Megan Nielsen Maternity Collection Lookbook!!

You guys! i’m so excited to finally be able to share with you the lookbook for my maternity sewing patterns! It’s been a long time coming and lots and lots of work – but i’m so thrilled to finally put all these pieces together in a lookbook!

We all had such a blast working on these shots – and i think the fun of the day really shows through. I really love it when everything comes together perfectly. And seriously, could our model be more perfect? i think not – she rocked it!

I really can’t wait to hear what you think!! i’m just so excited to share them with you all!! I really hope you enjoy them!! i know i already said that but i’m just that excited hehehehe Eeeeek! *excitable shrieking!* 

ok evidently i need to calm down… i’ll go get a coffee now hehehe

Please feel free to share them, pin them, whatever!

Meg XOXO

[SHOP: MN1001 Megan Nielsen Perfect Nursing & Maternity top sewing pattern]

[SHOP: MN1002 Megan Nielsen Pina dress & top sewing pattern]

[SHOP: MN1003 Megan Nielsen Wrapped maternity top sewing pattern]

[SHOP: MN1004 Megan Nielsen Nursing & Maternity lingerie set sewing pattern]

[SHOP: MN1005 Megan Nielsen Rie dress & top sewing pattern]

[SHOP: MN1006 Megan Nielsen Ruched maternity tshirt sewing pattern]

[SHOP: MN1008 Megan Nielsen ruched maternity skirt sewing pattern]

[Credits]

Model: Holly Matthews // Chadwicks
Photographer: Ebony Frost // Ebony Frost Photography
Floral arrangments: c/o Sarah Cooper // Rose & Pearl Events
Hair & Makeup: Emma Schroeder // Milla Makeup
Styling & shoot assist: Yvette Brownlie
Designs & styling: Megan Nielsen 

A very very big thank you to everyone involved!!

Please vote for me to win the Modern Craft Project!

Hey friends!

Something amazing is happening – and i’d really appreciate it if you could help me out.

A few months ago i was reading Frankie magazine, when an ad caught my eye. It was for a contest for people who are modernizing traditional crafts for our generation, to win $100,000 to further their businesses.

I don’t normally enter things, but this really hit me. As i kept reading, i just kept feeling like what they were describing is exactly what i’ve been trying to do – recreating, rethinking and redesigning sewing and sewing patterns for a new generation of crafters. Having a passion for traditional crafts in a modern world. I entered. I never enter things.

And something amazing happened – last week i got an email telling me i was one of the 10 finalists in Australia. I almost passed out with excitement!

I think you know what an investment like that could do for Megan Nielsen Patterns – it would mean more patterns, more tutorials, building a team, more of everything awesome – and I could really do all those things i want to do with the company! It would be literally, life changing. As you know, I’ve built this business working in the middle of the night, with almost no funding – and i can only imagine the amazing things i could do with a kickstart like this.

So this is me shamelessly asking - please, please if you could take a few moments to head on over to the Modern Craft Project website, and vote for me – i would be undyingly grateful. (i believe you can vote once a day)

Please spread the word!! Tell your friends, tell your family – tell anyone who loves sewing! (and forgive me if i mention it again a few times before the month is over… i’m kind of excited)

Thank you so so much! I’ve said it before, and i’ll say it again – your support, and encouragement and love of this brand is everything to me – thank you for being in my corner :)

Praying so hard that I make it through!!!

Meg XOXO

Introducing Liz! DIYM’s new guest contributor

I am so so excited to introduce you all to the gorgeous and incredibly talented Liz of Cotton and Curls. Liz is going to be regularly posting here on DIYMaternity over her pregnancy – and I’m excited to see what she has to share with us!

Liz has been blogging since 2010 – and has created a really wonderful collection of tutorials on her blog that reflect her wonderful sense of style. She has a totally adorable little boy and is now expecting another little boy- which has expanded her sewing into the realm of all things maternity. So exciting!

I really hope you enjoy all the wonderful projects she’ll be sharing here over the next few weeks!  I know i certainly can’t wait to see what she has up her sleeves!

So till then, pop on over to Cotton and Curls and having a look around!

Maternity Calendar shirt now for sale!

I’m so excited!!  Miranda, the creator of the Maternity Calendar shirt (one of my favourite tutorials here on DIYM) has started selling her countdown shirts in her online store!

This is so fantastic for those of us who don’t have the time (or patience) to create our own! I’m so excited that she is doing this!! I believe she’s even offering the service of turning that shirt into a onesie for your baby once it’s born. Cool hey?

Head on over to Miranda’s store, One Little Minute and pick up a shirt!

XOXO

** Please note that the tutorial for this top is free for personal use only, and is not to be republished without written consent or used for any commercial resale of the shirts. For a limited use license of the design, please contact Miranda. If you would like to purchase a Project Baby shirt, you can find them HERE in Miranda’s shop. ** 

McCall, Butterick & Vogue sale

I am admittedly not a huge fan of the Big 3 pattern companies – however, having said that – they are having a huge sale today and tomorrow – all McCalls and Butterick patterns are $1.99 and all Vogue patterns are $3.99 – that’s insanely cheap. So if you’re thinking of buying some regular patterns and tweaking them for maternity time, I’d say this is the time to do it!!

After a quick look at tops and coats, these are a few of my favourites – and are ones that I don’t think would need any changing at all (ie lots of room for baby bumps!)

M6347 // B5217 // M6165 // M6446 // M6031

What do you think? Find any bargains?

The DIY Maternity Fall/Winter sewing list!

I’m so excited to share this with all of you! Since everyone enjoyed my Maternity Survival Guide so much – I thought it might be fun to make a sewing list for each season, to help you put together a small maternity wardrobe that will work with pieces you already have, or even on its own.

It’s taken me a little while to get it all together – but I really hope you enjoy it! I’ve put together diagrams and a list of 13 pieces of maternity wear that you can make yourself, and that I feel mix and match nicely, and would work well for the Fall & Winter seasons. The items vary in difficulty, but i feel they would all be manageable for a beginner sewer. I’ve also put together some ideas of how you might wear them together – 4 weeks of outfit ideas from only 13 pieces of maternity wear! I’m kind of thrilled with the result.

Anyway, without further ado – here is the DIY Maternity Fall/Winter 2011 sewing list!

Click through to read the rest…

Meet our October sponsors!

I’m so happy to introduce you to our lovely sponsors for the month of October!!

PGM Dress Forms are the leader in manufacturing dress forms in the field of apparel industry (as seen on Project Runway). They are professionally designed as three-dimensional natural body shaped dressmaker forms and each Dress Form is individually molded by hand to specific dimensions and contours. With a PGM dress form, you are truly getting the very best.

PGM Dress forms are currently offering DIY Maternity readers free shipping – simply use the code PGMFREESHIP at checkout!

Singer Direct is one of Singer sewing machines main online distributers. They offer incredibly generous 30 day trials on sewing machines, and free shipping within the UK.

Baby Crib Station is a specialty online store that features baby cribs and nursery furniture. Here, you will find informative buying guides as well as products from the top baby brands. If you need inspirations for your nursery, babycribstation.com is the place to be

The DIY Mommy is a website dedicated to providing mommies free resources on how to make things for their babies. We offer free how-to’s, recipes and patterns for baby sewing projects, knit & crochet projects, skincare recipes, food recipes, and more! We also offer inspirational stories of d.i.y. mommies from around the world. You’ll also find amarketplace on our site with links to shops from DIY mommy’s around the world!

luvinthemommyhood is a fun, friendly neighbourhood where crafty, creative moms can come to connect, enjoy a cup of coffee & some girl chat and share in all the fabulous, scary, hilarious & inspiring things that come along with living life in the mommyhood.

The Bumpwear Project is here to let you know that just because you have a bump, you don’t have to start wearing bows and lace trim. No really. You don’t. Honest.

If you’d like to purchase an ad on DIY Maternity, you can get more information here! We’d love to have you!