Wednesday 1 July 2015

How to Make A No-Sew Maternity Gown Photography Prop

When I was little, whenever I got out of the bath and was wrapped in a big bath towel, I would create high-couture visions of loveliness with my towel - wedding dresses with long trains, Roman togas, and off the shoulder evening gowns (oh, who am I kidding, I still do it, I just have less towel to work with these days...)

And it got me thinking .. could I make a floaty chiffon maternity gown in the same way?

Here is what you will need to make one of your own for your photography studio, with no sewing and no pins!

You will need

About 3 - 4 metres of floaty fabric - chiffon or voile works best
An elastic band.



For my example, I am using a length of chiffon I have had in my craft stash for the best part of 4 years, so it's a bit creased and snaggy, but I'm sure you can see past that!

I also had to work with a skinny plastic mannequin - you will be working with a lovely lady who has arms and can help by holding things in place while you make the gown on her.

You can also ask your client to keep her bra on (providing it's plain and won't show through your sheer fabric) - just have her tuck her straps into the cups.


Step 1

Cut a piece of fabric wide enough to fold in a roll and long enough to wrap round your client's boobs at least twice.  Put this to one side.


Step 2

Fold the remaining fabric in half width-way and place the fold in the centre of your client's back - bring round to the front so that the material meets around her and tie in a firm knot. 

Don't worry about being too tidy at this point, we will be covering this knot.  

Let the rest of the fabric drape and fall to the floor. 

Have your client hold this knot in place.




Step 3

Take the smaller piece of fabric you put to one side and roll it  to form a sort of sausage - you basically want to make a "tube" that is folded/rolled enough times to stop the fabric being see-through.

Find the centre of your tube and starting at the front, wrap round the body and tie in a firm knot at the back.  Your lady can also hold this piece of fabric in place at the front while you do this, so that it looks straight and even at the front.




Step 4

Bring the fabric that is under the knot you tied at the back, around either side of the body back to your client's front. (I'm going to call these bits of fabric your "ties")

Take both ties from the front of the tube and place behind the tube and the front knot and pull down and through (the same as when you make a gent's tie - see image)

This will create the sweetheart shape.




Step 5 

Take both ties back around to the back and tie in a knot.  Secure with an elastic band if your fabric is particularly slippery.


Step 6

Fiddle and faff and tuck your fabric whilst apologising to your client for being so close to her boobs - step back and admire your handywork!


That's it!

For the purposes of this tutorial, I have pinned the front of the dress open to show you where the fabric would drape either side of your client's bump.





Use the smaller piece of fabric that you made the tube out of to wrap baby during the newborn session.




If you make your own diy maternity gown to use as a photography prop for your bump sessions using my tutorial, please share images to my facebook page here 

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