The My Handmade Wardrobe Patterns Cosy Jersey Dress has been my go-to pattern throughout pregnancy.

It’s wonderfully versatile and because of the loose fitting shape and panels with the waist ties that can be tied at the front back all the way around it’s expanded wonderfully as I have!

I made this floral cotton elastane jersey version before I was pregnant and it made me feel fabulous yet oh-so-comfy at all stages of my pregnancy.

As it has served me so well throughout pregnancy, the cosy jersey dress pattern seemed an ideal one to hack for my post-partum wardrobe. I’m hoping to breastfeed, so I’m going to need lots of boob accessible clothes!

As the cosy jersey dress is panelled it’s a really easy one to hack. I simply folded down the top half of the side panels for the under section then cut a top overlay section - kind of a crop top overlay, which I attached at the neckline.



I attached the side panels to the centre front and back panels extending the overlocking to finish the top edges of the centre panels too. I then made up the overlay in the same way like a little cropped top.
I hemmed this with a zigzag stitch as usual being careful not to stretch the hem out.

The trickiest bit was working out to put the right side of the overlay on the inside against the wrong side of the underneath centre panel to make sure when I turned it through everything was the right way out!
I would recommend pinning or tacking this and then turning it through to check before properly stitching.

I decided not to topstitch the neckline because I wanted smooth finish but I did add some understitching to keep the underneath layer on the inside and attached the 2 layers together by stitching in the ditch of the shoulder seams. 

And here is the finished make...

I used our gold foiled bees cotton elastane jersey for this and it feels just glam enough for a special occasion but still super comfy! 
I wore this to my friends wedding at 39 weeks pregnant. I teamed it with my mustard French terry Morris Blazer by Grainline studios and I couldn’t have been more comfortable!