DIY Maternity

I really hate maternity clothes.  Don't get me wrong- they're way more comfortable than the alternative, but the cute factor usually isn't there.  I mean, unless you want to spend an arm and a leg getting new clothes for a few months.  There are some really nice maternity clothes out there- I just can't justify hundreds of dollars on them.  So what's a girl to do? 

Well, make your own of course!  I have already decided that sewing a whole new wardrobe from scratch is not going to be good for my patience or stress level.  My sewing machine skills are fairly basic, which I'd like to change at some point, but I'll have to work with what I have for now. 

So here was my plan: find stylish clothes that are a bit big in non-pregnancy life and turn them into maternity clothes!  I thought I was so crafty thinking of this, but it turns out many other women have done the same thing and even written out directions.  I'd like to introduce my new favorite tutorial website, DIY Maternity.  Not only are there step-by-step instructions for many cute clothing items, but there are awesome pictures so if you are more visual (like me) you can actually see how it's done! 

I got my sewing machine back from the repair shop (yay!) and I decided to put it to the test.  Here are some pictures of clothes that I altered:

Skirt Numero Uno: This is a skirt from Loft, and I loved the black and white damask.  It was 3 sizes too big, so I just took off the waistband with my handy seam ripper and sewed elastic in its place.  I also took the pleating out because I didn't like the way it looked as a maternity skirt.  Like my hips need help looking larger these days.  So now, it's a regular cute maternity skirt!  It took me about 1 hour to do this, although it was my first one, and ripping out the pleating make it considerably more time-consuming.  Cost: $4 for elastic and skirt at Goodwill.


 

Here are some "after" pictures of other clothes I altered:

Silk Skirt: Loft, just took out waistband and added elastic.  Cost: $10 for elastic and skirt at Goodwill.

Jeans: Loft, took out waistband and belt loops and added elastic.  Cost: $7 for elastic and jeans at Clothes Mentor.

Jersey Skirt: I literally took scissors to the bottom of it- it was floor-length before.  I sewed a hem along the bottom, and voila!  Cost: free. 

Khaki capris: Loft, I removed the waistband and sewed in elastic.  (Anyone see a pattern here?) Cost: $4 for elastic and capris at Goodwill.

 

I'd post a tutorial, but they're already on DIY Maternity (link above).  I'm just showing you how well they actually work.  If I can do it, you sure can.