7 years ago
I have been harbouring a tiny secret for a few months now, and I feel like I should share it with you at long last…
I am very excited to say that I am currently expecting my 2nd child, due in October this year. There are lots of exciting things about being pregnant, but making maternity-wear for myself is most definitely one of them. There are not however a huge number of maternity-wear patterns around (more now than there were a few years ago mind you) but I knew that Tilly and the Buttons had created a few recently, and included in that was the maternity hack for the Joni Dress (from the book “Stretch!”). With a friend’s wedding on the horizon, this was my first choice as my dress for the occasion.
As with all of the patterns included in the Tilly and the Buttons book “Stretch!” the patterns require drafting off before you can use them. As you can see they are all overlapping so if you were to just cut one out you’d find you no longer had some of the other patterns from the book.
Tracing off a pattern is super simple; you need a large piece of paper, a pencil and ideally some weights and a ruler. I also use a tracing wheel but this is optional. So the 2 ways of doing this are to either place the pattern under the paper and trace through the size you require for each of the pieces (this does require paper that enables you to see through it somewhat) or (my preferred method) place the pattern on top of the paper and use the tracing wheel to run around the size I want. The tracing wheel leaves lots of tiny holes/marks on the paper where it has been enabling you to then run a pencil around these marks to get the pattern. (Some people use carbon paper between the layers but I find this to be very messy). The weights are simply there to hold your paper still regardless of which method you use.
The maternity hack for this pattern is explained at the back of the book and involves simply lengthening the front skirt piece to give room for the bump. This is really simple to do and well explained. The other great thing about this is it means when I am no-longer pregnant I can simply straighten the hem off and the dress is still wearable… which is brilliant!
The Fabric I chose for this dress is absolutely stunning, and hard to really capture the essence of. It is a stretch lace (this dress requires a stretch fabric) and has a shimmer fibre used in the background sections of the pattern that create this really luminescent appearance. It is quite a heavy lace, but this actually gives it a beautiful drape to it.
Due to it being lace (and me not wanting to show the world my bra and knickers) I cut a 2nd layer of the bodice and skirt sections (the sleeves didn’t need it so are just the lace layer) using a lightweight Viscose Jersey Fabric.
Using 2 layers of fabric for this dress had a definite construction advantage when it came to finishing the bodice. The original instructions for this dress call for turning a hem on a small section at the front of the bodice (where the twist occurs) and then finishing the remaining neckline with either a narrow hem or binding. Having 2 layers of fabric meant that I was able to sew the front neckline and lower curve right sides together to neaten the whole section before making the twist. This has created a really neat finish, and would make me tempted to use a 2nd layer on the bodice in any stretch fabric I made this in, in the future.
Once the twist has been made in the bodice, the lower centre seam can then be sewn in a similar fashion of placing the pieces right sides together. This encases all the raw edges between the 2 layers and therefore looks really neat. (Make sure that you trim all these seam allowances down as you go – with a more open lace these may partially show so keeping them small will keep it looking smart from the front side)
Once the front bodice had been done, I then neatened the back neckline in the same way ready to sew the shoulders together.
Continued on my next post...
#tillyandthebuttons #tillyandthebuttonspatterns #tillyandthebuttonsjoni #tillyandthebuttonsjonidress #joni #jonidress #maternityjoni #maternitysewing #sewingformaternity #indiepatterns #indiesewingpatterns #sewingwithlace #lacesewingprojects #minervamakes #minervamakers #isew #memade #memades #sewing #sewist #sewists #sewinginspo #sewinginspiration #sew #sewcialist #sewingproject #sewingprojects #sewingideas #sewingprojectideas #sewingpatterninspo #lovesewing #ilovesewing #sewsewsew #sewersgonnasew #makersgonnamake #sewaholic #sewaholics #shareyoursewing #sewinglove #handmadewardrobe #handemadeclothes #isewmyclothes #memadefashion #diyclothes #diyfashion #diywardrobe #dressmaking #fabricinspo #fashionsewing #seamstress #memadeeveryday #imakemyclothes #imakemyownclothes #fashion #fashioninspo #memadewardrobe
I am very excited to say that I am currently expecting my 2nd child, due in October this year. There are lots of exciting things about being pregnant, but making maternity-wear for myself is most definitely one of them. There are not however a huge number of maternity-wear patterns around (more now than there were a few years ago mind you) but I knew that Tilly and the Buttons had created a few recently, and included in that was the maternity hack for the Joni Dress (from the book “Stretch!”). With a friend’s wedding on the horizon, this was my first choice as my dress for the occasion.
As with all of the patterns included in the Tilly and the Buttons book “Stretch!” the patterns require drafting off before you can use them. As you can see they are all overlapping so if you were to just cut one out you’d find you no longer had some of the other patterns from the book.
Tracing off a pattern is super simple; you need a large piece of paper, a pencil and ideally some weights and a ruler. I also use a tracing wheel but this is optional. So the 2 ways of doing this are to either place the pattern under the paper and trace through the size you require for each of the pieces (this does require paper that enables you to see through it somewhat) or (my preferred method) place the pattern on top of the paper and use the tracing wheel to run around the size I want. The tracing wheel leaves lots of tiny holes/marks on the paper where it has been enabling you to then run a pencil around these marks to get the pattern. (Some people use carbon paper between the layers but I find this to be very messy). The weights are simply there to hold your paper still regardless of which method you use.
The maternity hack for this pattern is explained at the back of the book and involves simply lengthening the front skirt piece to give room for the bump. This is really simple to do and well explained. The other great thing about this is it means when I am no-longer pregnant I can simply straighten the hem off and the dress is still wearable… which is brilliant!
The Fabric I chose for this dress is absolutely stunning, and hard to really capture the essence of. It is a stretch lace (this dress requires a stretch fabric) and has a shimmer fibre used in the background sections of the pattern that create this really luminescent appearance. It is quite a heavy lace, but this actually gives it a beautiful drape to it.
Due to it being lace (and me not wanting to show the world my bra and knickers) I cut a 2nd layer of the bodice and skirt sections (the sleeves didn’t need it so are just the lace layer) using a lightweight Viscose Jersey Fabric.
Using 2 layers of fabric for this dress had a definite construction advantage when it came to finishing the bodice. The original instructions for this dress call for turning a hem on a small section at the front of the bodice (where the twist occurs) and then finishing the remaining neckline with either a narrow hem or binding. Having 2 layers of fabric meant that I was able to sew the front neckline and lower curve right sides together to neaten the whole section before making the twist. This has created a really neat finish, and would make me tempted to use a 2nd layer on the bodice in any stretch fabric I made this in, in the future.
Once the twist has been made in the bodice, the lower centre seam can then be sewn in a similar fashion of placing the pieces right sides together. This encases all the raw edges between the 2 layers and therefore looks really neat. (Make sure that you trim all these seam allowances down as you go – with a more open lace these may partially show so keeping them small will keep it looking smart from the front side)
Once the front bodice had been done, I then neatened the back neckline in the same way ready to sew the shoulders together.
Continued on my next post...
#tillyandthebuttons #tillyandthebuttonspatterns #tillyandthebuttonsjoni #tillyandthebuttonsjonidress #joni #jonidress #maternityjoni #maternitysewing #sewingformaternity #indiepatterns #indiesewingpatterns #sewingwithlace #lacesewingprojects #minervamakes #minervamakers #isew #memade #memades #sewing #sewist #sewists #sewinginspo #sewinginspiration #sew #sewcialist #sewingproject #sewingprojects #sewingideas #sewingprojectideas #sewingpatterninspo #lovesewing #ilovesewing #sewsewsew #sewersgonnasew #makersgonnamake #sewaholic #sewaholics #shareyoursewing #sewinglove #handmadewardrobe #handemadeclothes #isewmyclothes #memadefashion #diyclothes #diyfashion #diywardrobe #dressmaking #fabricinspo #fashionsewing #seamstress #memadeeveryday #imakemyclothes #imakemyownclothes #fashion #fashioninspo #memadewardrobe
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