As you might know from the blog’s Facebook page, we have internet finally! I’m slowly getting back into the blogging habit, but it’s taking longer than I thought…sorry!

I made this dress a while ago to add to my maternity wardrobe. The pattern itself is not maternity, but the placement of the gathers and the use of knit fabric makes it comfy for my growing belly. I think the cross over on the front will also work for breastfeeding too which is a bonus!

I have used this pattern more than any other commercial pattern I have. I’ve made 4 dresses for myself with it and one for a friend. I’ve used ‘View A’ every time. Depending on your fabric choice you can make a casual or formal dress. I’ve made one with a stripy cotton stretch knit that is super casual I feel like I’m in a nightie all day, but another with a nice printed stretch poly that’s a bit dressier. It’s also knee length.

I’d highly recommend this pattern for anyone wanting to take on knits or make something for themselves. There aren’t a lot of pattern pieces and once you’ve done all the gathering it comes together pretty quickly. The pattern versions give you a lot of options so you could make a whole bunch of these without them being the same.

I couldn’t help myself, so I made a few changes along the way:
– I’m only 5’4″, so I took a bit off the length…probably 8″. It looks a bit short in the picture at the bottom, but for the version pictured I used a piece of fabric I already had and that was the most length I could get out of it.
– I left out the pockets. Because I made it as a maternity dress, I didn’t want the pockets gaping or stretching.
– The biggest change I made was to draft a new back piece. The back is more like a t-shirt on this version, whereas on the original version the back looks like the front with a cross over. I also did this on my casual version. (Picture bottom right)
– I also shortened the midriff band. In my other versions I left it at the original length, but I wanted the waist to be high on this so that it would sit over my belly.

Take a look at me wearing it with my 27 week belly. Every time I see a picture of myself I think I need to work on my terrible posture, so I sit up nice and straight for the rest of the afternoon, but by the next morning I forget. Anyone have any good tips to make me stand tall?

For more reviews on this pattern (and lots of others) check out patternreview.com. I always check there first before starting a pattern. It can save you a lot of headaches!

Linking up at Make it Wear it Thursday