'New' Shirt

A few months ago Kyle took me shopping for new maternity clothes! It was fun picking out and trying on some new things. I ended up getting several shirts and a couple pairs of pants. Although I've been wearing most of those clothes this summer, there was one t-shirt that always seemed a little big. But we both liked it so I went ahead and got it, hoping it would fit better once I had a little more, uh...girth.  :)
But I tried it on this week and it's still a bit loose. Wearable, but not the best fit. I wasn't sure if I could still return it after having it so long so I decided to make a minor alteration instead.

Here is the shirt. I love the print and the colors but it was too loose in the middle. I needed a way to gather it under the bustline. I tried sewing a piece of thin elastic across the inside, but it didn't look right so I picked it out. A lot of the maternity tops we've seen are empire waist style with a belt or ribbon around them, which I opted to try with this shirt.


I bought two yards of 5/8" red ribbon and got out a package of ivory embroidery thread and a needle. I tried on the shirt first to figure out how far down to put the ribbon...on me it was 6-3/4 inches from the top of the underarm seam.











Making the loop was simple. I pulled the needle through, knotting it inside the shirt. Make one big stitch the width of ribbon, then knot it again on the inside of the shirt. It made a perfect loop to hold the ribbon in place.

Once the ribbon was threaded through the loops I lit a match and melted the ends slightly to keep it from fraying. That's it!

Here's a picture of the shirt now...

Maybe not the perfect solution but it works. I wish I had thought of doing something like this sooner so I could have gotten more wear out of it!   :)

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My other sewing time this week was spent making a double-sided blanket for baby girl. We'll probably use some of Parker's blankets too, but just so they're not all too boyish I made this one super girly--pink with kittens on the front and white with pink dots on the back.

Can't wait to wrap baby in her new blanket!  :)