Mini Post Partum Capsule Wardrobe

With my pregnancy nearing the end (maybe by the time you read this, I will have had the baby), I decided to make a small post partum capsule wardrobe. Because I don´t fit into them yet, I´ve used my mannequin as a stand in.

The clothes I was going to make had to be:

• warm
• comfortable
• adapted to weight fluctuations
• nursing friendly

Solution: STRETCH!

Project 1: Skirts!

I made some sweaterknit skirts for the munchkin as part of her Christmas present and not so secretly, I was totally jealous of them. I wanted to make some for myself but seeing as I didn´t find a suitable pattern I decided to draft (or rather pattern hack) it myself.

I used Grainline´s Moss skirt as a base but lengthened the short version by 2¨, I left off the pockets, cut the front and back on the fold and added 2¨ at the top so I could add a fold over elastic waistband… So basically I changed it all, but it was nice having a TNT to use as a base for length and width.

Ever since I discovered Ottobre patterns, I´ve been in love with the circular pockets they do. I wanted similar pockets for my skirt, so I drafted these myself. (I got an Ottobre subscription for Christmas and I LOVE it)

Result: 1 raspberry coloured en 1 navy blue skirt for myself. The sweaterknit I used totally fits the bill. I´ve been using this range of sweaterknits for months ever since I found it at my local fabric store. I bought it in nearly every colour they have and I love the fact that it looks like a solid from afar but it has these little coloured flecks which makes it a lot more interesting!

Project 2: Pants!

I hate jeans. I love denim though and have several yards in my stash but I´ve never found wearing jeans particularly comfortable. Also making pants is hard on the best of days, so I wasn´t even going to try making a pair without knowing what my hips are going to do after giving birth 😉

 

But jeans are the ultimate neutral basic so I kept coming back to it. I finally went stash shopping to see if it could give me some inspiration and it did! I found this really lovely stretch denim. It´s quite heavy but drapey at the same time with about 40% stretch. It was perfect for a pair of secret pyjamas. I chose to make the Hudson Pants by True Bias because I made one early on in my pregnancy and I´ve been wearing that thing non-stop!

This time, I didn´t do any pregnancy alterations, omitted the cuffs and added 6¨ to the pants legs. I used yellow topstitching thread to add some jeans details and I really like the outcome!

Result: This is the most comfortable pair of ¨jeans¨ ever. If I fold down the waistband I could wear them already, but I feel the need to save them so I have something new to wear after the baby´s born. After consulting IG, I decided to leave them long so I can wear them rolled up with a cuff or fold them to the inside so they look hemmed.

Project 3: T-shirts!

Nice, easy tops are key when breastfeeding. There weren´t any RTW nursing tops or patterns that I liked however. They all looked so … boring and practical 😀

I wanted some new t-shirts which had a relaxed fit but with a bit of waist shaping. They needed had a low enough neckline and enough stretch recovery so I could just pull down the neckline to nurse. Before my pregnancy I had been experimenting with drafting my own t-shirt pattern and it was perfect for this. Made up in a nice drapey viscose/rayon knit, it looks flattering and is practical at the same time. I shopped the stash once again and went to work.

All three t-shirts are made with the same pattern, the only difference being that I used my serger to attach the neckline and armbands of the arrow shirt. I did this because the arrow shirt is a slightly thicker cotton knit and it could handle the weight of the serged seams. The viscose knits were too drapey and the serged seam distorted the necklines. So I just used a zigzag stitch instead.

I used wash away wondertape on all three to do the hems and I love it, no more tunneling when using a twin needle! They might be a tad long but my original shirt was slightly too short. I added enought length to be sure it was long enough and figured I can always shorten them if necessary.

Result: In love! They match the bottom pieces I made perfectly and they coordinate nicely with my sweaters and cardigans. Because they are loose and have short sleeves I´ll even be able to wear these during the (hopefully) warm Summer months.

 

 

I hope to get some pictures of me actually modelling this stuff but I´m not making any promises!

Until next time!