If you follow me on Instagram, you know the big news - my husband and I are expecting a baby! As first time parents, we have been in deep preparation mode lately and we are very excited to meet our sweet baby later this month. Definitely counting days till we meet our new family member!
When it comes to maternity wear, even before getting pregnant, I knew one thing - I won't be making "pregnancy" specific clothing, but rather focus on making clothing that I can wear after giving birth as well. Though it sounded like a challenge at first, turns out it was quite an easy to goal to accomplish, but it also meant shifting from my regular A-line shaped dresses (like this or this one) to different styles that I will share today. So, let's dive into My DIY Pregnancy Looks!
Click below to watch Youtube video or scroll down to see photos. Enjoy!
DIY Pregnancy Look #1: Burda Style "Plumetis" dress
The first dress that I made when I knew I was pregnant was this blue Burda Style dress, from their 04/19 magazine. I made this dress before (click here to see previous version) and it's such a beautiful design! The dress is super easy to sew and I get SO many compliments everytime I wear it! Only design change that I made was switching from fabric belt (that was suggested by the pattern) to elastic waist, to better fit my growing belly.
Click here for Burda Style Plumetis Dress 120 | 04/19 pattern; and click here for tutorial on how to make an elastic waist.
DIY Pregnancy Look #2: Pink rutched dress
This next dress was this beautiful bright pink colored dress, made using my own design. Fun fact: in the photo I am 5 months pregnant and the bump was quite visible already, but those gathers played sooo well in hiding it! Definitely a lovely make and that color really brings brightness to any day!
Click here for Gathered dress pattern tutorial.
DIY Pregnancy Look #3: Breezy summer dress
I made this dress when it was extremely hot weather and it was exactly the thing I needed! So breezy, so spacious - this dress was perfection for hot summer weather and that growing 6 months belly! This was made using my own design and it was a very quick and easy make. Plus, it did look gorgeous, didn't it? Really one of my favourite makes I made during pregnancy!
Click here for Breezy summer dress pattern tutorial.
DIY Pregnancy Look #4: Burda Style 09/2012 dress
At the end of 6th month, I was ready to announce that I am pregnant (or, in fact, it was getting too difficult to hide it, ha!). For the announcement on both my social media and office, I decided to sew this Burda Style dress from 09/2012 magazine. I had my eye for this pattern ever since its release almost a decade ago, and the time to make it finally arrived! The dress turned out beautifully (though I have to admit that the fabric played a huge role in entire look, too!).
Click here for Burda Style 09/2012 dress pattern.
DIY Pregnancy Look #5: Oversized self-drafted dress
Now this next look I didn't make during pregnancy, but it served me very well during this season of my life. I made it last year and wore it with the belt (photo on the right), and for the pregnancy I wore it without the belt, but with lots and lots of space to fit that growing 7-8 month belly. The dress is made using my own drafted pattern and though it was very easy to make, it did require a lot of fabric - those flowy gathers sure love fabric!
DIY Pregnancy Look #6: Fitted self-drafted dress
This next dress was also one of my self-drafted designs and honestly one of my favourite and most worn dresses during pregnancy. While I don't mind oversized patterns, a well fitted ones are closer to my heart, and this dress allowed me to feel very "me" even in later stages of pregnancy. This is also the only dress that I could call "maternity wear", as I did a special pattern hack, that turns any sewing pattern into a pregnancy-friendly one.
Click here for the pattern hack, which will allow to turn any sewing pattern into a maternity-friendly design.
DIY Pregnancy Look #7: Self-drafted dress from knit fabric
Even though I count myself as an experienced seamstress, from time to time I have sewing 'fails', too. This dress you see in the photos above are exactly that - a sewing fail. Don't get me wrong - I loved the design and the entire look of this dress, BUT I made a terrible fabric choice, which made this dress unwearable. I ordered this fabric online and when it arrived, it felt very synthetic, however I kept on making this dress, even though my gut was saying it's a bad move. Once I made the dress and put it on to take a few photos, I got such a heat flash, I knew I wouldn't be able to wear this dress anywhere. Well, lesson learned - I have to choose my fabrics better next time! Other than the fabric, I did like this design and might remake it later on.
DIY Pregnancy Look #8: Oversized dress from knit fabric
Doesn't this dress just scream "autumn"? Oversized design, knit wool fabric, soft mustard color - it doesn't get more autumn-friendly than this! Super easy design and can you believe this dress was made using only overlock? Definitely a great make to have in autumn-winter wardrobe!
Click here for Oversized dress from knit fabric pattern how-to.
DIY Pregnancy Look #9: Burda Style 10/2012 dress
One more oldie, but goodie Burda Style pattern - cowl neckline dress from their 10/2012 magazine. I made this dress before and I will make it again in the future - this pattern is just so so good! Only thing I need to warn about is that it runs quite big in the belly area - it fitted my 8 month pregnant belly without stretching the fabric, which means it's very spacious! Other than that, the pattern is great and timeless, so I definitely recommend having it in a pattern collection.
Click here for Burda Style 10/2012 dress pattern.
DIY Pregnancy Look #10: Burda Style 11/2012 dress
This last look that I made in the final stages of pregnancy, is again Burda Style - this dress is from their 11/2012 magazine (am I the only one who thinks year 2012 were amazing for Burda? they had so many great timeless patterns that year!). Once I saw this fabric, I knew it would go very well with this pattern and I was right! Definitely loving how this dress turned out and it will be great piece to wear during spring, too.
Click here for Burda Style 11/2012 dress pattern.
Thank you for reading my DIY pregnancy looks list! Which look did you like the most?
Best wishes,
Julie