the button up refashion swap!

You guys it’s Meg! Did you miss me? I bet you’ve been really enjoying all of Lizzie’s fantastic maternity tutorials! Just popping in today because I have such a fun project to share with you!

Two of my favourite crafty ladies, Miranda and Melissa came up with the fun idea a little while ago of doing a button up shirt refashion swap. The basic idea being that a group of bloggers get together, take a boring button up shirt, and remake it into something super cute for another lady. I was super excited when I was allocated Lizzie to create something for – she’s adorably pregnant, and our current guest contributor here on DIYM! With my line of maternity patterns and this blog, I obviously have a real passion for designing things for baby bumps – it was kind of a match made in heaven! I was also really excited to find out that Mim would be making something for me – we’ve worked together before on a tutorial for DIY Maternity (back when she was preggers) and she is a really talented seamstress. Honestly this whole thing was so fun – i just wish it hadn’t all fallen over my move, but such is life!!

Want to see what I made??

I honestly cannot wait to see how it looks on Lizzie! It took all of my self control to refrain from adding a peter pan collar hehehe. I wanted to make something comfortable and practical but still a bit tailored – and obviously i wanted something that would suit Liz. I included a lot of my favourite maternity details – and the great news is there is a tutorial at the end of this post so you can make one of your own!

There are some really amazing ladies involved in this!!

Jennifer of Grainline Studio (see the top Jen made!)
Krista of Lazy Saturdays (see the skirt Krista made!)
Liz of Cotton & Curls (See the top Lizzie made!)
Megan of Megan Nielsen Designs (that’s me!)
Melissa of I Still Love You (See the maternity top Melissa made!)
Miranda of One Little Minute (see the dress Miranda made)
Miriam of MadMim (see the top Mim made for me!)
Kate of See Kate Sew (see the jumper dress Kate made)
Sunni of A Fashionable Stitch (see the top Sunni made!)
Suzannah of Adventures in Dressmaking (see the dress Suzannah made!)

Today we are all sharing tutorials for how to make the item we made for another lady – and then next we’ll be having a “blog hop” to share the tops that were made for us! So don’t forget to follow the links above to see the tutorials for all the other tops that were made! So fun right?

Here is the blog hop schedule for next week:

Monday, May 21st: Lizzie of Cotton & Curls, Krista of Lazy Saturdays
Tuesday, May 22nd: Sunni of A Fashionable Stitch, Kate of See Kate Sew
Wednesday, May 23rd: Suzannah of Adventures in Dressmaking, Miranda of One Little
Minute
Thursday, May 24th:Miriam of MadMim, Melissa of I Still Love You
Friday, May 25th: Megan of Megan Nielsen Design, Jennifer of Grainline Studio

Okie dokie – that was a mouthful!! Ready to see how i made Lizzies maternity top? Instructions below!

Click through to read the rest…

Megan Nielsen’s Rie top cropped in gingham

top: self-made with MN pattern  pants: crane   shoes: steve madden  bow necklace: oasap

 Oh how I miss crop tops, the don’t really hit the pregnant women in the right way. So this was my take  on it and  I LOVE how it turned out. I don’t even mind my belly sticking out a little. And I’m excited to wear it when I don’t have a belly. This was made from one of the lovely Megan Nielsen’s maternity patterns, the Rie dress or top.  I just made it a little shorter and widened the neckline a bit. Thinking back to last pregnancy, I had given up by then. I would wear oversized tee shirts and black leggings or yoga pants everyday, looking like an old man with a quite the impressive gut. Man, was I attractive.

Maternity top with elastic waistband tutorial

I finally popped this top on, not sure if it would fit over my ever growing belly….and luckily it does! WAHOO! Another top I can wear and feel comfy in. Love when that happens. People still ask me how I made this top, and I realized today that I have made 2 almost exact tutorials for this top. And now you know this will work for when you are prego! Here is the from scratch tutorial (take out the peter pan collar and shorten it) and the refashion tutorial - I combined them to make it easier below. SO easy and flattering….pregnant or not!

 If you want to check this out when I’m without child, here is the non maternity version.
Click through to read the rest…

Made Megan Nielsen’s ruched shirt pattern with a floral touch

Hi gals! Lizzie here from cotton & curls….I’ve always had a hard time purchasing maternity clothes because of two things; the fit and the lack of creativity. That is why making maternity clothes is SO much better than purchasing them!! You can customize – make smaller or bigger, make lower or higher or what have you. For me….I wanted some floral flare and with Megan Nielsen’s ruched maternity pattern, I was set to have a darling top. It only required 3 pieces and a few instructions, easier than I thought! Hmmmm….wouldn’t it be cute as a dress too?

pants: thrifted   top: self-made MN patterns   shoes: toms

Button up Babydoll Maternity top

A little while ago I found this pretty pale pink mens shirt in the thrift store – I loved the colour so much, and wanted to make something really pretty with it. I’m a huge fan of babydoll dresses and tops as maternity wear, so I thought why not try something similar with a button up? And so the Button up Babydoll top was born!

I love how it turned out and I think it’s sooooo cute! Definitely a maternity staple – so let’s make one!

Click through to read the rest…

Ribbon tied maternity top

Hi lovely ladies!!

I’ve been getting some requests for some super easy beginner level maternity creations – and I think this one fits the bill perfectly! I really love how it turned out. It takes a rather boring tshirt and makes it into something really flattering and super cute. I just love projects where a small amount of effort makes a huge difference!

Okay, lets make one!

Click through to read the rest…

Maternity Top Tutorial, with Jenn of a Jennuine Life

Hello there, DIY maternity readers! I am super excited to be visiting here. I’m Jenn from A Jennuine Life. A while back, I hosted my first blog competition, and Megan honored my little blog with both an inspiration post, and a prize offering - amazing, right!?

When Megan put out the call for a little help, I jumped on the opportunity to return the favor! Here’s a post I put together as part of my Mother to Be, Being, Been competition which focused on DIY fashions for pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum Moms.

Click through to read the rest…