Date: 7/2/09 11:43 AM

Hi everyone, I'd like to make something for a first-time mom who is 11 weeks pregnant with (just!) one baby. She is petite with a small build. She just started looking this week like she's had a nice lunch. The baby bump itself is way below the belt and invisible to the public but her slowed-down digestion is creating the nice lunch look. I've never sewn maternity clothes before but feel ready to tackle a maternity alteration discussed some time ago on the boards: PR board maternity alteration discussion It says to make 3 upside-down L-shaped slashes radiating from the waist, then spread about an inch each. I plan to make BWOF 4/07 #108, a faux wrap dress with the wrap section ending just below the bust. As it's early on in her pregnancy, what do you think of me making just one or two L-slashes? I'm concerned the front will have a 'maternity droop' look that will proclaim 'baby on board' when she has decided to spill the beans slowly.
Also, do you have any advice on when she might start 'really' showing and need a true maternity adjustment? If she can only wear it for a month then perhaps it's better to make all 3 L's. The mama is an avid exerciser and I think she might gain slowly and/or loose weight quickly after birth as she plans to breast feed in addition to her usual active routine. Perhaps she could wear a single L-alteration dress in spring when the pregnancy weight begins tapering off.

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Returning to sewing after a year off
http://eurasianlocation.wordpress.com/

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Date: 7/2/09 12:18 PM

My experience is limited to one baby, but I am petite and athletic, so thought I'd weigh in. I managed to keep my pregnancy hidden for five months (since that sounds funny, I'll just add that the pregnancy was definitely planned, I just wanted to keep the news limited to family and close friends for as long as possible). But a friend of mine who is very similar in size but does not exercise much started showing at about six weeks. It obviously wasn't the baby's size at that point that was making her belly more prominent, she just got really bloated. Which is all a long way of saying there is just no telling when your friend will "pop." I would say I don't know of anyone who didn't show by five months.

I don't have enough sewing experience to weigh in on the number of slashes you should make, but I would suggest that you make her something in a knit, both for ease of fit and comfort for the mama-to-be.

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Date: 7/2/09 12:33 PM

After three pregnancies, I was in my ordinary clothes until 20-22 weeks on all of them. I got bloated in the beginning, but that went down around the 12 week mark, and I didn't get really big until the 20 week mark. I spent a few weeks where I was kind of squeezed into my own clothes, but maternity clothes were ridiculously big. It seems to vary a lot though. I didn't do much exercise, if any...

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Reading from Europe

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Date: 7/2/09 6:59 PM

How nice of you!
My daughter is also 11 weeks, and still contempating maternity clothing. She did get a pair of maternity jeans at - of all places- Old Navy, and loves them. I would think that the current crop of fashions out there are pretty roomy in the baby bump area, and would translate well to first into second trimester maternity wear with little difficulty. Depending on how old the expectant mother is, girls seem to be wearing their maternity clothing a bit tighter and not so "tentlike".
How about this Simplicity patterns 3624
or Vogue 8478?

I am actually making Vogue 1102 for my daughter to wear to a family wedding later this summer.

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Connie Bontje
The website - www.couturesmith.com

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Reply to Katharine in BXL
Date: 7/2/09 10:06 PM

I will second the knit suggestion--you don't have to make as big of a maternity adjustment as the fabric stretches.

In fact, I wore a non-maternity stretch velvet dress to a wedding at the beginning of my third trimester.

About wearing the dress post-pregnancy: if your friend is planning to nurse, dresses are very difficult to wear (unless they have nursing openings).

One thing to consider when maternity-izing a dress, is that length needs to be made longer in the front as the bump will raise the hemline.

I'm going to add this link to japanese weekend dresses for inspiration. I have had a couple japanese weekend maternity/nursing clothes and they rely on stretch more than volume of fabric (in fact, don't tell anyone but I still wear one of the maternity/nursing tops even though I'm neither nursing or pregnant . . . Jalie 2787 is practically a clone of this top and comes with nursing/maternity instructions)
-- Edited on 7/2/09 10:07 PM --

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Kim

http://girlwithatimemachine.wordpress.com/

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Date: 7/3/09 1:13 AM

Yes, there is really no way of knowing. I am petite and had large babies (over 10 lbs for the first!) and showed plenty by ten weeks. A friend who actually was smaller waisted that I was carried "internally" plus had a bigger bust so she didn't show publicly for a long time. The clothes now are great, though. Everything in the late 70's was high waisted and tight - no wiggle room at all!

What a great friend to sew for a new mom to be.

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Date: 7/3/09 1:22 PM

Thanks to everyone weighing in! It's nice to know that there is no real set time when a mother shows, I've been confused on that due to total lack of experience and as she has a slim and petite build. Good point on the bustiness, she is full-busted so it may provide more cover. Thanks for the advice on the Japanese Weekend nursing options, I had no idea that a dress could be tricky when breastfeeding. She is in her thirties so the vast polyestor tents with Peter Pan collars are not her style, but it's a good point that the big billowy styles now in vogue could cache the situation without raising alarm bells from a big droopy dress front. I'll nix the plans on the wrap dress and see if we can find something in my BWOF and Knip Mode pattern stash that's waistless, as Big 4 patterns are expensive to order from here. Luckily the July BWOF has a billowy knit dress that she might like, although it won't be suitable for brestfeeding later on. Thanks everyone! And phew, no need to tackle a maternity alteration yet :)

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Returning to sewing after a year off
http://eurasianlocation.wordpress.com/

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Reply to ConnieBJ
Date: 7/3/09 2:07 PM

Connie, congratulations on the upcoming grandchild! What a lovely dress you're making for your daughter too, she's a lucky girl to have a mom like you. Thanks for the pattern ideas, I'll have a look at my stash for some like these. You're right, the flowing empire-waist look is in so there should be plenty of choice!

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Returning to sewing after a year off
http://eurasianlocation.wordpress.com/

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Reply to Katharine in BXL
Date: 7/3/09 2:26 PM

You might not want to nix plans on the wrap dress just yet. A low neckline can sometimes allow for easy-access nursing. I had a Max Studio dress that I wore to a wedding when my daughter was just three months old. The dress was a stretchy knit that I could just pull down, nurse, and pull back into place--privacy came from a nursing cover on top of that. I've heard horror stories about other dresses that women had to simply remove altogether in order to nurse. A stretchy wrap dress might be low enough to work with nursing. But nursing bras tend to be pretty full coverage, so you wouldn't want the neckline to be too, too low. Anyways, just another thing to consider.

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Date: 7/3/09 5:11 PM

There are several free tutorials online for making nursing covers--easy with just a big square of fabric, adjustable buckles straps for the neck, and a piece of boning to hold the top open to see Baby. That's a quick present you could make in some fun colors, as they are sometimes expensive.

Empire tops are a good idea, because she can wear them later with jeans/leggings. How about the peasant-style blouse with raglan sleeves, elastic neck, which is easy for nursing. That 60's style is coming back in the US and she can belt it later for a regular top.

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