oh baby baby: square maternity top

I actually really like buying maternity clothes. Why not celebrate your changing body with awesome new clothes? Sadly, they don't offer a lot in way of variety. If you like prints, which I do, you are limited to stripes. And of course there are lots of solids. Why is everything so bland? Probably because they assume you will just buy basics to get you through your ten months. And since it is only ten months, I don't want to spend a ton of money but I still want to look cute and have fun things to wear.

Naturally I would turn to sewing my own clothes.

So I remembered this simple square top tutorial from over at Cotton and Curls that I had success with and decided to make some maternity versions. I was also inspired by her use of florals in this maternity top and thought I could definitely whip up something cute and different.

I started by using her tutorial with a few changes. I wanted to combine knit and cotton fabric to make a tee that was both flattering and fun. I stripped down to a tank and measured my body (scary, huh?) Just kidding, I have no concept of largeness anymore so I am actually going to share my measurements with you. Gasp.
I wanted the front to be the knit so it would cling in all the right places and the back to be the cotton. Remember, knit has stretch and cotton doesn't. I didn't want the cotton in the front being too blousy as I like to emphasize my shape instead of hide it. Who am I kidding? There is no hiding anything these days.

For her square tops, she has you measure yourself at your widest part--hips--and then measure your length from your shoulder to however long you want it to be. I took the basic concept but adjusted for a belly. I measured my widest part (belly/hip area) and got 43". Then I measured my back (17") and my front (26") separately at my widest part. I measured from my shoulder to under my belly and got 28". So using this info I cut out my rectangles adding a few inches for seams and to make the back a little fuller but the front a little snugger since I wanted the knit to cling instead of drape. I actually ended up using the following measurements for each shirt: knit front 28" L X 25"W and cotton back 28" L X 27" W. Then proceed to follow her directions except make sure you line up the sides, your front will be smaller than your back.

I love how this turned out. The blue knit front is actually the back of one of Steve's old t-shirts rescued from the goodwill pile. The back is a delicious floral I spied at a thrift store. Its so kitschy. I was going to make it into a dress for baby girl but got selfish. (There is some leftover for her.) I also love how this looks with a belt to snug things up around my waist.

Then I made another one because I just couldn't help myself. A white polka dot knit from the clearance bin at Walmart and a cotton floral I have been hanging onto for years make quite the unexpected combination. And since I had spent all that time sizing the first one just right, I had a pattern for this one and it went way faster.

This one has a much better length sleeve. I think I am going to have to add a cuffed sleeve to the blue one as it is a little short and I don't want to worry about layering in the heat.

I'm ready for summer.
Well almost.
I am afraid it is going to get so hot.
I should make a stack of these.
Pronto.

Since the original post and wearing both of these shirts I have made a few changes. I did add a cuffed sleeve to the blue one. I also realized that I don't love loose pregnancy clothing. There is comfy and then there is frumpy. So I added darts to the front of them which took them in a bit, see how it better hugs my belly? I copied the darts from my favorite H&M Mama tees. I also took the white one in a bit as it was a little bigger to begin with.