Maternity Style: Fringe Dress

I’ve had my eye on the Fringe Dress Pattern by Chalk & Notch for a while now, so I was thrilled when Lisa reached out and asked if I’d like to be a guest blogger! This pattern is perfect for pregnancy with the gathered skirt, and perfect for nursing (I assume) with the button up front.

These past few months I’ve been focusing on sewing things that fit and flatter now, and will continue to do so after I have baby. With that in mind I chose to sew this up in a light cotton flannel from Joann to make it easy to wear and layer in the fall months ahead. I sewed a size four based on my non-pregnant measurements because the gathered skirt gives plenty of room for a growing belly. After making a test version of version A, I decided to move the waistline up two inches so it sits right at my new natural waistline. I also decided to leave off the sleeves because they were a bit too structured for me in the cotton flannel.

The trick of moving the waistline was getting the dart placement correct. I simply drew a new line one inch to either side of the shorten/lengthen line, and folded my pattern pieces up, but still cut against the true bottom of the pattern piece by making sure that part was slightly overlapping my fold. From there I just marked the apex and the end points, then drew lines to connect them with a ruler. The angle of the dart is a bit more severe than the original pattern, but it turned out laying nicely. You can see the faint line of the original dart in the close-up of the bodice.

Moving the waistline up two inches also left less space for the buttons. I decided to leave off one button so they wouldn’t look crammed, and eyeballed the placement. The last change I made was to level out the hemline. From other garments I know that a high-lo or scooped hemline can look a bit odd with the growing belly, so I decided to add four inches and make it straight. After baby comes I might go back and recut/hem with the original scooped shape because I love the way that looks!

All in all, I love this pattern! The instructions were super clear, and the end product is beautiful! This was cut and sewn over the course of a few hours and I know it will continue to be a staple in my closet even after baby comes. I have no doubt I’ll sew more dress and shirt versions of this.

Thanks for showing off your Fringe Dress Katie! Want to make one too? You can find the pattern in our shop. We also have a step-by-step tutorial on our blog for how to make the maternity modification to the Fringe Dress.

Katie Franklin

Katie started sewing in 2015 and hasn’t put down the fabric since! What started out as a way to supplement and grow her own closet, quickly turned into an excuse to fill all sorts of needs in her and her friend’s lives with fabric and thread solutions.