Megan Nielsen Maternity Patterns: A Review

This post started out as a review to the recent Megan Nielsen maternity tops that I recently finished, but I got to rambling about how much I love the patterns & Megan that it simply got too long. :)  So consider this rambling post as a prologue to my finished objects (which I will be sharing throughout the week). :) 

First, I want to give a little background on Megan. She's the genius behind DIY Maternity. Which I consider a must-stop blog for all of those who are growing a bump. It features all sorts of brilliant maternity/nursing tutorials, both from Megan herself & also from bloggers around the...internet. I think that most of these tutorials are well suited even for the most novice of sewists.

I had read rumblings that Megan had once offered a pattern or two as a free download. Obviously, we'd all prefer to get something for free than pay $15 for it. However, I was very impressed with the packaging & contents of her patterns when I received mine.  Her branding is fabulous, I love the pattern illustrations.  The instructions are in the form of a little booklet (similar to Colette patterns) and one the first page there are some nice little tips & tricks for the new-to-sewing gal. Her instructions are thorough & straightforward. My favorite part of all, though, is that at the end of the booklet she includes ways to change the pattern up a bit--adding a pocket, omitting the sleeves, things like that. She's also provided pages that you can fill with notes about the pattern for the next time you sew it up.  This is especially neat since these are exactly the type of basic patterns that can be used again & again. Also, the pattern pieces themselves are not printed on that ucky tissue paper, but on a thick paper, much like that of the Kwik Sew patterns.

In short, I love my patterns & I love DIY Maternity.  If you find yourself knocked up ;) DIY Maternity is the first site you should check out.