35 weeks - MN1003 Wrap around maternity top variation

I'm 35 week pregnant this week! I can't believe how fast my whole pregnancy has gone. I only have 5 more weeks (or less) before baby Sophia Kiko will be born. By the way, I plan to avoid the subject of earthquakes and the nuclear power plant situation in this blog on purpose.   I'm not a news reporter (although my major in college was Broadcast Journalism..I'm such a bad writer!) and constantly dwelling on the whole situation makes me really nervous. So back to the good stuff, sewing and fashion, and the bright side of life here in Japan.

This week, I finally made myself the Meg Nielsen Maternity top variation. The original top looks like this. I think the top is great for the third trimester pregnant body.  So, I decided to do a Chie remix of the dress for a couple of reasons.  First I do not have jeans that fit me comfortably any longer so I needed to find a way to cover my bottom half. Also I wanted to make it a bit dressier because I planned on wearing this on my baby shower, which had to be canceled....because of the earthquake (I guess I couldn't completely avoid the topic). So using Meg's pattern, I made some alteration and turned it into a dress. 

I used two-way stretch jersey in peach color. After finding out that I'm pregnant with a baby girl, I find myself wearing more pink - Not sure why, but I want to feel girly in pink and peach and all that pretty colors of Spring.

I love how the dress turned out, and I've already worn it once. It's so comfortable! I think the criss cross front might work well for nursing as well.

When I wore this dress, Andy made a confession - he said one of the most unflattering pieces of clothing I own is a pair of black opaque tights. I was shocked. That's my uniform! Since I barely wear pants, I wear black opaque tights almost every day. I had no idea he thought they were ugly. So I decided to switch to half sheer gray tights to pair with my new dress.

So here is a tutorial on how I turned Meg Nielson wrap around maternity top into a maternity dress!
There are 3 pattern pieces to her original top: Front, Back and Sleeves.

1. Alteration on front pattern piece:

2. Alteration on back pattern piece:

3. Alteration on sleeve pattern piece:

This step is not necessary, I lengthened the sleeve just because I wanted the dress to have long sleeves, but if you prefer the elbow length sleeves, you can just use the original sleeve pattern piece.

4. In addition to front, back and sleeve pattern pieces, you will need to draft an I-line skirt pattern yourself.
I used the pattern I drafted for the front cross dress from my Spring collection, and added 3 inches to the top to give it a high-waisted look. Perhaps you can try this tutorial to draft your I line skirt pattern, and omit the darts, because if you use stretchy fabric, you won't need darts.

I cut 4 pieces for the skirt: 2 for front and 2 for back. The reason for this is to layer (or line) the skirt because the fabric I used was rather thin, and I was afraid that it might be sheer.

I would love to see your version of the dress! I think this is a great addition to a wardrobe even if you are not pregnant. I'm already planning on making another one for myself...but only if I can finish the 12+ custom orders I have to waiting before Sophia Kiko comes!