DIY Maternity Pants

I fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes during my first trimester.  Sure my pants got a little tight at the waist, but nothing that a hair elastic or Belly Band couldn't fix.  But then I hit 16 weeks and I had to find a solution.  Since I wasn't about to *gasp* buy maternity pants I decided to DIY some old work pants into maternity pants.  Because let's face it, I love a good DIY.

While I had the idea of maternity pants, I can't take any credit for this DIY (shout out to all you awesome DIYers).  There are tons of different maternity pant DIYs available on Pinterest.  I, however, liked the DIY instructions from What's Up Moms and the results were amazing!

While you can use a sewing machine I somehow managed to break mine so I was stuck doing this by hand.  It takes awhile, but I promise the end results are worth the effort, especially if you're like me and haven't gained any weight in your thighs (thank you sweet baby Jesus).  I find that most maternity pants I tried on fit in the waist, but were loose in the butt and thighs and no one wants to have people whisper behind their back that they have a grandma butt.  Then again...my mom, aka soon to be grandma, has an amazing derriere so maybe having a grandma butt isn't such a bag thing...

I've made a ton of DIY pants and shorts this pregnancy and made some modifications to What's Up Moms DIY.

Here are my directions for DIY Maternity Pants:

You will need:
A pair of pants (or shorts) that you don't mind repurposing
Needle and thread
Fabric scissors
Straight pins
4 inch elastic (I bought mine from Amazon)

Directions:
1. Cut out the front pockets.  Starting at the top of the waistband cut along the side seam making sure to remove the whole pocket.  Just be careful and don't cut a whole through the pants.  Repeat on the other side

2. Measure and cut the elastic 1.5x the length of the pocket you just cut making sure the elastic overlaps the seam

3. Line up the top of the elastic with the top of the jeans and pin in place.  Obviously repeat on other side.

4. Starting at the waistband sew the elastic in place along the seam.  Always make sure to start and finish your knots inside the pants.  I sewed the seam twice for extra reinforcement.  Repeat on other side

I matched the thread as best as I could to the color of the pants.  My sewing isn't the best (clearly), but in all honesty you can't see the new seam under shirts, especially long maternity shirts.

5. Trim the elastic on the inside.

6. Put on your DIY maternity pants and show off that adorable baby bump!

Little Bright Dress For A Steal

I'm so excited to share this post with you.  Awhile back I found a neon bodycon on pinterest that I fell in love with.  Only problem was that the dress did not go to website where I could purchase it.  So I searched and searched and searched some more and finally gave up on my hopes of rocking it this summer.  

Well one day I stumbled upon a website called SheIn and I found dress after dress that I swooned over.  But the best thing  of all, I found the neon bodycon I had wanted.  And the cost?  $15.99!  I will share that dress and talk about SheIn more in detail at a later time.

So clearly this little bright sheath isn't the dress I was swooning over.  But it was so cute I just couldn't resist it.  And for $17.67, plus 34% off, I decided why not try out a few dresses.  The one thing that made me a tad skeptical is that nobody else had posted a review with a picture of the dress.  What's great about SheIn is that many customers will leave reviews with pictures so you as a customer can see how the dress looks on others.  I would highly encourage you, if you make purchase, to do the same.  

I love the neckline of this dress.  It is structured, but sexy at the same time.  Normally I do not wear dresses that hit above the knee, but I felt that with the depth of neckline this length was most appropriate.  I don't think I would recommend this dress for all work environments as the neckline is quite low and yellow is pretty bright, but if your work is more trendy, fashion forward, and liberal then go for it.  This dress can easily be dressed up with heels or down like I did with embellished sandals.  

Overall this dress fit really well.  I am normally a size small or 4 and probably could have gotten away with a size x-small, but SheIn does not offer this size.

The sandals I'm wearing can be purchased from ShoeDazzle here.