Help: Maternity Type Dress?

[wmkane]

I need a bit of help here. My wife and I both doing living history, and now that spring has come, and she finds herself 3 months along, we are thinking that she really needs a maternity dress for the upcoming season.

I have used the search tool, but didn't come up with much definitive for our situation. She's a beginning sewer, so making her own dress may be just a bit too much for her to handle. (I may be wrong about this) Does anyone have any information regarding types of dresses to wear? Where might I find a pattern or two? or maybe even: DOES ANYONE KNOW OF A SUTLER WHO MAKES AN APPROPRIATE DRESS?

FWIW: She is most interested in the middle class farm-wife impression.

Many thanks,
Bill Kane

[VMurphy]

Re: Help: Maternity Type Dress?

Bill...what your lovely wife needs to carry her through is at least one nice wrapper. And perhaps a sac/petticoat. It would totally depend on her choice and what she finds comfortable.
I've made several of each and would be most happy to help :)
I can also give you several photos of originals to look at as examples.
The good thing is, once the baby is here, she will find that either garment, or both, will server her well. I have a photo of several ladies of my group and myself enjoying a morning gathering of knitting and we are all wearing wrappers.

Best Regards and Congratulations
Vivian Murphy

http://www.themantuamaker.net

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Help: Maternity Type Dress?

If she needs professional help with the outer garments, then use a good professional like Vivian Murphy (who is also an approved vendor here on the AC), and be prepared to invest a bit of money into the use of such skilled labor. (The good news is, she can use the dress for a long time!) I'd probably lean toward a wrapper-style dress with an adjustable waistband, so the dress can mimic a normal dress for a long time before, and after as well.

From a practical standpoint, many women find they can wear their normal dresses for quite awhile into pregnancy, though this depends entirely on how fast their body changes and how low they carry... with three of our four, I never did move to "maternity" styles, as I carried low and could wear my regular dresses for the vast majority of the term. (With #4, I just stayed home and was ill a lot.)

If she's carrying high, she'll move into a more maternity-friendly style faster; she may also need to plan for bust growth of 4" or more. On average, a woman's waist expands 9" to 16", with a skirt "hike" of between 2" and 6" at full term, across the front. Don't try to make the hem perfect all along--let it hike up at full term. :)

One thing that can really make her more comfortable: a gestational stay in a lightweight fabric. This supports the bust and back and belly, and is NOT designed to compress the figure or waist. It's the mid-century version of a modern belly band, and friends who've used them were reluctant to take them off, because they were so comfortable!

Keep an eye on her at events, and make sure she's drinking plenty of liquids, and resting. Dill pickles can be a great help (for restoring electrolyte balance). There's no reason a woman with a healthy, moderately-low-risk pregnancy can't do events right up through deliver--my last even with our eldest was less than a week before her birth, and though I was warm (it was July, after all!), there was nothing harmful for me, so I went and had a grand time being catered to by my friends! :)

(And, Congratulations to you both!!)

[Marissa]

Re: Help: Maternity Type Dress?

Many women wore a specific type of "pregnancy corset" during their pregnancy. This corset was used all the way up until 7 or 8 months along, until even a corset could not contain the growing belly. The corset was actually designed to create natural looking curves without crushing the baby. It also provides support to the back. Thankfully the bell shape of Victorian dress makes it easy for women to hide it. I believe as mentioned earlier wraps, shawls, or capes are good options.

Here is a forum I found that might have some usefull information as well.

http://civilwartalk.com/forums/ladies-tea/28367-maternity-during-acw.html

-Marissa Glade