Vogue Cardiwrap and Megan Nielsen nursing top

Vogue Cardiwrap

I finally got to this Vogue Pattern #V8463, which I believe is now out of print. The pattern comes with this wrap top, a tulip-shaped skirt with pleating at the waist, and straight leg pants with elastic waist facing. I plan to make the other two parts of this too. The fabric is a knit, very strong recovery that is sheer with raised stripes, almost like pleating. I bought it in Toronto at Designer Discount Fabrics on Queen St. West about three years ago on a trip to the Toronto Grand Prix (it was my very favorite auto race ever. An entire day shopping for fabric and notions while hubby watched qualifying, and then we went to the race together the next day).

I digress. The fabric was so bumpy with the stitched pleats that I had to consider carefully the type of pattern to sew. I opted to sew this cardiwrap, and use a serger rolled hem for all the hem finishes.  When I first tried this on, I realized this Vogue pattern like most of them, is designed for a 5’8″ woman, not a 5’3″ woman (I think it’s actually 5’6″), because the tails of the cardiwrap dragged on the floor several inches. I ended up cutting off about 9″ from the bottoms before serging the edges.

I can’t quite tie the top like the example photo for the skirt ensemble, which is to cross one side, then the other, wrap around the back and tie at the side like a wrap top. I end up with one that’s really long and one that’s really short, but it’s doable if you do a slip knot. The twist cardigan shape is something I found at Victoria’s Secret, in a how-to-tie example of their soft and sexy wrap.

The second pattern I cut a while back is a Megan Nielsen.com nursing and maternity top. I sewed this one in a long sleeve, in a stretch velvet. This is another one of those that uses elastic neckline and underbust seam, so you get really good at stretching and serging elastic on in one step. It’s actually the same construction as a swimsuit, so if you sew this yourself, pick up some swimwear, because that’s just as easy as this is.

Megan Nielsen.com nursing top and SewBaby Twirly Dress

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