Maternity Shirt Pattern | Ruched Sides

Since the knowledge of my current pregnancy, I've been looking for and haven't been able to find many maternity shirt patterns. Much less ones that don't look 'tentish'. Lucky for me, I love to design! So I created a fantastic ruched maternity shirt pattern.

When I started this design, I knew that I wanted the ruching to only be in the front. I don't want every angle of me to look pregnant, and ruching in the back is really unnecessary.
To see the maternity shirt pattern for yourself, click here.

This was one of my favorite maternity shirts in the design process. I adjusted the shoulders significantly though, so it looks better as a tank.

When I initially started the design, I thought that I wanted to go with "tank only", without worrying about sleeves. I quickly discovered though, that my customers WANT sleeves....and so do I. But the shape of the shirt had to accommodate both. I wanted short sleeves, 3/4 sleeves, long sleeves and tank options. And I got the perfect fit of all of them!

This is my favorite one so far! It features the fantastic ruching and perfectly fitting short sleeves.

Another feature that I wanted to have in this pattern, was the ability to be beautiful from "just showing" to 40 weeks. It never fails that my shirts don't fit at the end of my pregnancies, and I know there are other mammas who have the same issue. I needed length and room.

Bam! Mission accomplished!

This maternity shirt pattern fits and flatters a "just showing" tummy to "late in the game" and as you can see, there's still quite a bit of room under that belly for more growth!

Here's another shot of the difference between the two belly shots! It's classy and cute, regardless of how large that belly is!

I always feel like a tank when I'm pregnant, so classy looks and form fitting shirts is important to me. When I first started this design, it took me many many attempts before I finally had a great fitting bodice AND belly. This maternity shirt design is made perfectly for the mamma who doesn't want to wear a tent, but doesn't want skin tight clothing either!

Even at the "large" belly stage, there is still plenty of room to wiggle and not feel skin tight.

Excuse my 'backside' photo below, but I wanted to show you that the back of me doesn't look pregnant at all! I love this design!

Un-maternity looking backside

This maternity shirt pattern is so easy. The ruching instructions and technique is incredibly simple, yet perfectly effective!

example of ruching sides

example of ruching sides

 Another feature that I thought was important is the neckline of my maternity shirt pattern. I wanted something that was feminine and classy, yet nothing that went too low. I have other babies that I'm constantly chasing, and I don't want to feel like I'm "hanging out" when I bend over. This neckline is perfect for keeping the 'girls' tucked in. Because of the extra room from the ruching and the extra length, large tummies don't pull the neckline down. It's perfect where it is!

The last thing that I wanted to do with this design, was make it easy to recycle other pieces of clothing or fabrics into this shirt. I love to recycle from the thrift store, or make something unique out of something ordinary. In the maternity shirt tutorial, you will find many ideas to recycle things to help save money and our environment.

Barely pregnant, but still needing belly room

I hope you enjoyed this walk through of my maternity shirt pattern. Whenever I start a design, I have clear objectives of what I want. To make any pattern accommodate those objectives is important to me, because I design for myself! Then, when I love the design, I share it with you! What a fun opportunity it is to teach you and encourage you to make your own clothes. 

Barely pregnant, but still needing belly room