Tag: Minerva

Pattern Testing – Helene Selvedge Jeans

Pattern Testing – Helene Selvedge Jeans

The Helene Selvedge Jeans pattern has been a long awaited one. Over lockdown I watched Anna Allen’s Instagram posts closely as she shared pair after pair of amazing jeans, she was making herself. I knew she was planning to release them, but as usual wanted 

SUNNY HAT BY TWIG AND TALE, THE MAKING PROCESS AND PATTERN REVIEW

SUNNY HAT BY TWIG AND TALE, THE MAKING PROCESS AND PATTERN REVIEW

To get myself back into sewing again I needed a quick project, I chose the Twig and Tale Sunny Hat. It’s been a while since I’ve sewn anything, with a new baby I’ve been quite busy. She has just started napping for longer periods of 

How to Trace a Pattern, Copying A Ready to Wear Maternity Dress

How to Trace a Pattern, Copying A Ready to Wear Maternity Dress

Versatile maternity clothing, I’m really running low on this. I’m currently shuffling through two to three dresses on rotation. Quite a few of them aren’t weather appropriate but they fit and that’s a win for me. But I definitely needed another maternity dress.

Choosing a Dress

I’ve started digging deep through my drawers to find forgotten clothes, that’s when I found a really old, fast fashion jersey dress. It’s so stretchy and comfy that it became a new favourite. As soon as I saw this beautiful Meet Milk Tencel jersey I knew what I had to do. Make a copy of that dress and make it quickly!

Tracing a pattern from ready to wear dress

As this fabric is a loose rib it has plenty of stretch, perfect for my growing bump. The sustainable Tencel is also brilliant as it creates a lovely drape so it hugs my shape without being skin tight. The colour! That was another issue, the colours available in this fabric are all so lovely. I narrowed it down to 3, and after making this dress I think I need to order the other colour ways!

Ruby rose in a field wearing maternity dress

Tracing the Pattern

I started by making the pattern for my maternity dress, it’s a really simple shape, just one simple column with neck and arm bands. As the dress is symmetrical and fairly simple, I realised I could trace this pattern on the fold. I folded my original dress lengthways and traced it onto dot and cross paper. I did this by simply lying flat and then drawing round the rough shape of the dress. After this I moved the dress and tidied up the lines. Using my pattern master and a long ruler I was able to get smooth curves and straight lines. Using this pattern piece, for both the front and back of the dress. Not forgetting to add seam allowance, I added 1cm to the side seams.

Cutting out pattern onto jersey fabric

Remember to check the traced pattern measuremenst against the measuremnets of the original garment as you go along. I then adjusted the neckline for front and back. The dress is high neck, but not the same both sides. I slightly lowered it at the front and checked by measuring the neckline of the original dress I was tracing. After that it was as simple as cutting out the pattern onto the meet milk tencel rib.

Pinning neckline of maternity dress

Sewing my Maternity Dress

As I don’t have a cover stitch machine, I usually go for bands in self fabrics to finish the neck and arms. It ends up looking more professional than a folded over hemmed seam. For the neck and arm bands I needed to calculate the band measurements. I’m sure there is a mathematical technique for this, but I usually just measure hole and then take a few cm off to allow it to stretch and lay flat.

I made the entire maternity dress on the overlocker, so it was super quick to do. With pattern to complete dress in about 2 hours. I used a zig zag for the hem, and as I don’t have a walking foot it’s not the neatest. But after a good press it looks fine.

Ribbed band on necline of maternity dress

I am beyond thrilled with my dress and it’s become a firm favourite, I’m hoping that due to the stretch and drape I’ll be able to wear it after I’ve given birth too!

What do you think? Do you love a simple dress?

You can check out more of my maternity projects:

Maternity leggings

Maternity hack on the Bodie Dress by Aware Collection

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Ruby


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Making my own Maternity dress with a self drafted pattern

Making my own Maternity dress with a self drafted pattern

Choosing a Fabric As soon as I saw this amazing Mind the Maker dot fabric at Minerva I fell in love. Even better it is sustainable organic Ecovero viscose, so much better for the environment than regular viscose. Ecovero is similar Tencel fabric is made 

Sewing Self-Drafted Dress

Sewing Self-Drafted Dress

I thought today I would share one of my favourite and definitely most popular makes to date. This is a self-drafted dress I made in collaboration with Minerva. This was my first make for Minerva who kindly gifted me the fabric in exchange for a