Look! I made something!

Mariposa Belly Shot
Originally uploaded by aspiringameliorant

Before we even moved, Mom was researching the sewing scene in Michigan. And discovered that there was a Big. Exciting. Sewing. Show. In the Detroit area (about 2 hours from here). In September. She floated the idea of coming up and driving over together. I'll admit, I was initially doubtful. We were supposed to be moving in! And getting ready for the baby!

But it wasn't too long before I realized that a couple of days of help around the house would more than make up for the lost time. Besides, I was already sick of moving in. So we laid our plans and hatched our schemes. But here's the thing about sewing shows. People there sew (I know, I know. But I'm going somewhere with this). Which means they really appreciate the things that you've sewn. Meaning it's super-awesome to wear something you've made. I made a dress to wear to my sister's rehearsal dinner (ack! Gotta take a picture of that and post about it before the baby belly disappears), but it was a little formal for this. And other than that, my maternity sewing has been limited to a couple of imitation Belly Bands. Which are a rectangle of fabric, one seam, and spectacularly unimpressive. So I needed something else.

And this dress has been on the back burner almost since I knew I was pregnant. It was supposed to get made in time to take to Europe, but that was a no-go. In retrospect, it wrinkles too much for it to have been a very good travel dress anyway.

So, the week before Mom got here to whisk me off to Novi, I sat down and actually cut the dress out. And then I realized that I couldn't find my thread! So it was assembled using thread on my stash of bobbins. And then it languished. Right before Mom arrived, I went to the store and actually bought some more thread, but then she and I got super busy washing shelves, moving things, etc. and the sleeves and hem weren't actually done until the day we left for the show!

So that's the story of how I ended up with something I made to wear to the sewing show. And yes, the vast majority of my crafting "for the baby" has really been for me. I'll have to think some more about that...


Pattern review is here.