This newcomer to my nursing wardrobe has become one of my favorites. It's genesis is rooted in the personal story of our identical twin sons Gardner and Abraham. Knowing that I was expecting twins during the last trimester of my pregnancy I really pushed to create an extensive nursing wardrobe since it would be doing double duty. On June 14 our sons were born and sadly on June 15 our son Abraham passed away during a surgery to repair a congenital heart defect. We returned home and felt the joy of having a new baby along with the pain of losing a baby.

My nursing wardrobe was now a relic of the plans I had made for nursing both my sons. I cried often as we sat and nursed, he was always a reminder of what I had missed with Abraham. Time passed and we made arrangements for a christening for Gardner along with a memorial service for Abraham. I saw this as not only an opportunity to make a new dress from my favorite ELD #204 pattern but to make a dress that was symbolic of my celebration of Gardner's life and my formal recognition of Abraham's passing.

I choose asculpted navy cotton velour that would be warm in our cold climate and got to work. As I cut out the pieces and created this dress I really believe it was a major step in letting Abraham go and bringing Gardner closer to my heart. This is just a dress, I am not sure if the pain of losing my son will ever go away but symbolically my creation helped to seperate my son's lives for me and go on enjoying my living son as an individual. I was now creating something that was just for my relationship with Gardner.

These photos were taken the day of the christening and memorial service. It was a wonderful day with our families. Gardner looked deeply into the minister's eyes as she said the blessing and he seemed to gain a peaceful expression as the baptismal water was placed on his head. This dress helped me nurse easily through that busy day and has been dressy enough to take me through the holidays.

Thank you Elizabeth Lee Designs.
Linda

Michelle's Story: I made this dress for special "dress up" occasions - Christmas parties, going out for dinner; I even wore it to the theatre (a rare treat). I wanted something comfortable and "nursable", but also a little bit sexy. Most of my nursing clothes are very conservative, but I wanted to look special when having an occasional night out with my husband.

I have been sewing for myself and for my family for almost 20 years. This dress is at the top of my list of favorite things I have made. I didn't have any nursing clothes with my first baby. After my second was born I made a couple of things and now I'm hooked on nursing clothes. They make life so much easier!

I love how easy to follow and interchangeable Elizabeth Lee patterns are - so much room for creativity! This outfit is an amalgamation of patterns and ideas. I love the styling of NC#307 and have made several versions of view 5. In this case, though, I wanted to be able to remove the jacket and have a sleeveless dress. I started with v1 of NC#205 (tank top), shortened to just above waist level. To make it into a dress, I added a 6-gore skirt, matching the seams to all the seams of the top. I added ties at the waist to draw in the fullness. The jacket is based on the overlay from view 5 of NC#307, shortened to waist level. I changed the shape of the front edges slightly, tapering it down from the shoulder to the hem. The sleeves are shortened to ¾ length.

The finishing touch is the purchased beaded trim along the bottom hem. The fabric is a dark blue heavy jersey (polyester-rayon, I think). I used a spandex binding to finish all neck & armhole edges. The dress is so stretchy and loose fitting, that by loosening the back ties, it will be wearable through any future pregnancy as well.
Michelle Fowlie

3rd Place: Jeannie Marendt DeSena from Charlotte, North Carolina

Jeannie used up her sewing stash in creating these fun floral mother/daughter dresses!

Jeannie's Story Last Winter, as I looked ahead to my youngest daughter's first Easter, I made plans to sew a springy, short-sleeved nursing dress that I could wear to church throughout the warm-weather months. As I paged through your catalog and schemed and planned, the creative wheels started turning and the project - to use a wintry metaphor - snowballed. I felt an overwhelming urge to dress my three daughters and me in our first ever mother-daughter outfits. The girls, ages 6, 4 and nine months, had several matching or coordinating outfits, but I had never gotten in on the fun.

Articles on your web site talk about how to develop sewing stash on a budget. Well, this project allowed me to save face (somewhat) and put a big dent in 13 yards of home-decorating fabric I had purchased several years earlier at a going-out-of business sale. ("Only" $6.98 instead of $15.98 per yard). I got the pastel floral fabric for kitchen window treatments but changed my mind. An unused bargain is a waste of money at any price; we all know that! Still, something from the stash always feels free. I though of Maria in the "the Sound of Music" dressing the von Trapp children as I cut out four dresses, a bonnet, two headband and bloomers from the fabric I had originally earmarked for curtains. Each girl's dress was a different style, sewn from patterns I had on hand. We were a very flowery bunch!

For myself, I chose the short sleeve version of ELD's Nursing classics #204, size 10-12, making a few modifications. I cut a higher neckline (following roughly the size 14-16 neckline at the bottom of the scoop neck) so I would stay well covered as my baby bounced on my lap during Mass. I also widened the overlay, following the suggestions in the sewing guide. I chose the longer skirt length, which suits me and I really appreciate the pockets. The dress is quite full through the middle, but the wide side ties cinch in a waist nicely and the extra fullness is quite attractive when distributed in the back. The medium weight cotton fabric was nice to work with. It gathered crisply - crisp like lettuce or a new dollar bill. The cotton has less "give" than the rayons and polyesters I have used for other nursing dresses, so it requires a little more maneuvering at nursing time, and security. I sewed the girl's dresses first, finishing theirs in time for Easter.

Mine was ready, appropriately, on Mother's Day. Friends complimented us after church, and then we took a walk through a nearby botanical garden, where we fit right in among the rhododendrons, azaleas, and other flowers.

I expect the time will come soon when my oldest daughter will not want to dress like mom or her little sisters, so I am glad I seized the opportunity to celebrate this special time in our family's life with these special dresses. Thanks for helping me make these memories!

4th Place: Mel Rae Ambs from New Braunfels, Texas

This entry is so charming and it shows how a lovely NC#204 dress looks while worn during as a maternity dress. Mel Rae added pretty beads to the neck edge and cuffs for a festive holiday look

Mel Rae writes:

"Christmas was in the air, and my time was filled with projects to make and do for others. Each day I thought, "Tonight while everyone is in bed, I'll make a holiday dress for me!" But each night slipped away, full of other things to do. I'm pregnant with our fifth baby and was feeling a bit frumpy with that in-between, not obviously pregnant look. Two holiday gatherings slipped past and I still didn't have my dress.

To adapt for pregnancy, Mel Rae left of the ties and added a back clip. A matching beaded hair scrunchy helped pull everything together. Instructions for the back clip and the scrunchy are included in her story.

Finally, on the Wednesday before Christmas, I had my chance. My husband took the girls to run some errands, and I whipped out the fabric, a deep burgundy washable crushed velour, and pattern NC#204. Due to the stretchy nature of the fabric, I left the dress to hang for two days before I attempted to make adjustments to the hem. On Saturday moring (I wanted to wear the dress on Sunday), I went to my neighbor and she marked the hem for me.

Due to my pregnnacy, I eliminate the ties on the dress, and gathered the fullness of the dress with a clip at the back waist. To make the clip, I made a simple rectange of fabric, 8" x 4", sewed up the long side, and turned it right side out. I slipped the rectangle over a purchased dress clip (suspender clasps attached to a short length of elastic), then folded and sewed the ends together. I also made a matching hair scrunchy with another rectangle of fabric, 12" x 6". I sewed up the long side of the scrunchy, turned it right side out, then inserted a piece of elastic about 5" long. I sewed the elastic together to form a circle, then closed the scrunchy by handsewing the folded ends to each other.

To make my holiday dress even snazzier, I added gold rose beads and black glass beads around the neck and sleeve cuffs. I hand stitched each bead onto the collar and cuffs. On the scrunchy, I stitched the beads to the long seam, which helped to hide the seam, and it also gave me a perfect straight line to follow. The beads are turned to the outside of the scrunchy, and add a festive touch. I got to wear the dress to church on Sunday, to my parents church on Christmas Eve, to our Christmas party on Christmas Day, and to a New Year's gathering. Whew! It's a good thing the fabric is machine washable!

I just love this soft, luxurious dress - my husband and children say it's very huggable. Thank you for helping me make a feel good dress, even when I almost ran out of time. Your patterns are so straight forward, I was able to complete it from start to finish in a few days, even with my family to care for!

Lily Richter - one of our year end grand prize winners, sent in this great idea for a fun pajama set.

Luxurious Twin Set Pajamas: Just the other day I was leafing through a popular sewing magazine, looking for inspiration, when I realized a twin set could make fabulous nursing pajamas.

I used ELD pattern #307 (destined to be an ELD classic) for the top and the discontinued Babe Too! Marge pattern for the pants. For the tops, I used the longer length of view 5 -- the twin set.

The floral crepe and silk set have no special alterations or modifications. Very simple to make, just pick out fabrics you will be comfortable sleeping or lounging in and sew it up! To make the silky white lace set, I modified the pattern only slightly. Adding lace to the lower half of the pattern was simple - just remember to add a seam allowance to the lace portion.

Wish I had the foresight to make one of these sets for the birth of my last son. Wouldn't this be perfect for those first few days when you spend of your time in bed?