Our first book - Sewing for the Baby Bump

We're now authors. Amazing, right? " Sewing for the Baby Bump" is our first book, and we're super excited about the release. In this blog post, we'll tell you everything from the first draft to our sewing work and its release. Haven't bought the book yet? Well, it's about time. Click here.

It all started with a phone call last March. One day, we had the lovely Katharina from Dorling Kindersley Publishing on the phone. And you wouldn't believe it, but the publisher asked us if we wanted to write a book. What? A book? We couldn't believe it. After letting it all sink in for a bit, we did a little dance of joy in the office. Yes! It was true. They had asked us to write a book—what a wonderful, unexpected surprise. But how do you actually write a book like that?

Full of motivation, we put our creative minds together and developed the first concept. In keeping with the mara mea philosophy, the goal was to develop comfortable, stylish clothing that can be worn in a variety of situations, with or without a baby bump, or for breastfeeding. And of course, the patterns we developed ourselves should also be easy for beginners to sew. We developed 28 exciting projects. From a simple belly band to a quick last-minute top for those in a hurry to a cozy maternity slip-on dress. We wanted there to be something for everyone. And that worked, too. We've marked the difficulty levels with little thimbles. Whether you're a beginner or already have plenty of experience, simply use the thimble icons to find the right project and get started.

Once the concept for “Sewing for the Baby Bump” was established, we developed the patterns, obtained all the materials and ingredients, and began cutting.

Step by step, we photographed our sewing work for the instructions in the book and diligently wrote everything down so that we wouldn't forget anything in the explanations later.

Once all of the projects had been completed, it was time for the photo shoot. On a hot summer day in July, we photographed the first of our radiant mom-to-be models. The location was the botanical garden. A dream. Steffi braved the enormous temperature differences in the greenhouses. She mastered the shoot with confidence and helped us achieve wonderful results. As always, we had a lot of fun with our fantastic team, and this time we had two soon-to-be moms with us. Not only our beautiful model Steffi, but also our enchanting make-up artist were full of joyful anticipation. With so much positive energy, you could only be happy. We think you can see this joy in the pictures in the book, and we hope you have as much fun looking at the book as we did during the shoot and the development. The first day was a complete success. But until we had all the motifs in the bag, two more exciting shooting days followed in Berlin with our models Anna and Steffi.

Once we'd finished designing, sewing, photographing, and writing, all we had to do was send the projects to DK Publishing and wait for feedback. After some nervousness, we got the go-ahead! What a fantastic feeling. The publisher was just as happy with the result as we were. We had achieved our goal.

The finished book was published on March 22nd. After several months of preparation, development, and organization, we are proud to hold our first book in our hands. "Sewing for the Baby Bump" explains the basics of sewing. How does a sewing machine work? What are the different techniques, and how can I create my own maternity pieces? You'll find answers to all these questions in "Sewing for the Baby Bump." Be bold and create your very own maternity and nursing wear in your own style.

We are very grateful for the wonderful experience of writing this book. It has been a great pleasure for us to develop the many creative projects for you.

You can find the book " Sewing for the Baby Bump" in our online shop under the "Mama" category, or purchase or order it in our bookstore. We hope you enjoy the results as much as we do. If you have any questions about the book or our mara mea products, we'd love to hear from you.

All love,

your mara mea team

PS: Next week we’ll tell you about our press event for the book launch at the Dawanda Snuggery.

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Sewing for the baby bump – the story so far…

If you don't know already – firstly, where have you been? - But we are now published authors! Sewing for the baby bump is our very first book and we are super excited! In this exclusive blog post we will tell you all about our book from the first days of sewing all the way through to publication and everything in between. But what's that?! You haven't bought the book yet? Sacre bleu! What have you been waiting for? Click here now!

It all started last March when we received a rather interesting phone call. The caller was in fact the lovely Katharina from Dorling Kindersley publishing company and was asking us if we would be interested in writing a book. What? A book? We couldn't believe it. Initially we thought the mara mea madness had finally gone to our heads and this was all a delusion. But no, we were actually being asked to write our own sewing book. Just over a year since we had founded mara mea and we were now being given the opportunity to write our own sewing book - what a wonderful surprise! We gratefully accepted the offer and then thought to ourselves: ok, so how do you actually write a book…

High on first time writer's adrenaline we had to put our thinking caps (stylish ones, obvs) on and think of ideas to include in our book. Of course, our philosophy here at Mara Mea is to design comfortable, stylish wear that can be worn before, during and after pregnancy, and this had to resonate in the book. So, we looked to our own products for inspiration. Our kaftans, our skirts, our trousers and thought about how you, our lovely readers, could create them yourselves at home. So we came up with 28 different styles that you can easily make but that are still stylish, practical and full of mara mea vibes. Sound good? Then keep reading! For you we have created everything from must-have 'colorful bump bands' to quick and easy 'last minute tops,' to fluttering 'slip on dresses.' Everything you will ever want for you and your baby bump is in this book and can be easily sewn at home. All of the styles have also been marked out of three (with thimbles, naturally) to grade difficulty levels. So regardless of whether you're a complete beginner or have just won your tenth gold sewing medal, there is something for everyone.

After we eventually decided on the concept of 'sewing for the baby bump' we had to get to work on developing the styles, measurements and materials. We then top step by step photos of all of the designs and took notes so when we eventually came to write it, we wouldn't forget anything.

Now that all of our designs were ready, it was now time for our shooting. One hot summer's day in July we all met at the botanical gardens – what a dream! As normal for a mara mea photo shoot, we all met 2 mothers-to-be with us. One in the form of our glowing model, Steffi, and the other in the form of our beautiful make up artist, Monique. With so much positivity how could you not be happy? Steffi bravely soldiered on through many outfit changes, and even more temperature changes as we walked our way through the greenhouses. However, we think even Steffi would agree that we all had a lot of fun and we think it really shows in the book. Day one was a complete success, and the following two days where we shot with our lovely models, Anna and Steffi, were equally as enjoyable and successful. We hope you enjoy the photos as much as we enjoyed shooting them.

So with everything designed, sewn and photographed, all we had to do was send it off to the publisher and wait for feedback. After a few hiccups we finally got the go ahead, which was a great feeling. Our publisher was just as happy with it as we were, which meant we had reached our goal. The book was finally published on March ^22nd 2017 after a year of planning, designing and organizing and we were giddy with pride as we held our own book in our hands. It incorporates the basics of sewing with practical styles that all women can make – not just expectant mothers. But of course we also encourage you to be adventurous and experiment with the designs into a style that suits you – don't be afraid to unleash your inner seamstress. It also answers any sewing questions you might have, such as How do I work a sewing machine? How can I alter a design if it doesn't quite fit?

We are so incredibly grateful for this opportunity and overjoyed with the final result, from the first welcome page, to the final thank you page. You can buy our book, Sewing for the baby bump, from www.maramea.com or any good book shop. We hope you love it as much as we do and if you have any questions regarding the book or our own mara mea products, we would love to hear from you.

All our love,

Mara mea