Nursing and Maternity Maxi Dress FREE PATTERN and tutorial

I remember fondly the days of nursing my babies, not that long ago.  I also remember that I was frustrated with not being able to wear the dresses I liked without excessively exposing my udders to the world.  Those nursing days are history now and I had forgotten about the dilemma until I started organizing my sewing supplies and ran across the pattern I had designed for a nursing-accessible AND belly-friendly dress back in the day.  With summer upon us, I feel for those nursing mommas who want to wear dresses, so I decided to make up a tutorial and scan my pattern.  I also like taking breaks from kids clothes once in awhile and making something for grown-ups; keeps things fresh for me.

Let me know how it goes, okay?  I love comments and stories.

Ink drawing of dress, courtesy of Mike Antor

My friend, the lovely Danielle, is looking forward to a September baby!

This pattern is 22 pages long.  Get your printer, paper and scotch tape ready!  Make sure your printer is not set to "shrink to fit" or "fit to page".  Each page has a 1" square marker on it.  Print the first page and make sure that an inch is indeed an inch.

Print your pattern here:

  NURSING/MATERNITY MAXI DRESS FREE PATTERN

Use the arrows to line up your prints and tape them together. 

 According to page numbers and how the pages will line up, here's the order it will be in:

Line up page 1 and page 2, matching arrows. Tape in place.

Add page 3 next to page 2, matching arrows; you will have 4 pages across the top.  Tape.

For page 5, place it below page 1, matching arrows.  Tape,

Continue adding pages,  taping in place, using more tape in the areas that will actually be part of the pattern.

And the progress continues....

22 pages total, taped together.

Cut out your pattern pieces according to your size.  I designed this for me at 5'5".  Adjust for taller gals  just by adding to the bottom of the dress. You will have three pattern pieces.

I hereby judge this pattern skill level as EASY!

Time to complete: not too long once you get the pattern taped together.  Maybe 2 hours?

For materials, you will need:

• 2 yards of 60" stretchy jersey-type knit fabric---buy 2 1/4 yard if you are taller than 5'4" or just would feel more comfortable working with extra.
• 1/4 yard of coordinating rib knit
• half inch wide elastic
• thread

My choice in fabric, and I just noticed it looks a lot like my blog background!  This is a cotton knit from Fields Fabric!  You should check them out :)

Wash and dry your fabric first.  Do it!  If you like to line-dry, hang it length-wise down the middle so it is draped evenly on both sides of the line.  It will help when you lay out your pattern later.


Lay out your fabric on a large surface.  Take your time and get it all smoothed out.  Make folds for your "cut on fold" instructions by folding your selvage in toward the center.  Lay out your pattern pieces so they fit AND ensure that the stretch is horizontal!

Here you can see how the selvages are folded into the center and the stretch is horizontal.  Yes, I use strawberry jam to weight down my pattern pieces.  My pattern weights work well, too, but weren't handy.

 VERY IMPORTANT!  It must stretch around you and not down your body.


I just realized I forgot to draw <------stretch------->  references on the pattern pieces.  Darn it.  OK, we'll get though this.  The larger pieces marked LOWER FRONT and BACK just stretch horizontally.  No biggie.

Laying out pattern pieces, bottom pieces very close to the lower edge of your fabric.

For the UPPER FRONT, take page 3 of your pattern pieces and underline where it says "upper front cut 2", just right under the words "cut 2"; then draw little arrows on either end of your underline.  There.  See what I did there?  ---->

Weight down your pattern pieces with weights or canned goods, as shown.  Draw around each piece with a washable marker.

Cut out LOWER FRONT and BACK pieces first.  Mark dots and snip notches (see next image).  Using the remaining fabric, refold it and fit your UPPER FRONT pattern on the fabric.  Weight it down, trace around, and cut.  Now you will have 4 pieces (back, lower front, upper front and upper front).

Of note: I used to be afraid of knits.  I was told by my mother that they are scary to sew and avoid them whenever possible.  So I was wrong!  Use a ball point needle, a zig zag stitch if you don't have a serger, and stretching just a tiny bit as you sew.  Knits can be very forgiving and a really nice choice, so fear not.  Moving on...

Now it is time to cut your rib knit fabric.  Mine was a tube of fabric, so I cut down the side so it was a flat single layer.  Next, cut it into 2" wide strips.  Fold each strip down the center and press so you have 1" wide folded strips.  Keep your iron and distilled water handy, you'll be using it soon.







Get out your sewing machine....it's time!  Use your #14 ball point needle on your machine and a zig zag stitch.  You can also use a serger for a lot of the construction if you prefer.

If you are wanting to boost your confidence, find a great tutorial and pictures for how to attach rib knit to a garment, check out http://www.burdastyle.com/techniques/sew-a-rib-knit-band,

Right side up, lay out BACK piece.  Wrong sides up, lay UPPER FRONT pieces, matching shoulders/notches.













Stitch shoulder seams, using a 5/8 inch seam using a zig-zag or a stretch stitch according to your machine's guide, or serge.  I used the stretch stitch function, you know, the one that looks like lightning bolts.

shoulder seams stitched at 5/8"

Begin pinning the rib knit strips along the UPPER FRONT and around the BACK neckline, then onto the other UPPER FRONT, matching edges, as shown. Stretch the rib knit JUST SLIGHTLY as you pin...not too much.  You want it to recover when you are using your dress for its purpose later!  I got ridiculously wide rib knit that fits the entire length, but if you didn't, stitch some of your strips together for this length of rib knit-meets-dress.

rib knit strip pinned around the UPPER FRONT, BACK neck, and onto the other UPPER FRONT

wrong side of fabric, showing the stitched edge of rib knit

Stitch or serge edges, then press out to form outside edge.

here, you can see that I pinned rib knit to the long, unnotched edge.

On the lower edge of the UPPER FRONT pieces, pin strips of the rib knit, then stitch or serge.















*If I'm not clear on any of this, please email me or comment and I will see if I can clarify*

UPPER FRONT pieces crossed over on top of the BACK piece

Cross UPPER FRONT pieces again over the BACK piece, matching notches and dots.  Pin in place.  Set aside, because now....













Let's attend to the LOWER FRONT of the dress.  First of all, you are going to want to attach your elastic to the top wrong side as indicated on the pattern.  To determine how much elastic is necessary here, take a length of elastic and stretch it across your front, mid-underarm to mid-underarm, just beneath the bottom of your bra.  Make sure it is stretched comfortably but snugly as it will be responsible for keeping the lower part of the dress up and supported.  Take that length of elastic, add an inch just for good measure, and make the cut.  Pin one end of the elastic to the dot on the wrong side of the UPPER FRONT; pin the other end of the elastic at the other dot on the side.  So your elastic is pinned right up there along the upper edge of the UPPER FRONT, dot to dot, on the wrong side.  Zig-zag stitch that elastic, stretching it as you go so it is even along the upper edge.  Nicely done!  Admire your work and return to....

LOWER FRONT with elastic zig zag stitched onto top between dots

close-up of the zig zag stitch along the upper edge of the LOWER FRONT

UPPER FRONT/BACK pieces.  Lay the LOWER FRONT piece, right side down, matching the dots and notches along the sides.  So you will have LOWER FRONT, then UPPER FRONT overlaps, then BACK, from top to bottom.  Pin.  Stitch sides, using a 5/8 inch seam, from top to bottom.  Make sure to catch in the ribbed knit edges in those side seams;  I found that to be tricky, but it might just be me.  Anyway, good luck!

LOWER FRONT on top of the UPPER FRONTS and BACK, matching notches and dots and stitched down the sides.

Let's attack those arm openings.  Remember the great technique mentioned earlier?  That's a good one to get this started.  Let's do it!

attaching a rib knit cuff to the arm opening....a summary.

 I'm cool with leaving the dress hem raw as it won't unravel.  It's your call.  If you choose to hem, many people would recommend using a double needle and a walking foot.  Zig zag is also cool, or just running the edge through the serger.  You could even stretch the fabric as you serge and give it that scalloped edge.  Ah, the possibilities!

So you see how it crosses over in the front?  There is nursing access there....NOT over the top,NOT underneath; right there between the UPPER FRONT pieces (not shown on model).

Nursing access?  Check.  Belly accommodation ?  Yep.  Nice dress for many occasions?  I like to think so.

Stay cool, my fellow mommas!

PS...this is probably a good time to tell you that, in the event that you want this dress really badly but don't want to/don't know how to sew, contact me on the contact form and we'll see what we can do.  I've never offered this before, so excuse the bumbling around and the un-savvy nature; I just love to sew and will help make it happen for you.  Much love!





mun

continuing the vintage pattern love: 4t floral "tent" dress with a gingham collar

Wow, Picasa and Google + are making this easy!  I still have a lot to learn about blogging.

I have continued the vintage pattern trend with a "tent" dress.  I had a piece of very nice, crisp cotton with a fantastic pink floral pattern that I thought looked retro enough, then did the collar in a tiny pink gingham.  I had an old metal zipper from a box of vintage sewing items scored at a flea market....set that in place, added some lace to the hem and collar.  I must say, I'm having fun with this!  I might not be creating anything of my own design right now, but that won't stop me.  Check it out at Kindel & Company today!

-->

Vintage patterns for inspiration: Reversible 4t dress and a retro 4t floral top

Trying to get back in the saddle after a long absence from creating kids clothing.  It had been so long since I made anything of my own design that I had a crisis of creativity.  Finally, I decided it would be better to sew something from a pattern than to sit an wait for something clever to land in my head.

I turn to patterns, circa 1967 found at Goodwill and in a free bin at a yard sale last summer.

Because I have so many thoughtful friends who donate unwanted fabric, I have no end in sight of great fabric choices, including some vintage cuts that remind me of Brady Bunch.  So I got to pinning tissue, cutting and stitching.  The end product?

Vintage fabric with a vintage pattern....but I changed up the front panel and added embroidery.

Reversible dress with lace-trimmed nec

other side of reversible dress

So there you have it....trying to get inspired!  Easy to make and funky color combinations.  Perhaps tomorrow I will have some ideas of my own, but for now....I'm enjoying sewing again.  Both items are for sale currently at Kindel & Company here in town.  

More to come, and much sooner than before!

Easter Bunny Hat*free pattern/tutorial*....and recycling a former post!

Easter sneaked up on me this year.....or that is what I always claim!  Truth is, I'm just not a great planner.  So when the notion to make a bunny hat struck me this morning, I wondered how I could get it up on my blog fast enough!  Duh!  Let's use an existing pattern and modify it for the season!

See the pattern and instructions for Adventure Time Finn Hat.  When you print out the Finn Hat pattern, print out the  Bunny Ears.  I marked the x and o the same on the bunny ears as I did the short ears on the Finn hat, so place them just the same way.

Before you follow the instructions for the hat, get out your glue gun and plug it in.  Take two of your bunny ear pieces and lay a few long lines of glue the length of each ear, beginning an inch from the top and ending two inches from the bottom.  ALLOW TO DRY THOROUGHLY.  Put it in the freezer, if you must!

Several rows of glue running down the length of an ear piece.

Stitch a glue-covered ear to a plain ear, glue side out, all the way around, pivoting at the ear point.  Leave the short, straight bottom edge open.  Turn ear so glue is inside.  And there you have a free-standing ear!  Repeat with other ear.  

Of course, for more of a floppy look, feel free to omit the glue.  Or stuff it with some batting.  However you like your bunny ears, it is your hat!  

Follow the step by step Finn hat instructions.  Find yourself some bunny to love!

Awesome Bunny!

Baby Bunny!

my Xander-bunny

Thanks to Mandy at www.mgtotshots.com for your excellent photography skills!  Much love~

Part II: Burton Womens Trailblaze Copycat Top tutorial (putting it all together!)

So here we are!  We have made ourselves a pattern in Part I, and now I'm going crazy with anticipation about getting this top constructed and on my person.  Let's get to it!

Assemble your stuff:

• Iron and ironing board
• fabric cutting scissors
• pins
• tape measure
• washable marker
• pattern weights, heavy washers or canned goods
• 2 1/2 to 3 yards of 42/44" wide plaid flannel, washed, dried and pressed
• good thread
• fusible interfacing
• 15-20 prong snaps
• your pattern from Part I

A NOTE ABOUT YOUR FLANNEL CHOICE:
Pick a quality flannel that looks the same on both sides.  It is important to this project as the cowl will show both sides of the fabric.  Plus, it is just nicer to work with quality stuff, like good fabric, new needles, good thread, etc. I'm not going to tell you to throw out your old, bent pins or your ancient needles, but it is an investment of your time and effort....so why get cheap on that stuff?

TIP THAT IS GOING TO SOUND PREACHY: and that is the importance of having a steam iron.  If you think you can skip pressing your seams and folds, be prepared to look at your finished product and say "gosh, I wish I was better at sewing." An iron is an essential tool in home sewing: haul out that ironing board and set it up!




Let's start cutting!

CUT YOUR FABRIC: On a large, flat surface, lay out your washed/dried/pressed flannel.   You want to spend some time figuring out your pattern piece placement so all your pieces have the same direction.  Prioritize matching the plaid on the front pieces, then work with your "cut on fold" pieces.  Pay attention to grain lines, but you probably already know that!  I'm sorry I can't give you an exact fabric yardage; in my case, 2 1/2 yards of 44" width flannel works.  The original pattern yardage is a good guideline and add 1/2 yard extra for the cowl. 

RIGHT FRONT & LEFT FRONT

Once you have your pattern pieces arranged, weight down the heavy paper pattern pieces and trace around them with your washable marker, including markings.  Pin tissue pattern pieces if you like.  Take a deep breath and start cutting!  For ease of future discussions, lets name our FRONT pieces:  nothing special, just RIGHT FRONT and LEFT FRONT.  Right front is the bigger piece and crosses the chest to overlap left front; left front is smaller and will have the receiving snaps.  Moving on. 

Line up the fronts so the plaid is matching at the shoulders.

Trace around with chalk or a washable marker

Ready to cut inside chalk lines!

Pattern marks: make a 1/4 snip in the fabric at mark.

I cut my cuffs on the bias for a little design detail

1.  STAY STITCH THE DIAGONAL EDGES ON RIGHT FRONT AND LEFT FRONT.  Since the cut is on the bias, it will want to stretch.  You don't want that.

2.  SNAP PLACKETS: We are going to apply interfacing to the front pieces.  Take your pattern piece named SNAP PLACKET and cut 1 of interfacing.  While you have your interfacing out, cut another piece out: make it 1 1/2 inches wide and about 30 inches long.  

Take your fabric SNAP PLACKET and place the interfacing SNAP PLACKET with the smooth, nonsticky side on the right side of the fabric SNAP PLACKET.  

Stitch interfacing to fabric, using a 1/4 inch seam down the long side.  

Turn the interfacing over so the sticky side is on the wrong side of the fabric: fuse the interfacing to the fabric using your steam iron and following manufacturer directions.  This is an efficient way to do interfacing while taking care of raw edges.  

Interfaced SNAP PLACKET, raw edges fused inside.

Take your interfaced SNAP PLACKET and place it on the diagonal front line of the LEFT FRONT.  Pin.  Stitch in place with a 1/4 inch seam, stopping 1 1/4 inch from the top, just short of the shoulder seam. Fold SNAP PLACKET to inside and press seam.  

 Working on the RIGHT FRONT of the top, shown here on the left, take your 1 1/2 interfacing strip that you cut out and place the nonsticky side along the long diagonal edge on the right side of the RIGHT FRONT.  Stitch a scant 1/4 inch seam along the edge; fold interfacing over to the wrong side and apply steam to interfacing to fuse in place.  Now, fold the interfaced portion over 1 inch to the inside and press; open it up again, feel free to now admire your nice fold line you just pressed. 

Interfaced RIGHT FRONT, folded under 1 inch.

3.  SHOULDER SEAMS:  With right sides together, lay out your FRONT RIGHT and FRONT LEFT pieces on the BACK piece, matching any shoulder marks that came with the original pattern.  Stitch shoulder seams, using a 5/8 inch seam.  This is the part that is your choice:  you can either do your seam, press it open and forget it, or you can do a flat-felled seam.  If you are unfamiliar, there is a wonderful tutorial at http://www.coletterie.com/tutorials-tips-tricks/standard-flat-felled-seam with details.  I prefer to take the time and do a flat-felled seam, but I'm not going to get bossy about it.  http://www.sew4home.com/tips-resources/sewing-tips-tricks/weekend-wonders-fabriccom-how-make-flat-felled-seams would be another great flat-felled seam instruction.  

Flat-felled shoulder seam

ANOTHER PREACHY SOUNDING TIP, BECAUSE I CARE: clip those threads right down to the nub as you go.  Don't wait.  Having hanging threads is annoying, especially at the end when you are excited to put your new top on and have to go and find all your long threads.  

4.  SLEEVES:  I personally prefer to sew the sleeves on at this point rather than "setting in the sleeves".  I also like to do a flat-felled seam on the sleeves, even though it is tricky on a curve.  Follow your pattern directions and any marks from the pattern to get your sleeves attached now.  Cuffs are a detail you want to keep in mind:  they snap on the outside of your wrist.  Make sure your sleeves are on the correct side to reflect this.  

matching up the sleeves to fronts and backs

pinning in preparation for flat-felled seam.

Pressing the flat-felled seam

Finished shoulder flat-felled seam.  Yay!

 

5.  SIDE SEAMS:  The pattern directions will tell you to lay blouse front on blouse back, right sides together, matching marks.  Baste.  Stitch.  I'll tell you to do that, and keep on going, pivoting as you go into sleeve territory.  So now you have a side seam and and your sleeve is a sleeve.  A clean finish is nice.  Make yourself proud by finishing those edges.  If you are unfamiliar with finishing edges, check out http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/2008/05/seam-finishes-simplified/.  I really like any of these finishes, but am partial to the Clean Finish Edge.  Check them out!  Oh, and press those seams open!!!  







I laid my top out flat and straightened it out, lining up my front snap plackets so they overlapped like they will on the finished product.  The overlapping placket (RIGHT FRONT) was too long at the top, so I trimmed it so it was level with left shoulder seam.  Lay your top out and do the same.

Add caption

6.  CUFFS:  Follow the pattern directions for stitching your cuff to the sleeve.  There is probably a placket (I finished mine with bias tape) and some tucks involved.  This part is pretty much between you and your pattern.  Go ahead....I'll wait.

cuff placket finished with bias tape.

7.  And now, the piece de résistance...THE COWL.  Being that I've never actually seen the original other than in pictures, I did a lot of thinking (and a muslin) to come up with the right look.  This is the part where I am humble and have no problem taking suggestions and ideas from you all!  Oh, and this part requires patience, so take your time and don't rush.  This is what worked for me.  

On the diagonal edges of the cowl, turn under 1/2 inch and press, then turn under another 1/2 inch and press.  

Spread out the FRONTS AND BACK along the neckline so it is a straight-ish line; line up the shortest length of the cowl next to it.  Start pinning the cowl to the RIGHT FRONT, right sides together,  on the neckline 1/2 inch from the end.  

I drew a green line 1/2 inch from the end so I knew where to start pinning.  Continue pinning cowl around neckline, ending on the LEFT FRONT in that 1 1/4 inch area where you ended your stitching of the placket to the left front.   

At this point, you may find, as I did, that you have too much cowl left over upon reaching the end.  Measure how much is left over (mine was 1 1/2 inches of cowl).  Take a deep breath, remove your pins, and head back to your ironing board with the cowl.  

Divide the excess between the two cowl diagonal edges and press a new hem.  For instance, mine was 1 1/2 inches too long, so I folded the hem in 3/4 inch more on either side, making my new hems 1 1/4.  

Now, pin the cowl once again to the neckline as before.  Hopefully, that did the trick.  Once you are satisfied, stitch cowl to neckline with a 5/8 inch seam, starting at the RIGHT FRONT and ending at the LEFT FRONT.  Finish the raw edge of this seam with either a serger or do a widezig zag stitch.  

On the RIGHT FRONT, fold the PLACKET along the pressed line, right sides together, and stitch along that line that I illustrated as a green line.  

Turn the PLACKET  back to the right side and press the seam.  

On the LEFT FRONT, stitch closed that remaining 1 1/4 inch area, right sides together, ending 1/2 inch from the end.  The end of the cowl seam is sandwiched in between the LEFT FRONT and the PLACKET.   Turn right side out and press.  









Press down that little 1/2 inch end 

Line up 1/2 inch fold over the shoulder seam.

...and tack it by hand to the shoulder seam.

Now, hang your top on a hanger; arrange top so the RIGHT FRONT laps over the LEFT FRONT, placing pins to hold in place.  Notice that the cowl hems overlap, too.  The RIGHT FRONT PLACKET has a squared end that comes up to the left shoulder seam.  That's good!  We are just making sure everything lines up correctly.  Take top off hanger and head back to the ironing board.  

Press the top edge of the COWL under 1/4 inch, then another 1/4 inch.  See images below to get it to look nice and neat.  Stitch very close to folded edges up both sides, then across the top.  Press.  Whew!  Time for....

8.  SNAPS!  I found that most of my shirts have 3 to 3 1/2 inches between the buttons.  So whatever you decide is good spacing, go with it.  Starting at the top, place a pin through all PLACKET layers, with RIGHT FRONT overlapping LEFT FRONT.  

Make a chalk mark at that spot and 1/2 inch from the edge.  Do the same on the cowl, spacing your snap placement pins as needed to ensure there is a snap at the very end of the cowl.  That might result in snaps being a little further apart on the cowl to accommodate that ending, but work it out, then mark with chalk over the pin spot.  






Next mark your snap placement chalk marks using a needle and thread!  Here, I'll show you.... 

MINI TUTORIAL WITHIN A TUTORIAL:  MARKING BUTTON/SNAP PLACEMENT WITH NEEDLE AND THREAD! 

 Pick up a stitch through all layers.

 Pull thread through but leave a few inches of thread hanging

 Pick up another stitch

Pull thread through, but not all the way; leave a loop of thread. 

Pick up another stitch. 

Pull thread through, leaving a loop.  Cut thread, leaving a couple inches of thread.  You now have several loops. 

 Pull layers of fabric apart as shown.  Your loops of thread are between the two layers now.  

Cut your threads between the layers.  Voila!  Thread markers for your snap placement.  Repeat for all snap markers.

Count how many snaps you need, including the two snaps for the cuffs.  I needed 15 total.  Use your snap setting tool to set snaps on front and cowl.  Set snaps on cuffs, too.  I do the "outie" snap on the overlapping part, and the "innie" snap on the overlapped part.  Take your time.  I'll wait.  

9.  HEM THE BOTTOM.  Here is where I forgot to heed my own advice and didn't do a stay-stitch along my diagonal fronts!  After hanging my head in shame, I moved on and laid out the top in front of me to determine where it was too long in the front.  After trimming it and vowing to learn from my mistake, I continued.  Hem according to pattern directions. For my pattern, that involved the instructions to turn hem under and press.  Turn raw edge under and baste.  Topstitch 1/4 inch from lower edge of blouse, catching hem.  

My expression doesn't mirror my inner joy....I'm pretending I'm a model and they always look a bit grouchy.

Cowl close-up.  Can be pulled up over your head like a hood, or unbuttoned a little and arranged in a jaunty manner.  

Stick a fork in you, you are done!  Victory squeal!  Wear with pride, and I would love to see pictures if you get the notion.  I hope this was helpful and rewarding, and do let me know if you have a suggestion or an edit that would clarify anything.  Much love to you all :)