Thanks to all of you that commented on my Tara top, it’s already been worn a few times this week and is proving to be very roomy for my growing belly! This week’s challenge was to alter Celestina. I had a number of comments recommending I change the sleeves in some way so to start with I shortened the sleeves to just above the elbows and gave them folded cuffs (you can see more details of how I did this in my How-To). The second alteration I made was to add a little extra room around the waist to accommodate my growing bump. To do this I made a slit in the main pattern piece to widen it, this worked to a degree but I fear in only a matter of months, if not less, it will be too tight since the extra room is only across the lower part of my bump. I need to figure out a way to increase the area across the inserts, maybe by lengthening the torso of the main pattern piece and adjusting the inserts to fit.
I used a length of soft denim fabric donated to me by a fellow crafter and while I like denim I’m not so sure I like it with this pattern, I feel this pattern is more suited to floaty fabrics like the one used in the original. This pattern was more time consuming than others here on the site but totally worth the effort (as long as you choose the correct fabric!). I’d like to make this again this week and try out the new adjustments I’ve mentioned above. I encourage you to leave a comment with any recommendations you have, should I keep the sleeves as they are or try something different? Maybe cap sleeves or keep them long but change their shape somehow? Do you think the waistline alteration would work? Also, what do you think I could do with the denim dress to spice it up a little? I was thinking of some embroidered swallows on either side of the neckline or maybe some ribbon or aplique? How about altering the hem by adding a contrasting fabric?

My next challenge will be to alter the Steffi jacket. This is a very fitted jacket so I’m not going to attempt to try and alter it to fit my growing bump. Instead I’ll be making it for a friend. I think there are a number of alterations I could make here, the sleeves could be altered somehow as could the collar, closures and pockets. Leave me your ideas in the comment section over the next week and I’ll show you the results in two weeks.