Cara Maternity Top for G-baby #3!

OK, so the top is really for baby’s mama but… another excuse to sew!  Yay!  Congrats to my wonderful son and beautiful daughter-in-law.  And to the big brother and sister already here. 🙂   It sure looks like big brother is about to pinch baby sister.  Boys!

Grandbaby #3 is due in Oct. Right about the time they told me, a blogger I follow up in Austin, Texas Sewnhenge, had this fabulous post about a maternity dress she made using Megan Neilsen’s Cara top. I shared it with my DIL and she said she’d love some new maternity tops.

On my first attempt above, I followed the pattern exactly and got it in the mail right away to her for a fit check. Other than asking that it be a little longer in the back, she loved it. She does have a very long torso so I added another 1.5” in length. That might sound like a lot but she likes long tops and has the lean figure to carry them off and have them be super cute.

The 2^nd and 3^rd editions were made from a stretch t-shirt knit that was slightly stretchier than the first one. The fabric is pretty thick so nothing shows through. I pre-washed all the material and sewed them with a ball point needle and polyester thread. I got the fabric for all these tops at Hancock Fabric. Did you hear they are going out of business? So sad.

The only thing I did a little differently than the pattern directed was to add French seams on the shoulders and interfaced the neckline with strips of stretch iron-on interfacing to prevent any distortions over time.

I was happy to make these because I needed more time on my coverstitch machine.  Here is the inside of the sleeve.  Perfecto!  Factory dude.

I put the yellow one together this weekend while we were at the coast.  I still need to complete the cover hems on the sleeves and bottom and serge the inner neckline in this photo.  Look at that neckline…really.  OMG.  Heavy steam hides a multitude of sins!  lol

I’m extremely pleased with how the neckline came out on the yellow and blue editions. They are absolutely perfect with no ripples or gaps. DIL had asked for short sleeves and I did that for the last two. However, I’m glad I made the 1^st one with ¾ sleeves. It’s still pretty cool up in Colorado where they live and with the baby due in Oct, it will be cool again before she knows it.

This is my first knit sewing project that I’m completely happy with. The pattern was easy to follow and went together so painlessly. I can finish one in about 2 hours from cutting to hemming.  I really have to admit…these are so much cuter than the hatching jackets I used to wear.  If you have a new baby in your future, I highly encourage you to try this pattern.