Maternity Fashions, Sewing, and Pattern Drafting.

Below is a loose smock broderie top embelished with a ribbon to define the empire waistline. And the skirt I drafted and sewed from curtains from an op shop!


I love being pregnant. I love showing off my little bump-which is not so little anymore at 34 weeks. Being pregnant is great! I love empire waistlines with a little ribbon to define the waist bump. I just love coming up with different looks that show off my baby bump gracefully. However, shopping for great-looking maternity wear is an exercise in frustration. You either get  big shapeless T-shirts and elastic/drawstring pants/skirts, or nothing. And they are all priced way out of what I'm willing to spend. Department stores don't stock much in the way of maternity wear, and even the things I see in boutiques don't speak to me. What's a pregnant gal to do?

I love to sew, and when I came to Adelaide, was amazed at the number of patterns you can buy to make your own garments. Being from Malaysia, people go to a dressmaker if they want something made, labour being very affordable. A dress would only cost you RM20-40 to make! In Aussie dollars, that's a mere AUD7-15!?  But when my tummy started to show and I was looking at patterns for maternity wear, there was nothing in the Big 4 pattern books that I wanted to make. They look too loose, or frumpy, or just plain uninteresting. The design and style lines were just-blah. Why do designers want to dress pregnant women to look like cows?!

I've come to the conclusion therefore that I need to draft my own patterns and sew them myself.