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Gather: Sew for the Soon-to-be-Mama

A few weeks before her birth my friend Eva approached me with the idea to make a beautiful “hospital” gown to keep her comfortable after the birth of her son. She planned on having a homebirth for her second child and remembered that what she missed during her first homebirth was a comfortable gown she could wear after birth and during the first days spent resting and getting to know her new baby.

The days and weeks after new baby are a vital time for mama and family to rest and shift into the new family dynamic. No woman wants to be in tight uncomfortable clothes during this time of transition and I understood her need to want a comfortable gown.

She found a blog post on a diy gown here and we arranged for an intimate morning gathering. She brought a longtime friend from home and along with our children we started creating. Our local organic fabric shop had soft gray knit fabric in stock and our gathering turned out to be an empowering morning for all of us.

We got creative and decided to eliminate the two seams on the side and instead opt for a seam in the back.

We cut out a large V in the front to allow her to drape the dress to one side to breastfeed and finished all rough edges with a simple zigzag stitch.

The time we spent together was perfect and what I feel women need in the last weeks leading up to the birth of their children. Positive energy, encouragements and many happy moments related to the bond between her and baby are what will make the birth experience a positive one. No matter if it is an intimate coffee date with friends, a blessingway gathering, or our creative morning sewing.

Create your own post-natal gown:

Choose soft preferably organic knit fabric. Ours was 1,5 m long and 60cm wide folded. Fold and pin the fabric into a tube and measure the desired circumference by trying it on mama. Adjust in the back to her comfort. Sew the back seam and zig zag the edges according to your preference. (see above for a detailed view of the back)

Try the gown on mama and measure the preferred opening for her arms and length of the V-neck. Cut and try on until you reach her comfort. My friend didn’t like the arms to be too loose so we opted for a smaller opening there. Cut your initial armholes small to adjust them larger later. We created the gown purely by the mama’s “feel good style” which I think is so important during the postpartum period.

Cut the V-neck to allow the dress to drape to one side exposing the breast to nurse. Again cut it smaller first and increase until mama is happy. Try on! If mama is comfortable with the fit fold the edges and zig zag stitch them on the wrong side.
Done!

Have you slowed down and enjoyed time in bed in a comfortable gown after your baby was born? What are the activities you focused on leading up to the birth of your child?

Thank you for reading
xoxo,

Sabine.

Visual Storytelling for this post was provided by Eva Maria Smith Photography.

About the Author: Sabine Bryant is the designer and creator of Kinderbonnets. She currently resides in Germany with her family of soon to be 5. Aloha Werkstatt Blog shares her inspiration for Kinderbonnets, environmentally friendly life choices, and creative craft projects inspired by the simplicity of nature, and love for gathering amongst women and families of young children – to inspire a sense of self-sufficiency, creativity, and less materialism.