I was at the top of my game in banking at the ripe old age of 30. Just after receiving a big promotion, I found out that I was pregnant, and a month later that I would be having twins! While they were somewhat of a surprise, we were happy. I typically wore suits to work (this was the 80’s and business casual was not yet a thing). The problem was that there were very few options for executive women’s wardrobes.

Maternity clothing by nature is a temporary wardrobe, and offerings were cheap, poorly designed and akin to baggy pajamas. It was really hard to look the part of an upcoming executive wearing floppy pants, with shirts that had those poofy short sleeves and bright colors. There was a shop called “Motherhood” that offered a better selection for the working woman but the pricing was outrageous and out of the question on my budget.

On my way back from that store on my lunch break I saw a fabric store and decided to have a look. The had beautiful worsted wool blends and rich fabrics in nice “boardroom” colors: navy, grey pinstripe, etc. They also had Vogue patterns for maternity suits! I purchased the navy worsted wool, with enough fabric for one of the suit patterns and decided to give it a try.

Mind you, the last time I had sewn anything was in junior high school (they didn’t call it middle school yet). But I did rather well, and even enjoyed the classes back then, so I decided to give it my best shot.

The suit turned out amazing and I had even made a couple of mistakes along the way, but yet was still able to finish it into a wearable suit that was way better than anything I could afford at that time.

I returned to the store, and purchased enough to make four more suits and rotated them for the balance of my pregnancy. Total cost was less than one suit at “Motherhood”.

I continued sewing for awhile after our twins came along and as I sit here writing, I think I just might take it up again.