Maternity Jumper Dress Tutorial

As long as you have a tee shirt and some fabric you can create your very own maternity jumper dress! Although, I've gotta say- this dress would be just as lovely on a non pregnant figure too...

A BIG thanks to my incredible husband for taking these pictures for me.

Supplies:
Tee shirt that fit pre pregnancy and that would fit now aside from that big belly
Fabric; I had about 1 1/2 yards of 60" linen
Fabric marking pen
Scissors and other obvious sewing necessities

Directions:
1. Cut the front of your dress out.

   *Fold your tee shirt in half and place it on the fold of your fabric, then scoot it in off the fold 3 inches. (Those 3 inches will make for 6 extra inches of a dress front once your fabric is unfolded. If you are really big in pregnancy, and/ or at the end of your third trimester you may want to consider adding 4 or 5 inches which will translate to 8 or 10 inches when unfolded.)
   *Trace around the shirt 1/2" away (for seam allowance) the shoulder seam, the arm hole curve (fold your sleeves so they're out of your way), and the side of the shirt. Add as much length to the bottom, with a slight angle outward, for your desired dress length.
   *Remove the shirt and draw in your preferred neckline. I chose to replace the tee shirt neckline with a scoop neck.
   *Cut out your dress. When you unfold it, you should have a very wide dress front. Set this piece aside.
2. Cut the back of your dress out.

   *Fold your tee shirt in half and place it exactly on the fold of your fabric.
   *Trace around the shirt 1/2" away (for seam allowance) the shoulder seam, the arm hole curve, and the side of the shirt. Add as much length to the bottom, with a slight angle outward, for your desired dress length.

   *Remove the shirt and draw in your preferred dress back. I chose to replace the tee shirt neckline with something that looks like this when I unfolded my fabric.

   *Cut out your dress. When you unfold it, you should have the dress back. Set this piece aside.
Disclaimer: You may notice the cut out notches/ tabs in the above picture. This is because I began my project by using an actual tee shirt pattern before I realized that using a tee shirt I already owned would be easier and would make for a better fitting finished result. Just ignore the tabs, they're not necessary!
3. Pleat the dress front collar.

   *Add pleats to the collar of your dress front. You can do as many small pleats as you want, or as few large pleats. It doesn't matter so long as the end result brings the dress front to the size of your tee shirt.
   *Baste the collar to keep the pleats in place.
   *Top stitch each pleat about 4" onto the bodice.
   *Iron your dress front.

Top stitched pleates

4. Sew dress pieces together
   *Pin dress front to dress back with right sides together and sew the side seams and the shoulder seams together.
5. Finish raw edges and hem the jumper dress.
    How did I do this? Begin with the collar: (Directions below; read picture top to bottom, left to right)

1. Lay a piece of tissue paper on the dress front, dress should be right side out. Trace the collar outline.
2. Measure about 2" away from marking and cut out the shape.
3. Make sure the shape fits collar exactly and cut it out of either interfacing or a scrap bed sheet like what I used!
4. Finish the outside edge with a straight stitch/ zig zag combination so that it won't end up fraying.
5. Pin to collar, right sides together, and sew with a half inch seam.
6. Make notches in the seam allowance. This makes it easier to turn the attached piece to the inside of the dress. Iron in place. You may need to cut more notches, especially around curves like I did here while finishing the back of my dress.
7. (Not pictured) Top stitch 1/4 inch from the edge. This not only looks nice, but helps keep the edge lining in place.

 
   *Finish other edges. (Back and arm holes.) I chose to do this in the same way that I finished the collar.
   *Hem the jumper dress bottom
6. Finishing touches. 
   *If you' like to, you can add pockets to the front and a bow to the back. Here is where I found the DIY Bow Tutorial that I used. And here is what I used as my pocket pattern:

After cutting my pockets out of my material, I trimmed the paper pattern on the fold/ hem line so that I could use it as an ironing guide while I folded my edges under. Don't forget to fold that top edge under too and sew it in place. Baste the seams down and sew a loose stitch near the surface so that you can gather your pockets to the size planned for. Then, with a series of top stitches, attach the pockets to where you'd like them on your dress.