Early Empire Cinch from Handmade Beginnings

I have been wanting to make the "Early Empire Cinch" from Anna Maria Horner's book, Handmade Beginnings - 24 Sewing Projects to Welcome Baby since before I was even pregnant.  I purchased this book because it had some projects that I wanted to make for Matilda and had some really great baby gift ideas.

There is an entire chapter in this book dedicated for "Mama Sewing" and that's where you will find the "Early Empire Cinch" plus tons of other great projects for anyone who is expecting.

I had my husband snap a few pictures of me before I went out to run some errands so you could see the cinch in action.  I really made these with the intention of wearing them with some t-shirts or to wear with dresses.  But alas, the Chicago weather is still pretty chilly, so I paired it with one of my lose fitting sweaters and I think it looks pretty cute.  I love how much it accentuates the baby bump.  Oh, and by the way.......that's my 20 week baby bump in these pictures.

You can wear the cinch with the large part to the back or in front.  I tend to carry my babies pretty high, so it worked better for me in the back.  But if you carry low, it would look adorable with the large part in front.

I made two different cinch's for myself and both of them are reversible.  So that's four looks for the price of two!

I made this first cinch with a lot of scraps from my fabric stash and a little bit of yardage.  I have A LOT of scraps, so I love projects that cause me to use them up.  I made sure that the scraps were all in the same color family - mostly pinks, blues and greens.

I made the outside of the cinch with the thoughts that I would pair it with a black maxi-dress that I have for summer.  And as you can see, I made the inside brown, so I can pair this with more neutral clothing or create a more casual look.

I made the blue and orange cinch to go with a rather boxy maternity dress that I recently purchased from Old Navy.  This cinch really helps to give the dress more shape and again, emphasize the baby bump.

For some reason the dress looks a little red in these pictures, but I promise it's deep orange and it ties in with the deepest shade of orange in the teal fabric.

The inside of the above cinch is blue and orange polka dots and can be reversed to reveal and entirely new look.  Not sure what I will pair with this one, but I think it would look cute with jeans and a tee.

I don't usually take a lot of time to sew for myself, so I've been having a lot of fun creating some new outfits and accessories for my expanding figure.  I think pregnancy is such a beautiful time and should truly be celebrated.  So if you are expecting, take a little time out and make something pretty for yourself - it will make you feel great!