I’m so excited to finally share this make with you. I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to put it up on the blog, but it is probably because I’ve had a lot on my mind recently. We are on a bit of a mission to get a million and one things done before the baby comes.

This make was my first attempt at maternity sewing and was self-drafted. I’ve decided to try and push my pattern cutting skills a bit more this year and try making more complicated garments from scratch. I really enjoy the problem solving element of pattern cutting and dungarees were an interesting challenge.

I hadn’t originally intended these to be maternity suitable, I started drafting the pattern before I found out I was pregnant. When I found out I put the pattern aside thinking I’d wait, but my desire for dungarees was too strong and after a couple of months I decided to make a couple of adjustments and get on with sewing them up.

The modifications I made to my original pattern were relatively minimal:

– I widened the pattern at the hips to give a looser fit (I had originally planned for quite a close fit at the waist and hips, but I actually prefer them looser).

– I extended the width of the side seam button plackets, which are sewn to the side seams of the back waistband. This meant I could add extra buttons to allow me to adjust the fit as my bump grows.

I think they turned out pretty great. I love wearing them and they have been a life saver for occasions which call for something smarter than my current maternity uniform of stretchy tops and leggings.

The corduroy, from Merchant and Mills, is so comfy to wear and I love the deep navy colour. The bib is lined with Atelier Brunette fabric leftover from this project .

The one problem I ran into making these was that I tried to hammer on the buttons for the buckles and managed to break one of them. It turns out you just push them on by hand, so my trusty mallet was completely unnecessary. Oh well, you live and you learn.

As my bump grows (see photos above) I’ve been adjusting the bib straps to better fit the bump. I haven’t had to add new buttons to the side seam panels yet, and I’m nearing my third trimester. I’m really pleased that I’m still fitting into them.

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