It was totally a happy accident that one of the patterns we designed for our spring ’14 season works fabulously for maternity wear. When we started Snapdragon Studios last August, Paul and I had no idea that we’d be welcoming a new baby into our family this summer and Kim and I definitely didn’t design any of our patterns with a baby belly in mind.
Fast forward nine months, and I was already in my third trimester when we went to Quilt Market. It was a challenge deciding what to wear since we knew we wanted to show our designs as we went around talking to people there. I could still *just* fit my tummy into one of the Market Day Tunics, but otherwise it was the Summer Jazz all the way for me. Just for fun, I cut off one of our SJ dresses into a tunic length to wear with jeans or leggings, and I’ve finally gotten around to taking pictures to share with you.
Paul and I went on a date night Friday night to see a summer stock production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), and I had him snap these pictures before we left, so I’m considerably further along here than when I first wore the tunic. In retrospect, I wish I would’ve shaped the hem a bit more where it goes ove rmy belly instead of cutting it off straight, but at the time I was thinking that if I cut it straight it would still be long enough to cover and I would be able to wear it without any changes after having the baby.
To make it a tunic length, I shortened the dress length of the pattern by 4″ and hemmed it as usual. Here’s how I will do it if I’m ambitious enough to make one more before the baby arrives (unlikely, but just in case…). I’m a size M in a woven and size S in a knit, so I drew my dashed line for the medium size, but these proportions should work for any size.
Sorry about the terrible lighting for that picture, but hopefully you can see what I’m getting at. I should have come up 4″ on the side and only two inches at center front. You could cut the back skirt off straight across at 4″, but if you wanted to be kinda cute you could also curve the back hem this way and then when you’re not pregnant anymore you’ll have a fun tunic with a shirt-tail hem.
The Summer Jazz as a maternity top is super comfortable and I’ve gotten lots of compliments on it, which makes it a win in my book.
Don’t forget to keep watching the blog and Facebook for our baby announcement and the opening of the quilt giveaway! T-2 weeks (or less! gulp!) and counting!
-Elizabeth
Snapdragon Studios 