Take this pink button down shirt, for instance. It is not the worst thing I have ever seen (although it seriously needs a good press), but it isn't exactly flattering either.
I took out the collar (because I don't like wearing collars in general), shortened the sleeves, and added a bit of elastic to the front to give it a better fit. I still can't say this is my favorite maternity shirt ever, but it is much more likely to make it into the rotation (ironing really makes a difference, huh?). :)
100 comments:
I'm so happy you are having another baby:)
nice, Jill. Wish I had short sleeve winter shirts to wear!
Congrats!!! The shirt turned out super cute!
Congratulations! You are almost halfway done...
The shirt is very cute, it will be perfect for a hot summer pregnancy.
I am 34 weeks pregnant and happily looking forward to getting rid of my maternity clothes. I hate wearing them!
very cute!!!!
super cute!
I think it looks great and comfortable, and, hey, that is essential. At least it will get 12 more weeks of wear before you hate and want to burn it. AND, you don't look 18 weeks at all. Where is the time going?
Way cute, much better and CONGRATULATIONS!
Erin McMilon
First
CONGRATS!!!! lovely pregnancy
Second
You are just a genius! I live in Costa Rica and something like thath fit ALWAYS in my wardrove
Just love it!
Oh, my gosh!!! I was JUST thinking of doing this yesterday! No kidding! I am also 18 weeks, and on my 4th pregnancy...my wardrobe isn't any spiffy-er the 4th go around, and my budget is (still) tight so I was looking for ways to spiff up what I had. :) Glad to see it works!!! I have MANY shirts like this (because I like button-down-collard shirts) that could use a facelift! THANKS A TON!
P.S. You look SO cute and tiny! Congrats, again!
Congratulations! Keep the maternity refashions coming! You are so creative, I love your blog! I am 20 weeks pregnant and third time around my maternity clothes need a lot of help :)
Congratulations Jill! I think the alterations make the shirt 100% better. Can't wait to see what adorable munchkin you make this time: a boy or a girl! ♥
i think the refashion looks great! and congrats!
I'm in the same boat! I'm 14 weeks, and my old maternity things don't look appealing at all. I love the refashion. Keep them coming :) I'd love to see more! My only constructive feed back is to maybe add a snap in between the middle buttons, so you're not dealing with a gap issue. here's another tute I've found: http://www.instructables.com/id/How_to_Make_Maternity_Jeans_Using_Regular_Jeans_an/
Congrats!
Congrats! You looks fabulous for being 18 weeks! I LOVE the refashion. Gives me some great ideas. How did you do the collar? Anything fancy or was it pretty straight forward?
I love it. It looks great
oh wow! congrats!!! that's really amazing. The shirt is really spiffy, too! I really hated ALL my maternity clothes
Thanks, guys!
Anna - the collar was super easy. I used my seam ripper to open up the collar seam, took out the top part, and then sewed the remaining collar back up.
Cute cute cute! And congrats!
Congratulations!!!
And I love your refashion!
If you're game for trying to sew a top from scratch, I had good luck with this pattern:
http://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bin/patterns/sewingpatterns.pl?patternid=16369
You can see my comments and a photo of the finished product here:
http://mamasmiles.com/?p=221
Congrats! That is a great refashion. You look great!
Congratulations!!!
What a nice shirt! I am very new to sewing and your blog has been such an inspiration!
Congrats!
Your refashion is super cute.
The elastic was a good idea.
The most useful maternity sewing I did was making some jeans that actually fit into maternity pants by adding an elastic waistband. I linked to the tutorials I used on my blog: http://swishina.blogspot.com/search/label/Sewing%3A%20Maternity
Awesome, the ultimate homemade by jill product- babies!
I like the elastic idea. I really, really hate maternity clothes of any kind so I don't have any great ideas. I did, however, just finish a dress that could easily be altered for maternity. But goodness, I hope it is a while longer before I hate to think about that :)
Nice job on the shirt refashion. It is a lovely improvement and more flattering the way you wear it. Congrats on your arrival to come. Before baby #2 comes I would CRAFT like crazy. I had my second child a year ago and have been craft deprived since. With my first, I used make so many things and now not so much. Now all I am able to accomplish is checking other blogs to see what everyone else is creating. But it could just be me. Everyone has different capacities so hopefully you have more time to craft than myself. Love your blog. Thank you for sharing your wonderful talents.
Congrats on the pregnancy. I love what you have done with the shirt. I find velvet ribbon looks great as a trim on things when I am re-fashioning. Or even applique additions. It tends to just make things that little bit different.
What happy news! Now you'll be extra happy for that dishwasher! Maternity clothes are a disaster. For my last one, however, I found they had added some nice details in the latest stuff. My favorite was a thin bias tape tie that was built into the blouse just under the bust and tied in back. . It gave me a little pseudo waist that helped my spirits.
I love that you took the collar out! I need to figure that trick out.
I haven't re-purposed but I did make a ton of skirts with fun fabric and old tank tops.
http://bettycrockerass.blogspot.com/2008/08/one-of-my-favorite-blogs-is-amy-over-at.html
Congratulations!!! Wooo Hoooo!
I've never done a maternity refashion, but I made a ton of maternity skirts that were my favorite skirts in the world. If you're interested... let me know and I'll find the pattern # for you.
I lived in them during pregnancy and after until I lost the baby weight.
colescreations@live.com
Congrats!!! I love the shirt.
How exciting! Can't wait to hear what you are having. They have really cute maternity skirts on etsy, and I am sure you could make some super cute ones. Hope you are over the sickness :)
Congrats! I hope everything continues to go well for you.
Congratulations! I'm just about a week ahead of you with baby #3. I hope you do more posts like this!
Most of my pregnancy clothes are from when I was pregnant the first time and I was still working in an office. So, I bought a whole bunch of business casual clothes used of off eBay and I do NOT want to wear them anymore. I just went to the thrift store today to pick a few things to try and alter. I save a bunch of links I found last week. I will email them to you. :)
Wow! Very impressive and neat to know there there are such options.
With my past two children I have taken the ill-fitting approach, but this might inspire me to try another route. :)
Jill, it seems like once again we totally in sync with our pregnancies. While you were preg. with Oscar I was pregnant with Thomas,and if I remember correctly they are only a few weeks apart. And now you are 18 wks and I'm 16 wks pregnant.
It'll be fun to once again get lots of inspiration from you!
Congrats!
Congrats!!! and the shrit turned out very cute
That's really cute!! How about one with sleeves and ruffles like this one? http://blog.whimsyworldwide.com/wp-content//2009/08/ruffles1.jpg
Great job! I love your blog, congrats on the new little one on the way!!
Stacey
Very nice, it turned out sooo much better than the original! I didn't remake any clothes for my pregnancy but I made this dress for myself: http://lustigdesign.blogspot.com/2009/07/on-my-birthday-1-month-before-birth-of.html
It's fun and diferent to make clothes for pregnant woman!
congrats! My blogging partner and I were just thinking about who in the blogging world could be pregnant again soon, and I thought of you. Did I miss that announcement earlier? Anyway, I made a tute awhile ago about altering a shirt, and I mentioned it could be done for maternity, but didn't have an available belly to test it on. If you are inclined to do it, I'd love to see pics and feature you on our blog!
Here's the link:
http://crafterhours.blogspot.com/2009/11/side-panel-shirt-refashion-tutorial_16.html
Congratz on your pregnanty....
Love your new shirt
Sorry, no ideas, but just a compliment. I think your maternity refashion is really sweet. Hey, that would even do when your not pregnant. Congrats!
Congratulations, and what an ingenious conversion! So cute!
I wore mostly long empire waist dresses until I was forced into maternity fashion. I bought a couple of maternity tank tops to layer under regular t-shirts. I really wasn't too pleased with the maternity stores, so I improvised as much as possible.
Congrats! I'm due with No. 2 in May. Thanks for the cute idea.
Congrats! Glad you're posting about maternity fashion. I too am not a fan of what you find in the stores and so am looking forward to all your ideas.
Wow! super cute! Congrats!
Congrats on the pregnancy! Cute shirt =) I could never find a maternity shirt that fit me. Both of my boys were well over 8 lbs at birth... I got HUGE. Most shirts stopped fitting me around 30 weeks so I bought some layering tanks to cover the exposed part of my belly.
Congratulations!!
Very cute shirt. Great Idea to refashion old tops. When I was pregnant, I only bought 2 pairs of jeans, and 2 tops to wear outside of work.. luckily at work I got by with scrubs and jogging pants. Man would I have been in trouble if I had to dress up for work :)
But at least maybe next time with your idea.. I may venture into the thrift stores.. some ugly stuff there but could be pretty if I worked on it.. PLUS so much cheaper
Congrats! The shirt is cute. He ps, I hope you have another boy. Brothers are so fun to watch.
Congrats-so ery exciting! The shirt looks great-but I don't expect anything else from you...you are amazing! Good luck re-vamping your other shirts and with this pregnancy!
Congratulations! Love the refashion! You are so cleaver!
Congrats!!! :)
Congratulations! I am self taught beginner at sewing and am 8 1/2 weeks along with my first. We are having one and no more after so I'm trying to save $ and still have nice clothing. Please post your maternity duds online-I need all the help I can get. Also instructions would be wonderful:) Any suggestions for a homemade belly band btw?
Yay Jill! We are expecting #3 in June. So I am excited to see what fun baby projects you come up with and share.
-Colleen
this is super cute! thank for sharing!
PLEASE continue to post. I'm two weeks farther than you and would LOVE some inspiration!
Congratulations!
I'm 35 weeks now, and feel like I'm wearing the same 3 shirts over and over.
I KNEW IT !!! I knew it when you took that month long break a while ago because you also took a break while pregnant with Oscar. Warmest congratulations - and I think the re-done shirt is adorable. My thrift stores have TONS of maternity clothes - perhaps you may want to check there for some more re-do fodder.
Congratulations to you and your family! I hope you get a chance to do some more refashions... this one is purdy cute :)
Congrats on your pregnancy! I'm just about 33 week with #3. Luckily, I have a couple of friends with fabulous maternity clothes that have made my closet look great. Too bad I'll go bad to ho hum after the baby is here!
Love your refashion. I am definitely not a fan of big tents. Our bellys should be shown off!
;) amy
Congratulations with #2! I'm so happy for you! And great job on the maternity shirt! I might make me one & I'm not even pregnant!!!
Congratulations! I like what you did with the shirt, and I LOVE the pink! I am 12 weeks pregnant, and would love to refashion some drab duds! Thank you for your inspiration. Can't wait to see what you will come up with next!
GREAT idea! If I wasn't already 37 weeks, I would probably do this to some of my own ill-fitting hand-me-downs!
You look lovely and the shirt refashion is a wonderful idea. If only I were good at sewing, if only I could sew!
Could you post a tutorial? I am 8 weeks preggo for the first time ever, and would love to know how to do this! Also, did you begin with a maternity shirt, or is this just a plain old shirt? Thanks!
congrats! cute shirt, too...I'll have to try this!
Love what you did with the shirt - love the new look.
Happy Baby!! And I LOVE this shirt. I always wanted a 'cute' pregnancy, but I was 4 for 4 on frumpy. Oh well ... they made it here anyway :)
Congrats!
Congratulations! I don't know why, but a few posts ago I was wondering...
Congratulations! I can't wait to see what you create for this baby.
Congratulations! The shirt looks really cute!
Definitely cute! I have never refashioned ANYTHING! Congrats too on the new bambino!! (or bambina??)
Congratulations! What a lucky little one to have such a fantastically crafty mom!( and Oscar too) ;)
Congratulations! I'm 33 weeks today. Pretty soon before you know it you will be having another adorable baby. It goes by so fast it seems. Very nice job on the shirt it turned out to be perfectly form fitting.
This shirt project is really inspiring! I don't know how to do this, myself, but would it work with a double row of the gathering, too? That would look really neat, I think.
Congratulations! I was never so creative with my maternity wear... I went for more accessories instead. I will definately be doing something like your shirt next time though!
Your work always amazes me, LOVE what you did with that shirt! You have a real tallent!
Congratulations! I love what you did with the shirt. I thought it was cute to begin with - I like the colour - but you made it so much better. Nice work!
Love the shirt esp the collar difference. And CONGRATS on another baby! I'm currently 26 weeks with our second - a boy this time! xx
Congrats on baby #2!! You look great!
Have you heard of the belly band? You can easily make your own by cutting off an old tshirt at the bottom. The band extends the life of your regular pants and shirts!
http://www.expectingcomfort.com/belly-band.html?gclid=CLXs0Y37-Z8CFZxS2godUz9OWQ
OMG!!! Yay!! I am so excited for you! Congratulations! Can't wait to see what you start whipping up for the new little one!
What? You just drop that on us like that? :0)
Congrats! Can't wait to see more maternity makeovers.
Congrats!!
Congratulations!
I'm 20 weeks pregnant and so feeling you. I haven't braved any refashion yet, but I may have to. I have spent the last week griping that pregnant women apparently don't wear business suits. I have a job that makes one mandatory at least a few times a week and I finally ended up spending more than half of what I had hoped to spend on maternity wear total on a suit. Sigh.
Cute shirt! I have done a few maternity shirt refashions where I added some shirring up the sides of loose shirts to give a more fitted look. Also, I have a tutorial on my blog on how to make a maternity shirt out of a skirt: http://homesweethomebodies.blogspot.com/2010/01/skirt-to-maternity-shirt.html
Good luck with more refashions!
Adorable and congratulations!!! I bet you could switch up some old cardigans and put cute tank tops underneath!
CONGRATULATIONS!! !YAYA!!!
Congratulations! Thanks for the wardrobe inspiration - it's always nice to spruce up a drab shirt and get a few more miles out of it :)
Marissa
That is adorable. What a difference it makes!
Wow, the top looks a gazillion times better! :) Congrats on expecting-- hope it's going well for you!
I think I have that exact shirt in my own maternity storage; and, since I'm 90% sure I'm pregnant with #5, I need your ideas for refashioning my clothing. Keep them coming!
You rock - That's adorable! An congratulations!
i never thought about taking the collars off blouses. great idea! & congrats on baby number 2!
Very cute!! great idea!
Love this! Check out our feature on Sew It To Me for this post today. http://sewittome.blogspot.com
I made myself some maternity clothes with some t shirts from a charity (thrift shop) and fabric.
1.Dress/smock -
Take T shirt and cut just above nipple height then gather a length (at least 1.5 metre but whatever you want) of thin cotton, gather cotton and sew to the t shirt top. I then made a long length in same cotton as a belt and sewed it to the front of dress just under bust and then put it on and tie at the back. Stitching the belt to the dress menas the belt stays nice and high!
2. Skirt
Take the bottom of the t shirt you cut for dress above and take it in so it fits like a bump warmer. Then gather more cotton fabric (I used and old flowery sheet) and attach to your slimmed down t shirt band and hey presto you have a skirt.
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