i ended up buying gown material in 3 different flannel prints.
in my defense, that particular section of goods was 50% off and, let's be honest here, who doesn't want options while in labor? if i'm going to be subjected to hours of pain and bodily malformation, i would like to have a say in at least a few things.
so i chose materials based on the possible mood i might be in while wearing them.
if i'm feeling cheerful, excited, or just plain loud, this is the print i'll be showcasing around my soon-to-be-missing baby bump:
if i'm all sentimental and weepy, this will be the winner:
and if i'm feeling beautiful and glowy and divinely in touch with my feminine powers of birthing, this:
if i am a miserable screaming woman, i may just opt for a drab hospital issued gown that i will later rip to shreds in a rage of fury.
there wasn't enough of the fancy shmansy material left for an entire gown unless i wanted my classy look to include half of my thigh, so i found matching solid navy and had to piece together top and bottom pieces.
i knew that having to combine two materials would take more time and put my very limited skills to the test which is why i chose to do this gown first-- i knew all of the excitement about starting the project would carry me through to the end!
i was right! it DID carry me through!! and i love the result! the collar is a bit quaker-ish and tight, but i wanted to be sure that it wasn't too loose so i wouldn't have to worry about accidental lady-part exposure during picture time. i modified this gown quite a bit from the original pattern-- aside from the top being a different material from the bottom, i made the sleeves tighter, the neckline tighter, added ribbon trim to the collar instead of a plain hem, used snaps to close the shoulder and the back, added belt loops under both sleeves, and will be using ribbon to keep the whole thing looking fitted and pretty :)
the snaps are pearl-front hammer-snaps (so SO easy! SOOOOOOO easy!). i placed the inside snap (the bottom part that you don't see) about 1-2 inches over from the hem so that when the gown is snapped shut there's a nice little panel of extra material to block any view of my backside from sneaking through holes!
and this lil' beauty is a sort of prototype of the hairpiece that will go with the dress. jp kindly ruined a lace drape that i had in the kitchen a few days ago. my sewing machine is much too rough to be trusted to sew delicate lace, so i set the material aside to give my brain a few days to come up with a possible re-purposing project.
i should mention that i bought this set of drapes for $6 at a garage sale. and they are beautiful. and huge. and because of that i am determined not to let them go to waste!
thankfully, i won't have to! there is a row of these flower/leaf embroideries on each drape, so i decided to cut one of them out and see how it would look.
i'm both impressed and pleased with myself, yes.
my plan is to glue the lacy flower to a swatch of the same printed material i used on the fancy gown, and then iron that set-up on to a piece of interfacing for a bit more stability (i just discovered interfacing on my trip to joanns. it may change my life). once that's all said and done i will attach 3-4 hairclips to various points so i can use the hair piece to pull back more than one section of my hair and keep it firmly in place, all while looking uber classy.
again, the hospital gown pattern came from www.lazygirldesigns.com and was totally free! you print it out at home on plain old 8.5x11 computer paper and then tape it together. and you can give a donation for use of the pattern which i think is great :)
No comments:
Post a Comment