The Blue Waves Top

This is top #2 for the Spring Top Sewalong at Made By Rae. The first top was the Pintucked J. Crew Knock Off.

 I have been wanting to try sewing with new fabrics, and I decided to try my hand at polyester knit. Oh. My. Gosh. This fabric is amazing. I usually love "natural" fabrics, but this knit doesn't wrinkle, it doesn't fray, it doesn't curl, and it sews like a dream. Not to mention it is stretchy so is super comfortable to wear.

I like wearing sleeveless shirts, but I don't love low necklines, so a hight neckline was on my list of must-haves. And I can never find shirts long enough, so I wanted to suuuuper long to fit nice and low on my hips.

The Blue Waves Top was born.

I wish ya'll could feel how comfortable this top truly is.

One day you might...because I WILL be making another one soon, and there WILL be a tutorial. I know how ya'll love DIY's.

It's snug in the hips, and lose around my tummy. I don't worry about straps slipping with a nicely tied bow around the shouler.

Perfect for a night out, or relaxing at home.

(or outside on the park bench)

It makes me jump for joy.

Party Planning

Yes...it's still several months until Gray's 2nd birthday. I'm trying to avoid my denial, and work through it with party planning!! It's never too early to start, and if I do a few crafty things now, then they won't sneak up on me at the last minute.

I've been pinning, and scouring the internet for fun ideas for her little party. I finally have a theme (secret for now!), but I know she'll love it because it involves her FAVORITE thing in the whole world...other than me of course. Oh who am I kidding...she likes her Daddy the best, but I'm a close second.

Last year, her party was outside, and in the middle of August, we're talking triple digit temperatures around here! This year, we may try to keep more of the party inside, or at least hope for some clouds.

Here are a few party ideas I'm loving to help me with my party planning...

I love these paper pinwheels from Kojo-Designs. They are super easy and really dress up a wall.

Kojo Designs

These little flip flops might have to be part of Gray's birthday outfit. They're so stinking cute I may need to make a few pair for this summer anyways.

The Mother Huddle

Natalie's pennant banner is a great party go-to! I love the little streamers

Johnny In A Dress

I made some cake pops last year (and forgot to put them out!), but they are time consuming. These marshmallow pops look so sweet and easy to make. No baking involved.

Mommy Gaga

It's easier to look forward to a party than it is to remember that your BABY is going to be a year older. She's a joy though, and I love watching her grown and learn!

The Whitney Dress

In the midst of naming my patterns after friends, I asked Whitney what kind of pattern I should make to name for her. She said "A Dress...with Ruffles." Being very girly herself, I kind of thought that this is what she would choose.

In one of my favorite pictures of Whit, Me, Candice, and Lauren together, she is wearing a brown zebra-striped top, and I LOVE it, so it was my fabric inspiration for this dress for Gray.

The pattern will be coming out soon, along with the Morgan Dress, and will be available in the SHOP.

The Whitney Dress is very versatile, with two strap options and two finished bottom options! You can do 4 straps that tie over the shoulder with a flat band at the bottom of the dress....

Or do a halter style strap with a ruffled band!! OR.....mix and match...it's totally up to you!

This is an "Easy-to-Sew" project, so if you are a confident sewer, or want to test your skills as a learning beginner, this dress would be great for you.

I made this little dress with leftovers from other projects...and it's fabulous!

Hubby doesn't like halter straps on Gray, so after I made the dress he requested I change them to tie over her shoulder. I love it both ways, but I want him to let her wear it often.

The ruffles make it sooooo girly.

Perfect for Spring Time!

Is there anything cuter than baby feet?? I don't think so either.

Be on the lookout for the pattern, coming very soon.

Custom Ring Sling

I LOVE babywearing. It's something I had never really heard of before having Grayson. I had seen people on TV with their front carriers...the cool dad walking around the park with his kid strapped to his stomach, you've seen them. Once Gray was here, I realized that is is THE BEST way to take a baby out in public, or get things done around the house.

Gray has been in her fair share of pouches, ring slings, and now a woven wrap to keep her cozy and next to me while we're out getting things done.

Just last week we did a 5K with her strapped very cozily to my back!

A high school friend of mine wrote me last week wanting a ring sling for her new baby (Born last week...Congrats!) I was more than happy to make her one.

She gave me great flexibility with the color/style. I had a list of her favorite colors to go on, and the shopping was up to me! I found the softest, most vibrant lime linen at my fabric store and knew it would be perfect.

It's 2 yards in length, and 30" wide so it will snuggle a newborn and easily carry a toddler.

The shoulder is pleated for comfort, and the scalloped stitching adds sweet detail.

I hope she and her new baby enjoy it as much as I loved making it!

Are you expecting a new little one?? Need something to help snuggle your toddler while you're shopping? Need a unique and beautiful shower gift? I would love to make a custom sling for YOU.

Send me a message HERE

The Morgan Dress

Oh how I love this dress. This is the 4th of this sweet little dress I've made. The First two dresses were super cute, but I didn't like the elastic on the sleeves. It seemed too constricting. Then came the Orange Gingham dress that fit much better.

I decided to make a pattern from the orange dress, and it will be my next available pattern in the shop.

The actual pattern is done, so I was testing it for size, and writing the directions. I found this great green, blue and brown fabric and knew it would be perfect.

It's a perfect Spring and Summer dress. Plenty of room to run and play!

And Climb!

Sometimes the sweetness wears off.

I can't wait to have this pattern available. I will be doing some more pattern testing soon to make sure all of the sizes are accurate.

It's an easy pattern with only 4 pieces, and is a great intro into sewing sleeves if that makes you nervous.

Love. Love. Love.

The pattern is named after my girlfriend Morgan, my BFF from college. It's such a sweet and girly dress, and she is ABSOLUTELY both of those. I blame her for my love of many things "girly", because until I met her, I would have nothing to do with anything "girly". Oh how things change.

The Lauren Twirl Skirt

The Pattern is Here!!!

After lots of work and love, and some seriously adorable skirts from my pattern testers, the pattern is available in the SHOP.

The 16 page eBook is FULL of color photos and step-by-step on how to put the skirt together, with optional embellishments. It is for sizes 12-18 months - 5T, but could easily be made a little smaller or larger if you adjust some measurements on your own.

Sherry from What I Made Today made these two adorable skirts for her little girls. I love how they coordinate without being too matchy!

My friend Amy made these two sweet little skirts. How much do you LOVE the Minnie Mouse??

This skirt is SUPER simple to sew together and the possiblities for fabric combinations are truly endless. One of Sherry's had a lace overlay! I wish I had thought of that!

You may sell these skirts in small quantities, locally, or in an Etsy shop after purchasing the pattern. It's a great little piece to have in your shop, or in your little girls wardrobe in every color!

Find it HERE.

J. Crew Knock-Off {Tutorial}

It's Spring Top Week over at Made By Rae and this year I get to participate! I just missed it last year because...I didn't know how to sew. Now that we've solved that problem, I'm excited to show you my inspiration.

I saw this sweet little shirt at J. Crew and fell in love. I loved the pintuck-pleated neckline. I didn't, however, like the price. $58. No thank you.



So I decided to recreate one for myself. Only instead of linen, I wanted to use knit, and wanted a few less pleats. I also made it extra long, because I can never find shirts as long as I like them.

(How do we feel about the curls?? I'm loving them right now.)

I decided to angle my pintucks to create a more unique shape rather than sew them straight down.

Want to make your own??

It's super simple and you may could even do it to a shirt you already own!

First, cut a front and back out of knit, using a tank you already have that fits well. Add just a little extra width to the front where you'll be doing the pintucks.

Fold your front piece in half, WRONG sides together and pin down the middle at the top.

Sew with an itty-bitty seam allowance as far down as you want the pleated look to go. I went the deepest on the middle pleat.

Move over about 1/4" and make another pleat on each side of  the middle one.

Keep going until you have as many as you want. You can do the back too, but I only wanted the front.

Iron your pleats from the back to open up your fabric.

Make some bias tape out of your knit and sew it onto the neckline to finish it.

Finish your armholes as desired, by roll-hemming or using bias tape, then sew the shoulders and sides together.

You've got a very sweet, J. Crew-esque top!

I wore this the other day and Hubby asked me where I bought it. SCORE!! I love it when things don't LOOK homemade. And the shirt is super comfy, so it will get lots of love this summer.