This year, April was all about making maternity friendly garments. I finished two hacked Shelly Leggings and one Ebony Dress.
When the Shelly Leggings came out in the January 2018 issue of Seamwork, I thought they looked super comfy. After I found out I was pregnant, I decided to try to hack the pattern. I used a ready-to-wear pair of maternity leggings to draft a new waistband piece. For my black Shelly Leggings, I cut one waistband piece and hemmed it, like my ready-to-wear leggings. The result was okay, but not as comfy as I was looking for. Also, I cropped the leggings too much, and the bagged weirdly around the knees. I used Robert Kaufman Laguna Jersey in Onyx, and I think a different fabric may have worked better at that length. It was a good first try, but needed improvement.
For my second pair of Shelly Leggings, I used Robert Kaufman Laguna Jersey in Onyx in Heather Grey, which was a little bit thicker than the non-heather Onyx color. I cut two waistband pieces so that the waistband was doubled, and cropped the leggings around mid-calf. The result was just what I was looking for! I lived in these leggings throughout pregnancy, and even into the “fourth trimester.” I even made a pair in Heather Navy the following month. Someday I’d like to make more Shelly Leggings, this time with no alterations.
While not specifically a maternity pattern, the Ebony Dress by Closet Case Patterns is very bump friendly. I sewed version A and customized it by shortening the sleeves considerably. It was very swingy and fun to wear, but the lack of pockets bothered me. A few weeks after finishing this dress, I went back and added patch pockets, using the pattern piece from the Seamwork Sadie Sweatshirt (not pictured). I wore this dress often throughout my pregnancy, and it’s something I can wear next Spring as a non-maternity dress.
