Sewing for TWO ... (Burda 7739)

Hello young lovers!

You may or may not have noticed that I have been a little absent from the blogging world as of late.

There's a reason.

I've been spending the bulk of my sewing time sleeping, eating for Australia, fighting nausea, growing pimples (apparently I'm going through puberty at 30) and feeling a bit fuzzy in the head.

No I'm not sick ... (or going through puberty)

I'm pregnant!

That's right, Robin and I are high-fiving each other (and strangers - awkward) on a daily basis  and we're ridiculously excited. Though I think Robin's convinced that I'm going to give birth to a sewing machine instead of a human.

I'm currently 19 weeks pregnant and I'm finally starting to get my energy and creative drive back.

I think that Ms. Oona Balloona was onto something with her theory that our creativity peak correlates to when we ovulate. A fabulously interesting blog post. Seeing as my ovaries have gone into hibernation for nine months and my bossy hormones have kicked in, my creative quality was about level with a kindergartener doing finger painting. With their eyes closed. Without any fingers.

But as the draining first trimester is fading away in the distance, I am finding my back up reserve in creative skills and getting back into the sewing room. Oh Lordy!

And so here is my latest dress with the assistance of Butterick 7739.

The shapes and dresses that I usually make are made to accentuate my small waist. Now that my waist is expanding on a daily basis I am faced with a bit of a problem. What the #$% am I going to make?

Hello empire waist lines! This Burda pattern is not a maternity pattern but works perfectly for a tummy that is starting to resemble a house. In fact I've made a dress with this pattern before. Remember this dress?

This time I made the dress in a thick wool crepe that I purchased from Mood Fabrics on my recent trip to New York. I love sewing with wool crepe. It's like crack cocaine for my sewing machine; Janome just loves it.

I love the simple vintage signatures of this dress with the peter pan collar.

I added a rick-rack trim to the border of the collar and the skirt hem for a little bit of cutesy-ness. And let's be honest, who doesn't love blue and white together. It adds a bit of the nautical to the look. I added a gorgeous brooch to the dress, given to me by the wonderful Ruemiraldi store which compliments the vintage look nicely.

Sewing a garment again is like a breath of fresh air for me. It's so nice to be back in the sewing room! This dress also gives me confidence that just because I am cooking a sweet little baby in my belly, I don't have to compromise on my vintage style.