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Super comfortable skirt |
Although I was nowhere near large enough to show when we left London, I packed a couple of bits of clothing I could alter in my luggage as I knew I was likely to outgrow my trousers before our goods arrived in January.
I figured I'd rent a sewing machine for a week or something once we arrived in Melbourne.
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Alterations complete |
In Brisbane I was at a bit of a loose end during the day - our hosts were working/in school and Mr Duncan was also working all day from a little desk in our guest room. While we were there, another friend gave me a few hand me downs in anticipation of my growing form so I took the opportunity to blow the dust off the eldest daughter's sewing machine (she's at university in Canada) and set to the task of making some maternity alterations.
I altered my cargo pants
as previously planned following these extremely
easy-to-follow instructions for maternity pants. The waistband turned out to be fairly loose - still okay as the elastic in the original hem holds them up, and they'll fit perfectly once I start getting bigger and wearing the waistband unfolded, but I decided I needed to use something much tighter for the waistband for my denim skirt conversion.
I had a look around the local charity shops and found the perfect thing for just two dollars which is a lot less than buying the fabric. It was very tight on me and two-way stretchy, without a seam. I fell across a pair of commercially made maternity jeans in the same shop which fit me perfectly so I snapped them up for ten dollars as well. I altered these using the same method.
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Before: skirt and way-too-tight tank top |
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After |
I had some of the tank-top fabric left over, so I doubled it over and used it to make a waistband and turn a comfortable old dress (which had become too frayed and out of shape to wear) into a skirt.
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Dress |
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Gather and pin to the new waistband |
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Floaty skirt with room to grow |
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Too-big tunic |
The last piece I altered was given to me by our friend. A large tunic-type top in a fabulous blue. It was just too wide for my frame (and indeed, for my friend's which is why she was passing it along).
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Amazing what one piece of elastic can do |
My plan was to bring in the neckline while retaining the fullness by using pin tucks per
this T-shirt to pin-tuck tunic tutorial but once I had it pinned and tried it on, I realised it would mess up the existing neckline - and I didn't want to cut a new neckline as it was already huge on my shoulders.
Instead I adapted the
Deep Vee Nursing Tunic tutorial and simply gave it a princess waistline by using elastic to gather in the fullness.
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Ready to grow into |
Some of the pics of me in the altered clothing show a bit of a bump (though mostly just bloating at 12 weeks) so I've put them
here.
These items will do me for now, indeed I practically live in that denim skirt, but when my sewing machine arrives I have plans for some more alterations to accommodate a larger belly.
I love your alternations! So cute and creative. I might have to borrow some of these ideas if I'm lucky enough to get to the point of needing maternity clothes.
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