Until Then

Hello, and welcome to my gardening blog!  My family recently relocated from the East Coast to East Texas, and are renting an apartment for now.  I know this is an unusual beginning for a garden blog, but this is where I am. Until I can once again enjoy direct sunlight through my windows and land in which to plant growing things, my little back patio is my garden, my playground.  Yesterday Autumn and I visited a home improvement store and returned with potting soil, a cyclamen, a Spanish moss, an impatiens and a begonia.  A small price to pay for happiness.

I dream of having my own place - my vegetables, my flowers, my vines, my dirt - again.  But for now, here we are.

Maternity Wear 1

 

 To recap, a sweet former co-worker of mine mailed this dress to me when her aunt gave it to her and she thought immediately that I'd like it.  Here's the dress before.  And this is my plan.....muaaaahhahahahaaa!  Don't get me wrong, I love the fabric, and the gesture was completely unforeseen and very kind, but it wasn't my style and certainly would not accommodate a growing belly for summer.

 I measured where I'd like to cut: just below the bust line and again to make the skirt the proper length.  then I removed the side seams and sleeves.

 I measured some thin elastic for an empire waist.

 I cut a strip of fabric from the leftover middle section so I could sew a "tunnel" around the waist of the skirt portion to hold the elastic for my empire waist.

 Here's that strip going on the skirt.  I zigzagged the edges, since I wasn't sure how quickly silk unravels.  I don't sew on this type of fabric!  I used a safety pin to thread the elastic through the tunnel, then secured the ends.  I pinned the bodice sides together and tried just that part on.  It was too tight.  So I cut panels from the leftover fabric to insert into the sides of the bodice to allow for plenty of "baby" growth.  Hehe.  Then I attached the bodice to the skirt and rolled and sewed the edges of the sleeves.  And the result...

 VOILA!  A sleeveless, empire-waist maternity tunic with plenty of room for growth!

 The sleeve hems were a little wonky, but I know if I can overlook that you can too. :)  I'm just too pleased with the final result to worry about it!

 There's that 13.5 wk bump.  Bella's so sweet.  Poor thing's starved for attention!

 

And here are a few ideas of how this tunic can be worn with a little versatility.  Please ignore the legs.  I don't do much fashion illustration anymore, and the legs and feet of all my figures look horrid.  But I'm happy with this first completion!

20 Weeks

So I'm going with it.  I'm making a goal of 10 maternity clothing items in 20 weeks, and if I can make 20, I'll make 20.  But since I'm still working on a few ordered quilts, I'll take it easy at the start.  Here's my first item:

 Be kind. I don't have to tell you why I'm not wearing any makeup and I'm looking crappy, right?  Just overlook the model.

 This gorgeous dress was mailed to me by a friend I used to work with.  I can't believe she remembered me and thought of me when she saw this dress.  It's 100% silk!  However, there isn't much growing room for the baby and it's not exactly something I'd wear often.  This lovely thing needs its own occasion.

Look at that gorgeous print!  I'm thinking of removing the sleeves, removing a middle section, then joining the lower skirt portion to the bodice in an elastic empire waist. I may try and find a sash to to with it or make ties for tying in the back out of the leftover fabric.  So I'll get to work on this and another quilt, and I'll keep you informed on the progress!