Saturday, August 9, 2014

Something else made during Me Made May... (plus: an owly baby hoodie and maternity sewing plans)

Halfway through Me Made May a few months ago, my husband and I got some exciting news—I was four weeks pregnant! We did not yet want to publicly announce, but I almost instantly developed an obvious baby belly and a quite expanded bustline and began to have trouble fitting into some of my favorite clothes, me-made and otherwise. (I think it's a second-time mom thing, as I didn't show at all with my daughter until I was at least 11 weeks along).

I didn't want to give up on Me Made May, so I just tried to suck in the belly in photos and even wear body shapers to try to hide it on the blog and at work for the rest of the month... but by the last few days of May I was actually wearing some of the maternity clothes I made back in 2010, and various kindly people of New York were already starting to offer me seats on the subway. Can you spot it?

And then at about 6 1/2 weeks along, I suddenly was hit with a wave of nausea and exhaustion like no other, and am only now at 16 weeks starting to emerge into some semblance of normal feeling. All I've sewn in the meantime is a little baby hoodie for a friend's baby shower:

Baby Hoodie

The nice thing about sewing baby clothes is how very short the seams are—they may have just as many pieces and bits as adult clothes, but before you know it, everything is done. This is from the wonderful Kwik Sew's Sewing for Baby book, and I made the same pattern for my own daughter Z when I was pregnant with her (did she not have the BEST little fro-hawk?!):

Blue Doodle Baby Hoodie (worn by Baby Z, 12 wks)

I'm now planning to embark on a modest maternity sewing and baby sewing/knitting spree—a friend of mine from the Brooklyn Sewing Club scored me a set of Simplicity maternity patterns on a $1 each sale (some of which are actually Megan Nielsen patterns!), and I'm super excited to make them up. Here are my top three:

Simplicity 1469 (which is also Megan Nielsen's nursing/maternity top/dress pattern):

Simplicity 1468 maternity wrap top (another Megan Nielsen):

Simplicity 1360 maternity dress or mini dress:

I'm probably not going to overdo the maternity sewing, as I have quite a few maternity me-mades left over from last time and have been able to score a lot of great items free or thrifted (like the top in the photo). But I think at least a few warm maternity tops, a pair of wool jersey leggings, a long-sleeved dress and a wool jersey skirt for winter are in order, since I'm due in January. I might focus more on adding to my nursing-friendly-top-and-dress stash, as that will be something I can wear for at least two years, not just the next five months.

P.S. Our daughter wants to name the baby "Text Message Wood", "Tree Wood" "Apple Wood" or "Brothy Sisty Wood" (Wood is husband's last name). We will not be taking her up on her suggestions.

31 comments:

  1. Congratulations! I like "Text-Message" as a formal name--it's very 21st century! LOL! Seriously I'm glad that Z is excited for her the arrival of her sibling. :) I think that the photo montage shows that you rose to the challenge!

    Rose in SV

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  2. Congratulations! How exciting! Hope the 2nd trimester will make you feel better!

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  3. Congratulations To you and your family!

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  4. WOW! How Exciting!!!! Congrats!

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  5. Aw, yay! Congratulations!!! I know if I ever get to do it all again, I will definitely focus more on nursing wear. I made lots of maternity clothes but didn't think through to the nursing part. I hope you're feeling good. And yes, Z had the best fro-hawk!

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  6. Congratulations!! You "pop" a lot sooner with subsequent pregnancies than with the first. That baby hoodie is so cute, and you look great! Best of luck to you!

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  7. I must admit - I did wonder in the last post on Me Made May :-) Congrats! And I think that Apple Wood is kind of cute (like, if you were a celebrity).

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  8. Congratulations!!!!! So exciting! My vote is for "Tree Wood". ;)

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  9. My big sister wanted to name me Poly Esther.

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  10. Congratulations!! I'm so impressed by your MMM commitment, it's hard enough without sudden body changes!

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  11. Congratulations!! I hope you get feeling better! And wow - that's dedication to Me Made May - body shapers? I would have given up!

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  12. I like Tree and Apple!! Lol

    Congratulations!! Z will be an awesome big sister!

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  13. Congratulations! I think the muscles just know there's no point in fighting it the second time. Everything seemed to happen faster and faster, and now they are 17 and almost 15 and I'm 55. It's all good.

    Kwik Sew's books for toddlers and children are the kids sloper books and well worth picking up; they never go bad or out of style.

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  14. Congratulations! I'm glad to see you got those lovely Megan Nielson patterns for cheap as I noticed a few months ago they were much cheaper as part of the Simplicity range compared to her own range, and I hoped that someone, somewhere was making the most of it :)
    Also, Text message is an amazing name!

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  15. Oh wow, congratulations to you and your family!!! So exciting to know another pregnant sewing blogger, even if we're not overlapping by much. I never would have suspected from your MMM photos, for what it's worth. I got a bunch of maternity patterns but never made them up because I was always so tired, then by the time I had energy again I was focused on baby things. And now it seems a little silly to make any, but making nursing tops sounds like a good plan.

    I think Apple is probably the best of Z's suggestions. I also read "Brothy" as broth-y, as in like-chicken-stock-but-not and got really confused, then I read "Sisty" and it made a lot more sense.

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  16. Congratulations! There are some great maternity choices out there! You look great, and I wish you all the best the rest of this pregnancy.

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  17. How exciting! Congratulations!

    Also, baby Z is ADORABLE. She looks like an actual doll!

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  18. Oh, congratulations, and best wishes for a healthy pregnancy! These maternity clothes are much more stylish than the "big shirts" and pinafores that were all the rage in 1989. And better than what Dear Ma wore in the late 1950s, in the days before maternity panels for skirts and pants -- they just had a big U cut out for your belly, with string ties to cinch closed over your belly and under your bust. You hoped your smock was long enough to cover your bare skin.

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  19. Congratulations! What a great surprise for you guys! Sounds like fun in life and in your sewing ahead!

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  20. Congratulations, your daughter is so adorable, I hope you have another just like her.

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  21. Congrats! BTW - If you think you show fast with baby #2, go for #3...I popped with #3 and #4 within days of a missed period. Yikes! Also, you are likely to end things bigger than you did with the first one - just a warning from the voice of experience.

    Jalie has some cute tops with instructions and piece to make them nursing friendly or maternity friendly.

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  22. Congratulations!

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  23. I'm weirdly liking Text. I would spell it "Texte" ;) heh. Congratulations!!!!

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  24. Congratulations! What wonderful news :)

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  25. Thank you all for your wonderful warm wishes and comments! Sorry I didn't respond earlier—I went on a no-internet-access vacation to a lake in Maine so I could like by the lake and rest my tired pregnant self! :)

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  26. Congratulations! I'm so happy for your family. And I love all of those maternity patterns. I hope you feel up to sewing them soon!

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  27. Heartiest congratulations! Wonderful news. We have similar sewing plans as I have the the waterfall twist dress in mind now that the mind-boggling exhaustion is giving way. Hope if you had morning sickness that that has stopped for you :) Really glad that you have maternity clothes to wer from last time, my third tri last time was over summer so my linen trousers are out. Have you googled images for the bandage wrap top? I decided against light colours based on a pic. I'm not altogether happy with the edges on of the bandage wrap after washing and wearing so it's on the back burner. Have you thought about any Jalie patterns? They have a maternity and nursing crisscross top. My pattern is on the way now from Canada.

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  28. I am VERY late to the party, but CONGRATULATIONS -- very exciting news!

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