Modify

I have been working on lots of projects lately. Quiet books (not finished), summer maternity shirts, maternity dresses, super capes to give away (not even started), finally hemming 3 or 4 pairs of pants. Yea, keeping busy. My current obsession is to alter clothes to fit my belly and be more modest.

First up, some t-shirt I found at Old Navy on clearance. I thought they would be perfect with some elastic on the side seam.

I measured one of my favorite Motherhood Maternity shirts and tried it out a couple of ways.

I think it turned out pretty good.

Except I wanted to put some ruching on the sleeves too, to make them shorter and cuter. That didn't work so well and isn't finished yet. I better hurry though, they might not fit soon. This belly just keeps growing on me.

Next up is this halter maxi dress I bought for $10. It is supposed to be a maternity dress, but it fit a little funny. I was going to just cut off the back twisty part that was too tight, but then I started thinking. It was way too long. So...

I started by cutting 12" off the bottom.

Then I cut one halter front off to switch it to the other side that I liked the pattern better. I unpicked the elastic out of the waist. Sewed on a back panel. Looked up how to make a sleeve pattern and cut out a mock up out of black fabric. Sewed, unpicked and modified the sleeve, sewed, unpicked, gathered, and re-sewed the sleeves back on. It didn't really have a sleeve opening, so it was a bit harder than I anticipated. It took a while, but I figured it out.

The last thing to do was to put in a modesty panel so I could wear it without a tank underneath.(oh, and sew the waist elastic back in) I first followed the shape of the front to make the panel, because one side is wider than the other. (because I flipped it over) However, it was too wide and I had to wear a tank underneath anyway. (I wore it for Easter) I fixed it later and it looks great!

Hubby says it isn't very flattering, but it is a maternity dress. They aren't really made to be flattering. It is however very comfortable and light enough to wear all summer. Yay!

Almost last project, this dress I got in Europe in high school.

Yes, its that old. I still love it though. I have had it on my project list for a while because the back slit is just a little too high now a days. So, I put in a little modesty kick panel.

I did this after the much harder Easter dress and thought, "Hey, I can put sleeves on this one no problem." Actually, I even used the sleeve mock ups that I cut out for that dress. Since they were regular sleeves and in the fabric that was the same black polyester stuff this dress is.

I think it turned out pretty good too. I hope it fits later when I can actually fit into it.

Now onto the last maternity shirt to be ruched and finish the sleeves on the almost finished ones. Almost done, right? Never...