Mid-Century Maternity

Liz has done it again.  Here is a post on what to where when you're expecting.  I haven't read it yet (even though it's not very long), but I need to save it for future reference . . . just in case.

Past Patterns #807: Mid-Nineteenth Century Wrapper

Here's what I came up with for my wrapper.  I don't know what happened to the color in the picture (well, my 8 y.o. took the picture, maybe that had something to do with it?).  It's kind of a blue and yellow dress, but it comes out kind of brownish/gray.  I had some other fabric on hand that was prettier, but I think I'll save it for a dress I'm really excited about.

Because I was so short on time, I didn't get to do anything too cute with this dress.  I wanted to do something cool with the sleeves, but maybe I can do that later.  I also thought a belt would be fun, but again, maybe later.  Wouldn't a collar be fun, too?  I called my mom to see if she could make me one for Christmas.

To save time, I considered just machine gathering the back, but I really, really love the look of gauging (we practiced it in our Sewing Academy), but took the less time consuming route and went with shirring (zig-zag over two heavy strings, then pull it in). 

I've put 24 buttons on this dress, but it needs one more.  I sewed them on by hand, but totally cheated and did my buttonholes by machine.

I did my first hem by hand, but realized after trying it on (in the picture) that it's too short!  Can you believe it??  I did lengthen it around an inch and a half, but my fingers hurt too much to hem it again by hand, so I just did it by machine.

It took around 8 hours, I think -- I kind of lost track after 4-5, though.

How the draw-cord looks on the inside.  I'm having troubles with it slipping, so I just stuck a safety pin in the cord to hold it in place.  You can see I didn't line the dress.

I love, love, this back.

Pregnancy, Maternity Dresses, & Wrappers

Yes, I'm pregnant, expecting, with child.  Here we go again.  I wasn't planning on needing to dress up anytime soon, but have had the opportunity.  I kind of like this dress the way it is:

and don't want to switch it back to this:

I think it would drown me right now anyway.

So, I thought I'd make something new -- in 3 days.  Yup. I'm crazy.

I promised myself I wouldn't make another dress until I made myself some proper undergarments -- i.e. a corset!  But, I'm really not wanting a maternity corset:

From A Day in 1862

However, I had Past Patterns Wrapper pattern

and knew that wrappers could be appropriate for maternity wear, but knew they were also known as an "undress" (something you don't wear out in public).  From what I understand, it's basically a dressing gown or a robe.

Rather than research it all myself, I e-mailed dear Liz Clark and she gave me some fast tips.  I hope she doesn't mind me posting them here so they don't get lost in all my e-mails -- plus, they may benefit you!

"Wrappers for wrapper-use are generally done in wools, with wool or silk facings [doesn't this make you think of a fancy robe?]. But wrappers for maternity use are done in normal dress fabrics (including cotton prints), and look pretty much like dresses, only with a loose, designed-to-be-belted front. So, they're two different creatures."

and Liz also explained 2 other maternity options:

1.  ". . .making a normal dress with a larger waist, and running some drawing cords inside the waistband in front. . ."

2.  "You could also do a modified dress: use the fitted back and full back skirts, and the upper part of your bodice pattern to create a fitted yoke. Then cut the lower half of the front armscye into a long rectangle of fabric, and gather the rest of the upper edge to fit the yokes, then finish off the front with a placket that goes down into the skirt area. Add a self-fabric belt in the side seams (with multiple hooks for expansion), sew the side seams, and you have a yoked-front, loose-front gown with a fitted, full-skirted back and endless bump expansion. Works best with slighter busts, but it makes a dress that's very versatile all through pregnancy, still looks nice from the back, and accommodates nursing, too."

I really, really liked that 2nd option, but just didn't have time to figure it all out.

As I was sewing I ran across some fun pictures of work from others.

These looked more like robe/dressing-gown wrappers to me:

From The Victorian Parlor 2

(the inspiration for the above dress:)

From Romantic History

From Why Not Then

From the Philadelphia Museum of Art

And these looked more maternity-ish:

From Sarah Elizabeth Gallery

This one is my very, very favorite.

From Maggie May's Dress Diaries

and

So, with that, I was off to build my own.