the annual fundraising auction for Em’s school was a week and a half after C was born. we hadn’t planned on going because it was just days from my due date, but they offered up a bunch of much-needed volunteer hours just for attending and since C arrived a bit early, we decided that i could snuggle him in the moby wrap (affiliate link) and he’d sleep the whole time. we figured we could just bolt outta there if things got to be too much for me or the little guy. this is the sort of potentially delusional confidence you get when it’s kid #3 i guess.
i THOUGHT i had a dress that would fit and look halfway decent on my newly postpartum figure while also allowing me to still nurse C if the need arose, but i did not. nope. not at all. so of course – i sewed something!
this is the outfit i wore that night, though the photo was taken over a month after the actual event. my belly still looked about 4 months pregnant the night of, oh so cleverly hidden by the wrap/baby/flowy shirt combo. oh and i wore flats for comfort/safety that night but in the photos i’m wearing heels because they look better. ha! the immediate postpartum period is a very hormonal and delicate time – you’re not pregnant but still look like it and it can lead to a lot of self-consciousness, ya know?
the pattern is megan nielsen’s awesome ruched maternity pencil skirt. this time i made a medium, and i once again skipped the ruching. i put my striped maternity version on, then folded the top down to where i wanted it to hit my not-pregnant-anymore waist (eliminating the belly panel and high back). i marked the desired waistband with pins, then carefully took it off and laid it over the pattern to determine how much to chop off the top, while still leaving room for the elastic and seam allowance. then i just constructed as usual, which takes no time at all. i think i made it in about an hour the day of the auction while my husband held the sleeping baby.
the fabric is a midweight super soft gray pinstripe knit from Hancock Fabrics that I got in California last fall while visiting Jess (we both got some – she blogged about hers here with better lighting!). the forgiveness of the knit made up for my slapdash pattern alteration, i stayed super comfortable, and felt as cute as i possibly could’ve that soon after having a baby while still giving me the function i needed.
thank god i how to sew. this quick and easy project saved me some major “GAH MY BODY IS WEIRD AND NOTHING WILL WORK – THAT’S IT WE’RE STAYING HOME!” hormonal tears for sure. and seriously – knit pencil skirts are so cute and SO comfy. i wore that maternity one way more than i expected i would and always felt great, even at 30+ weeks.
i sewed this skirt out of necessity weeks ago, but recently i’ve really been feeling the urge to sew more for myself again as i’m starting to look and feel a bit more normal. why does this always happen to me right before kid’s clothes week??
skirt as top 
Super cute! And you look amazing!
Pencil skirt to the rescue! It looks fantastic on you!
And I am amazed at your ambitiousness! I’m pretty sure that I would still be hunkering down at home if we were on number three! You rock, girl!
” i think i made it in about an hour the day of the auction while my husband held the sleeping baby.”
WOW! This is amazing. I have no kids and have spent hours on end trying to make wearable items (only to fail) – you are an inspiration! And the skirt looks so lovely!
You look lovely! And good for you for making everything happen! 🙂
Lookin’ good, good lookin’! 🙂 I’m so glad it worked out- the skirt is so cute and looks really comfortable too!
I have been wearing only pajamas and skirts for the last month. Yay postpartum! You look awesome though!
I love this, Kristin. This style looks great on you. Your last skirt had me contemplating making my own maternity version. But I don’t think this style is very flattering on me and pencil skirts feel constricting to me. It looks awesome on you!
When Iris was a baby, she lived in the Moby because Jude was in 1st grade at one school and Indigo in preschool at another and it seemed we always had to be somewhere, some event, doing something. Looking back, I kind of wish I would have simplified more (both schools were 25 minutes away, each way). But what was so funny is she would not sleep anywhere except on me. So we could be in a huge crowd, with noise and commotion and she’d be zonked out. But at home when I’d try to lay her down – anywhere really – she’d wake up no matter how careful i was about trying to set her down ever so gingerly.
this skirt looks great! when i was having babies, my favorite piece was a knit pencil skirt from GAP that worked during and after pregnancy (hidden wide elastic waist–under belly during, and tummy flattening after!). it shared time between me and my best friend since it seemed one of us was always preggers… anyways, i totally understand your love for this skirt! it’s a great thing to have in the wardrobe.
I still wouldn’t be leaving the house if I were you. Or my bed. And I sure as hell wouldn’t be getting dressed in CLOTHING. Hell, I’m not ready to sew a skirt for my 3 year postpartum body.
The fit of the skirt is so flattering on you! I wish I knew how to sew when my babies were born – I literally forced my self back into my pre-pregnancy clothes the day I left the hospital.
I hated my store-bought maternity clothes – sewing skills would have been so handy 🙂
Kristin…you look amazing! Killer legs! 😉
Looks great! I so understand what you mean. I wore my maternity jeans and tops a long time because it was the best way to look half nice while everything else didn’t fit or wasn’t comfy enough. I’m so glad for you that you know to sew. I can count with one hand when I made something for me to wear because also a hat was a desaster. So I hesitate to make something for me. So glad that you don’t.
It turned out so cute! Good job working up the guts to go to an event. I definitely would have just staid home and cried. You have me wanting to trace my briar pattern out and freaking make it already. When I was pregnant I got a couple of knit skirts from h&m that are so ridiculously simple that it seems lame to buy them, but they were cheaper than buying yardage. Lol. But the fit is weird, which is kind of unacceptable for something that simple. The bottom of it needs to be more fitted instead of flaring out from my thighs. Maybe I’ll sew sew and chop chop some.
Seriously amazing – the sewing, the leaving the house, the calves! My mom definitely found me sobbing in my closet after #3 and then dragged me to the mall and forced me to spend a couple hundred bucks on clothes that I only wore for like 3 months. But at least there was no more sobbing. I can’t even imagine sewing for myself with those emotions!
i have to agree with the crowd, i’m just all-around impressed!! 🙂
you look amazing in it! I adore knit skirts…they are so so comfy. I love that knit-kicked myself for not buying more later. our cardi is holding up really well after washings too.
You really are looking dashing, Kristin! Look out, there will be tribute pregnancies – I’m telling you. The skirt is perfect.