Knocked Up: The Multi-Purpose dress of blahness

First off, I’m 27 weeks today.  Woot!  13ish to go.

After a couple of tops, I’ve finally made a maternity dress!  A maternity dress that also is supposed to conveniently double as a nursing dress, thus the post title.  It’s Simplicity 1469, AKA Megan Nielsen’s nursing top:

I think it will get some wear, but I’m not overly excited about how it turned out.  It feels…blah.

First things first:  the fabric.  I mentioned in my planning post that I bought this at a “coupon” (only pre-measured cuts of fabric are sold) fabric shop in Paris on our honeymoon.  I’m unsure of the exact fiber content, but I’m guessing it’s cotton with possibly a bit of poly and definitely some spandex.  It was CHEAP, and honestly, it shows (you can see right through it if you stretch it enough!).  LOL.  And all I can think now is:  WHY DID I BUY CHEAPASS FABRIC WHEN WE ONLY TOOK BACKPACKS FOR LUGGAGE ON OUR HONEYMOON?  The space this fabric took up was worth its weight in gold.  Though, I know the answer:  I bought cheapass fabric because I’m a cheapass.  Yup.  Le sigh.

So unflattering, but it was windy and the best back shot.

Anywho, my fabric was only about 40″ wide, and I ended up effectively using the whole 3 meters.  I say effectively because I cannot see myself wanting to make anything out of the 1/3 (1/2?) yard that is left.

As for the pattern:  I agonized over whether I should make a small or a medium.  The finished bust measurement for the small just seemed like too much negative ease, and I thought about using smaller seam allowances, but decided against them.  I made a medium.  Bad choice.

And in hindsight I knew it would be a bad choice when I realized with the wrap top I made, also a Megan Nielsen for Simplicity pattern, was really too wide across my back.  Oops.

So, I cut a medium with no alterations and sewed ‘er on up, and this dress was HUGE on me.  Mr. 5 told me I would grow into it.  I sure fucking hope not!  In an effort to make it fit in some manner, I decided to just take it in on the sides and in the sleeves (and ended up doing so to the tune of about 4″ total!  DANG!); if I had done it right, I would’ve removed the sleeves and made the shoulders and upper chest fit as well.  It looks pretty funky up yonder as is, but I feel like it’s sort of passable and I will wear it some.

And because the fabric is so thin, you can see the nursing access, which I coverstitched, through the dress.  This was even true when it was in its huge state.  Sad.

So, not a total win, but a learning experience.  I am making it in top form for PR’s Wardrobe Contest, and these are the changes I’ll be making:

1.  Cutting a small instead of a medium

2.  Only serging the inner part of the nursing access panel so it hopefully will not show through as much

3.  Reinforcing the neckline so it doesn’t completely stretch out over time (but is still able to stretch as it needs to).  I can already see with the dress that it’s going to look horrible if I actually try to use it to nurse.  I’m thinking about threading elastic through the small space left between the coverstitching and neckline OR sewing it on whilst coverstitching.  What do you guys think of these ideas?  What have you done that has worked well?

With these changes, I’m confident that my next one should work out pretty well!  I also wanted to add that I’m surprised at how well this dress fits my bust (which, I don’t even know how big it is now…it’s just kind of scary) without an FBA.  So, that’s a definite plus in my book!