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.
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