DIY maternity

the button up refashion swap!

Meg — Thu, 17 May 2012 23:21:05 +0000

You guys it’s Meg! Did you miss me? I bet you’ve been really enjoying all of Lizzie’s fantastic maternity tutorials! Just popping in today because I have such a fun project to share with you!

Two of my favourite crafty ladies, Miranda and Melissa came up with the fun idea a little while ago of doing a button up shirt refashion swap. The basic idea being that a group of bloggers get together, take a boring button up shirt, and remake it into something super cute for another lady. I was super excited when I was allocated Lizzie to create something for – she’s adorably pregnant, and our current guest contributor here on DIYM! With my line of maternity patterns and this blog, I obviously have a real passion for designing things for baby bumps – it was kind of a match made in heaven! I was also really excited to find out that Mim would be making something for me – we’ve worked together before on a tutorial for DIY Maternity (back when she was preggers) and she is a really talented seamstress. Honestly this whole thing was so fun – i just wish it hadn’t all fallen over my move, but such is life!!

Want to see what I made??

I honestly cannot wait to see how it looks on Lizzie! It took all of my self control to refrain from adding a peter pan collar hehehe. I wanted to make something comfortable and practical but still a bit tailored – and obviously i wanted something that would suit Liz. I included a lot of my favourite maternity details – and the great news is there is a tutorial at the end of this post so you can make one of your own!

There are some really amazing ladies involved in this!!

Jennifer of Grainline Studio (see the top Jen made!)
Krista of Lazy Saturdays (see the skirt Krista made!)
Liz of Cotton & Curls (See the top Lizzie made!)
Megan of Megan Nielsen Designs (that’s me!)
Melissa of I Still Love You (See the maternity top Melissa made!)
Miranda of One Little Minute (see the dress Miranda made)
Miriam of MadMim (see the top Mim made for me!)
Kate of See Kate Sew (see the jumper dress Kate made)
Sunni of A Fashionable Stitch (see the top Sunni made!)
Suzannah of Adventures in Dressmaking (see the dress Suzannah made!)

Today we are all sharing tutorials for how to make the item we made for another lady – and then next we’ll be having a “blog hop” to share the tops that were made for us! So don’t forget to follow the links above to see the tutorials for all the other tops that were made! So fun right?

Here is the blog hop schedule for next week:

Monday, May 21st: Lizzie of Cotton & Curls, Krista of Lazy Saturdays
Tuesday, May 22nd: Sunni of A Fashionable Stitch, Kate of See Kate Sew
Wednesday, May 23rd: Suzannah of Adventures in Dressmaking, Miranda of One Little
Minute
Thursday, May 24th:Miriam of MadMim, Melissa of I Still Love You
Friday, May 25th: Megan of Megan Nielsen Design, Jennifer of Grainline Studio

Okie dokie – that was a mouthful!! Ready to see how i made Lizzies maternity top? Instructions below!

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Very gathered A-line maternity skirt

Liz — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:34:13 +0000

top/sunglasses: f21 skirt: self-made shoes: steve madden

Sarah Jane, amazing illustrator, makes fabric patterns and prints and asked me to make a very gathered a-line skirt for her! And of course I couldn’t resist, especially when I saw her amazing anchor fabric she illustrated. This skirt is super easy and happens to be an amazing maternity skirt and non-maternity skirt (Sarah is not prego!) due to the elastic and the intense gathering. It has the illusion that there is a zipper from the front with the flat waistband. I really think this is my favorite way to make a waist band now.

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Maternity style (and comfort): leggings and pants

Liz — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:03:13 +0000

purple leggings: oasap

I’m loving all the fun colors and patterns that leggings and maternity pants come in this year! And let me say, leggings are a pregnant girl’s best friend. They are SO dang comfy! Be adventurous this Summer and buy some crazy pants or leggings….who says you can’t look trendy and fun too. Don’t let that big belly get in the way! Go for the tribal, animal, neon, floral, polka dot, rubbery, or just colored leggings look(make it a fun color). Did I mention you will be comfortable and stylin’?

And that goes for you non-prego women too of course :)

via asos

Megan Nielsen’s Rie top cropped in gingham

Liz — Mon, 07 May 2012 15:30:49 +0000

top: self-made with MN pattern pants: crane shoes: steve madden bow necklace: oasap

Oh how I miss crop tops, the don’t really hit the pregnant women in the right way. So this was my take on it and I LOVE how it turned out. I don’t even mind my belly sticking out a little. And I’m excited to wear it when I don’t have a belly. This was made from one of the lovely Megan Nielsen’s maternity patterns, the Rie dress or top. I just made it a little shorter and widened the neckline a bit. Thinking back to last pregnancy, I had given up by then. I would wear oversized tee shirts and black leggings or yoga pants everyday, looking like an old man with a quite the impressive gut. Man, was I attractive.

Turn an oversized sweater into a maternity top tutorial

Liz — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:14:52 +0000

I love how this turned out….just grab an oversized sweater from the thrift store (or your husband’s closet) and take a little out in the upper area, leaving the belly area oversized. Well, unless you have a REALLY big sweater, then downsize it down there too.

Thanks Meta for taking the pics…check her out, she is AMAZING! onemoremushroom on instagram.

Check out the before picture and instructions below.

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Maternity top with elastic waistband tutorial

Liz — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:02:35 +0000

I finally popped this top on, not sure if it would fit over my ever growing belly….and luckily it does! WAHOO! Another top I can wear and feel comfy in. Love when that happens. People still ask me how I made this top, and I realized today that I have made 2 almost exact tutorials for this top. And now you know this will work for when you are prego! Here is the from scratch tutorial (take out the peter pan collar and shorten it) and the refashion tutorial - I combined them to make it easier below. SO easy and flattering….pregnant or not!

If you want to check this out when I’m without child, here is the non maternity version.
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Made Megan Nielsen’s ruched shirt pattern with a floral touch

Liz — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:35:41 +0000

Hi gals! Lizzie here from cotton & curls….I’ve always had a hard time purchasing maternity clothes because of two things; the fit and the lack of creativity. That is why making maternity clothes is SO much better than purchasing them!! You can customize – make smaller or bigger, make lower or higher or what have you. For me….I wanted some floral flare and with Megan Nielsen’s ruched maternity pattern, I was set to have a darling top. It only required 3 pieces and a few instructions, easier than I thought! Hmmmm….wouldn’t it be cute as a dress too?

pants: thrifted top: self-made MN patterns shoes: toms

My first post and a maternity dress!

Liz — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:38:16 +0000

Hello ladies! I’m Lizzie over at Cotton and Curls, and I’m SO excited to be a contributor over here at DIY Maternity! I know how frustrating it can be to clothe a prego body, even at little (feeling very big) 26 weeks, and I’m just here to help with that frustration! I hope over the next 4 months or so I will give you some ideas and inspiration to look like a HOT momma – my first pregnancy, I wore sweat pants and an over sized tee the entire time, so hopefully I can help myself too.

Sometimes I just get sick of settling for a black long maxi skirt after trying on ten dress/skirts every sunday. Nothing non-pregnant fits over my massive belly. Who knew I owned and refashioned so many dang pencil skirts. Anyway, thus this striped knit tapered dress was created…with the goal to fit my growing belly and to wear with my non-prego belly (though I may have to take it in a little).

SUPPLIES:

2 yards knit fabric

knit top you like the fit off

elastic

scissors

sewing machine

thread

*optional – serger

INSTRUCTIONS:(...)
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DIY pregnancy photo series ideas

Meg — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 19:13:44 +0000

I really really love it when people create photo series to capture their pregnancy. I feel like every time i look around i see an even cuter idea for a pregnancy photoshoot!

Are you as obsessed with Pinterest as i am?? I started a little DIYMaternity pin board a while ago to start compiling cool maternity related stuff i find on the web – and started realising how many photo series i was pinning. Then I realised that there are some really awesome ideas there for DIY pregnancy photoshoots! Here are some of favourite maternity photo series from the interwebs:

My very very very favourite is Miranda, with her AMAZING maternity calendar tshirt. I want to copy this idea like no-bodies business! You should honestly check out the whole series here – and maybe recreate it yourself by making your own shirt, or purchasing one of the ones she sells.

I just adore my dear friend Jen‘s photo series (more detail shots here). I feel like it’s such a personal one – and the photography by her husband Kev is simply stunning. And now that their daughter is a toddler they got those pictures made into a gorgeous photobook.

This series from Pacing the Panic room is also just rad. Seriously, coolest pregnant girl ever right?? I love how she included a little letter to baby in each picture – what a wonderful memory!

Oh yeah, this is another by Miranda – but it’s so awesome i had to share. She took all the outtakes from her Project Baby calendar shirt project, and made this precious video. I just LOVE it! Watch it, you will cry – i know i did :)

I love the simplicity of this series – i think it’s great because there are no distractions just a nice plain backdrop so you can see the belly grow each week. Its a lot like what I did when i was pregnant with my kids!!

Another great one showing the growth of the baby bump. I’m really drawn to how pretty it is – but once again it’s also really great documentation because the backdrop and outfit stay the same each time. Click through to see the full series of photos.

This one by Peanut Gallery is also totally cool – I really love how she is in the same position in each picture so you can see the bump grow, but she also gives some cute stats on where she is at each week. It’s gorgeous!

Also so in love with this food pregnancy series. Each week she took a photo with a food that was the same size as her baby. I think it’s so unusual and fun, and shows such an awesome sense of humour!! You can see all the photos here.

And I think i’m gonna end with this amazing one by the Kissing Tree. Another super cool momma who I totally want to be. Seriously, that hair? she is too cool. See the rest of the weeks here.

So what about you? Do you think you’ll do a pregnancy photo series??

Introducing Liz! DIYM’s new guest contributor

Meg — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 02:25:12 +0000

I am so so excited to introduce you all to the gorgeous and incredibly talented Liz of Cotton and Curls. Liz is going to be regularly posting here on DIYMaternity over her pregnancy – and I’m excited to see what she has to share with us!

Liz has been blogging since 2010 – and has created a really wonderful collection of tutorials on her blog that reflect her wonderful sense of style. She has a totally adorable little boy and is now expecting another little boy- which has expanded her sewing into the realm of all things maternity. So exciting!

I really hope you enjoy all the wonderful projects she’ll be sharing here over the next few weeks! I know i certainly can’t wait to see what she has up her sleeves!

So till then, pop on over to Cotton and Curls and having a look around!