I have been pretty AWOL lately, primarily because I am now 20 weeks pregnant, and I spent about a month and a half doing very little besides feeling awful and sleeping. I don’t remember this being an issue with my last pregnancy, but this time around I felt absolutely wretched throughout the first trimester, and in fact I’m still suffering from morning sickness and fatigue. I think this baby knows he’s the last one I plan to have and is intent on giving me the Full Pregnancy Experience.
I’m now more or less back in action, thanks in large part to Zomig, but I do get tired really easily, and so I’m basically no longer sewing on weeknights. I was discouraged that my first couple of attempts at returning to sewing were failures. I did something awful to an attempt at Vogue 9253 (which I’ve made before) and got rid of it. I also attempted a TATB Romy, and I have to say: that pattern has problems. I’d read other reviews that said the same thing, but thought, how bad could it be? Pretty bad, as it turns out. The back of the top is way, way too big, which turns out to look really weird, even if you pull the ties tight. My attempt was irrecoverable, so it has been consigned to Dora’s dress-up clothes. I’m actually kind of surprised they haven’t issued a revised version of the pattern, or even acknowledged the big problems.
It’s hard to know what to make when you’re pregnant. I can tell I’m showing, but to most people at this point I just look very bloated. I needed some long-ish t-shirts, so made myself a few Plantain tees, including a striped one from some kind of mystery knit I picked up at SAS Fabrics, which sells fabric by the pound. I really like this one: the knit is sort of heavyweight and very stable, which I find I like in covering my stomach.
I have also been making a lot of baby onesies, using the Brindille & Twig onesie pattern. (My first attempt was a disaster, but I’ve gotten quite good at applying ribbing!) Dora likes to come up with designs for them which I cut out with my Cricut.
The most significant thing I made recently is the famed Zadie jumpsuit. It was not super-challenging to sew; I don’t think I ran into any trouble, except that I only barely barely had enough fabric for it. I made a size 20, which I think is a U.S. size 16. I could have sized down, I think, and I definitely should have raised the crotch a good couple of inches. I saw that coming, since the pattern is designed for someone 5’8″, but lately my energy level is so low that I thought, if I don’t just cut this damn thing out, I’ll never actually get started.
On trying the jumpsuit on for the first time, I initially hated it, but it’s actually grown on me. It’s very voluminous! Especially around the hips and thighs. And the fit, as I mentioned, isn’t flawless. But it’s quite comfortable and in photos it looks better than I thought it did, so who knows. The one thing I really wish I’d done: make the tie longer. The pattern for the tie is the same length for all sizes, and while it does wrap around and tie at my size, I really wish it were longer. So heads-up to anyone cutting out the tie at the larger end of either of the size ranges!
I have been weirdly indecisive about what to make next. I have some really nice silk noil that I’d like to use for something, but I’m afraid to mess it up. And I really don’t know which patterns make sense for my weird body shape right now. Maybe something from the TATB Stretch book? Or a Plantain t-shirt dress? We’ll see!
