks. That’s this next Tuesday, March 9th. Ah, the luxury of knowing something, at last. My oldest daughter had scheduled C-sections so we just knew on X date, she was having her baby. I really enjoyed planning for those dates. Not knowing is killing us!
This is good for me because once the baby gets here, my job of caring for my own daughter is mostly done, and the focus will shift to my daughter caring for HER daughter. I can get my life back to a somewhat normal routine of work and play.
Until this next party is over, that is.
Partay???? PARTAY!! My mom is turning 90 on March 30th, and I’m organizing a big party for her on March 26th.
For that event, I’m going to need a pretty new dress. Every girl needs a pretty new party dress, right? And considering I’ve had no time what-so-evah to sew, and what time I did have to sew for myself ended up in a major FAIL, I’m buying. (This is good news too cuz now I have a body that I can fit more easily! Go me!)
So, I went to Kohls.com (my favorite store these days as they seem to have clothes that fit me pretty well) and picked out three new dresses. Gotta love free shipping and Kohls Cash. I purchased all three of these for $132 (including tax) and got $20 Kohl’s Cash to spend in a store – thinking I’ll be needing some cute shoes to go with these dresses.
Not sure which one I’ll pick to wear that night, but most likely the pink one. What thinketh you?
Tagged as:
dresses,
Kohls,
life events,
parties,
shopping
by Claire on March 7, 2010
If it’s not Spring yet, it should be. It’s acting like it outside. The sun is out, the birds are chirping, and not one electronic item broke yesterday, so all is good in the world.
My daughter is still pregnant but all is good there as well. As of right now, she is scheduled to be induced on Tuesday – her due date. We are all amazed she’s made it to her due date. All the doctors felt she would deliver early so this is great. That little granddaughter of mine is going to be so welcomed and loved.
Anyway, on to report about a little bit of sewing I did recently. I made these a while ago for my daughter. She didn’t want to have to wear the ugly hospital gowns when she has her baby and, like her mama, wants to look good in her pictures after she has her baby, so she found a free pattern online for maternity delivery gowns and I stitched them up. I used some pretty quilting cotton that my daughter picked out. I altered the pattern slightly by creating pleats in the front. This way the gown would spread out better across a very pregnant belly. I also left the back opening straight, not curved as the pattern suggests so that the overlap could later be stitched together leaving her with a regular cotton gown after she comes home. The snaps at each shoulder allow her to nurse with this gown as well. I thought about creating slits for openings to nurse, but I didn’t make the pleats large enough in the front to allow for any level of modesty if I did that.
Here’s the original pattern laid out. The pattern is the same for the front and the back, with the exception of the opening.
This the front after widening the pattern, and scooping out the neckline some. After the fact, the first one I made wider this way was just too darn wide. Another example of why you should tissue fit or make a muslin. Oh well. This also shows how I made the back opening straight.
A closeup of the fabric choices
The finished white gown. I made the other gown with the reverse combination – that is, the pink is the main, and the silver is the contrast.
A closeup of the pleated front. I made one large pleat and then topstitched along both sides of the center to add interest.
One flaw – either with the altering I did (likely) or with the pattern itself – the front doesn’t match up with the back at the sleeves. Ugh.
I didn’t take a picture of the back, but the pattern calls for ties at the back. My daughter didn’t want these, she just wanted snaps at the top. There’s enough overlap in the gown to give her the modesty she needs at the back, so I just put about three snaps down the back at the top.
Oh, another note: I prewashed the fabric a few times before stitching so it would soften up, and over time, these will be very comfy. I can see her using them alot. We can eventually just stitch up the shoulder seams too, to eliminate the snaps. This will be easy by removing the snap tape (and reusing somewhere) and unfolding where I turned over the seam allowance. Brilliant, right?
Modeled pictures to show later, along with baby Laila, when she gets here.
Tagged as:
maternity delivery gowns,
pregnancy,
sewing
