A maternity & nursing dress - Simplicity 1469/Megan Nielsen Amber

Are you loving the heat wave, my dear readers? I certainly am! We were lucky enough to have pre-booked a long weekend in the beautiful Cotswolds last weekend, to celebrate my mother-in-law's 60th birthday - those honey coloured, quintessentially British villages sparkled in the glorious sunshine. 

What better time to show off my latest make? 

It's a multi-purpose dress that can be used both during pregnancy, and also for breastfeeding when the baby is here! 

Here's an inside-out picture of the bodice to show you the access ;) 

The pattern that I've used is Simplicity 1469, which is designed by Megan Nielsen, and from what I can tell, this is based on the Amber maternity pattern. I bought the Simplicity version to save me from having to print the PDF. I made View A this time, in size XS.   

The fabric I used was a coral cotton jersey from Minerva, at a bargain £5.99 per metre. For the bodice lining, I chose a lightweight ivory grey marl jersey, because a few reviews that I read had mentioned about the nursing access being visible on the outside, so I wanted to reduce bulk where possible. I also overlocked the "access windows" rather than hemming them for the same reason. 

As someone who is still relatively new to sewing with knit fabrics, I found it easier to work with this coral jersey than the lighter stripey jersey used for the Givre dress. I'm pleased to report that I did not experience any issue with the twin stitches this time, but I did skip the wonder tape as well. 

Although this isn't a dress that you can knock up in one evening, I did not find the construction too complicated. The only slight issue that I did have was a slightly overstretched neckline, which resulted in a bit of gaping (you might be able to tell from the first photo), but it is subtle enough to blissfully ignore. If I make another version, though, I would look to avoid this from happening again. 

I also shortened the skirt quite a bit so that the hem sits above my knees. 

At 29-week pregnant, and now proudly in my third trimester, I am getting quite big! I am enjoying the pregnancy, though, especially now that the nausea is firmly behind me. It is quite amazing, if not a little bit strange, to feel this active little baby moving and kicking inside my belly. 

Looking back, it's funny how I thought I was huge when I first wore this dress in La Palma at 16-week pregnant! Look at that tiny bump :) 

This truly is a dress that grows with you. Given that it will last beyond the pregnancy, I am planning on making another (either a dress or top) if I get the time. 

These photos were taken when we visited the salt fields at Fuencaliente, on a day where there was bad calima. Who would've guessed that this was in the Canary Islands, and the photos above were the UK?

On that note, let me finish this post by sharing a picture of Arlington Row, originally built in 1380, as featured on the inside cover of a lot of British passports! Possibly the most British photo that I've ever taken! 

Enjoy the beautiful weather guys!