Southern Fabric- Giveaway

How much does everyone love my great Sponsor

Southern Fabric ?

They carry the best designer names in fabric, and have an amazing selection of precuts and fabric bundles for your sewing and quilting needs!

They have so generously offered to giveaway 

this adorable CHARM PACK!

It's the London line from Dena Designs.

The charm pack contains 30, 6"x6" precut squares of coordinating fabrics from the London line.

Here's a closeup of some of the beautiful prints...

The giveaway will run until August 2nd, so get your entries in!

To enter:

"Like" Southern Fabric on Facebook HERE Then come back and leave me a comment telling me you did!

You'll love their FB page with up-to-date info on new fabrics and great sales!

Speaking of great sales...

They are having a SALE Right Now for 30% Off of Little Apples. These are the cutest prints, so get your hands on them now!!

Headbands and such...

I'm still here! We've been busy busy busy around here trying to get organized after our little remodel, as well as planning for Gray's birthday party!

Lots of pictures and a great birthday round up are coming soon. That is....after my emotional breakdown over my baby turning two!!!

I've been doing a little sewing, but nothing for us. I met a great boutique owner through Etsy who has been ordering my reversible headbands like crazy. I can barely ship them to her before she needs more...which is a good problem to have. I've been making them 25 at a time, which is time consuming.

She requested lots of animal prints and damask...so I was happy to oblige.

I've been getting to use my new sewing space too which is wonderful. Right between two windows with plenty of light, and a long table to spread my fabric out on.

I have several new "For Me" projects up my sleeve that I'm excited about starting. I can't wait to show them to you!!

Thanks for sticking around in my absence. We'll talk soon.

Dolman Sleeve Top {Tutorial}

I love dolamn sleeve tops. They're so loose and flattering, perfect for summer. I've only found a couple that I love in stores, and wanted more, so I thought about making my own.

I found this sweet little knit at our fabric store and knew it would be perfect. The red is knit, and the cream is a tightly-knit lace, making it super girly.

Here's a little tutorial on how I put mine together. It's not as in-depth as my usual tutorials, but it gets the job done!

Start with about 1 1/2 yards of stretchy knit. Make sure it's not too heavy so it drapes nicely.

I measured across my body from elbow to elbow with my arms stretched out for my width. Then I measured from my collarbone down to my hips for the length. We'll be adding a band later to add some length.

Cut out two rectangles of these demensions. Line up the stripes on the sides if you can!

Then using a shirt you already have, cut out a neckline on the front and back. I made mine the same on both sides.

This is where you use your imagination. Cut a slight angle down for the sleeve from the neck of the shirt. Then cut a couple of wonky "U" shapes under the arms to complete the sleeves. Leave yourself plenty of room under the arms, the looser the fit the airier it is.

The bottom will be too big...this is okay, we'll fix it later.

Sew the shoulder seams, the underarms and down the sides with your fabric right sides together.

For the bottom  band, measure around your waist exactly. You want the band to be fitted to your hips, the knit will stretch to help it fit. Measure from your hips how much length you want to add, then double that. You'll be folding the band in half.

Fold the short ends of the band together and stitch the ends making a tube.

Fold your band in half, hiding the edges of this seam in the middle.

Slip the band over the bottom of your shirt, with the raw edges at the bottom.

See This Tutorial for more pictures on how to do it.

Sew the band to the shirt, catching all the layers as you go. You'll have to stretch the band as you sew to get all the shirt fabric, but it will gather nicely once you're done!

I made my neckline a little too wide, so I added a little gathering stitch in the middle and drew it in some. I ended up really liking how this looks!

Make some bias tape with your knit and fold it over your raw neckline to finish it off. I left my sleeves unfinished because they draped better, and knit doesn't fray!

Steam your seams really well to give them a pollished look, and you're done!!

One super-drapey dolman sleeved top.

Okay, not the most flattering picture, but you get the point! It's drapey, and hip-hugging, and wonderful.

It was perfect for the heat and humidity of Charleston.

Queen Street....yes. In my own little world.

*Happy Sewing*

Featured on...

Mommy's Swim Cover-Up {Tutorial}

Here is a repost of a guest blog I did for Coats & Clark. Yes...THE Coats & Clark! Very excited.
The tutorial is a how-to to make your own swim cover up. Enjoy!
Click here for the original at their site.



Hey Ya'll! I'm Jenilyn from Grits and Giggles! I'm a wife and mommy who loves to sew and create for my home and family, especially for my baby girl.

After seeing this swim cover in a recent Victoria's Secret catalogue, I knew I had to have it. But for the price...I wanted to MAKE it!

Source: victoriassecret.com via Jenilyn on Pinterest

Here's how to make your very own
Victoria's Secret Swim Cover Look-alike.

This is not a very fitted garment, so you can be liberal with your measurements.

For a small size, I used 1 1/4 yard of lightweight fabric. Cotton gauze, quilting cottons, eyelet or any other summery fabric would work well.

You'll also need
1/2" elastic
1 package double fold bias tape
Matching Coats & Clark thread

I used Coats & Clark Dual Duty thread in Hot Pink

Take your measurements.

 Measure across your chest from elbow to elbow and add 2". This will be your width.

Measure from your shoulder to where you would like the garment to fall. Mid-thigh to knee length is a good length for this cover-up. This measurement is your length.

Cut two rectangles from your fabric following these demensions.

Lay your two pieces together, and find the top center of the rectangles. Using a shirt as your guide, or just estimating if you wish, cut out your neckline. Mine was a slight v-neck. You can make it as deep as you like.

With right sides together, sew the shoulders of your garment using a 1/4" seam allowance.

Hem all 4 sides of your new BIG rectangle using a serger, or by double rolling the hem. This means to fold up 1/4", then another 1/4" to hide the raw edges.

Lay your garment out so you can see and pin easily.

You will be sewing down the two sides with wrong sides together where indicated by the dark lines.

You'll sew approximately 3" in from the sides of the garment. You should start the seam at the middle of your ribcage, and stop sewing about 6" from the bottom. This will leave the bottom loose for easy sitting and walking.

Use pins to mark where you will start and stop sewing, as well as your sewing line. Just sew next to the pins.

Turn your garment inside out. Wrap your double fold bias tape around the waist to see how long to make it. Add 2 inches for ease, then cut your bias tape.

Iron the middle of the bias tape open. Leave the outside folds ironed in to hide the raw edges.

Pin the bias tape just below the underarm holes and sew down both sides of the tape making a casing for your elastic. Leave 2" unsewn on one side to thread your elastic through.

TIP: You have to dodge the "wings" created by sewing down the sides. When you get to those, reach inside the garment and move them to one side. Once that side is complete, flip them over to continue sewing around the inside. You do NOT want to sew the wings down.

Wrap a piece of elastic around your waist, and cut it to your waist size. Using a safety pin, thread the elastic through the casing.

Once it's through, overlap your elastic by 1" and stitch the ends together. Feed that end into the casing and sew the casing closed.

Now use your remaining bias tape to finish the neckline. Tuck the raw edges of your fabric between the bias tape and sew it in place.

You now have a beautifully finished neckline...and a finished cover up!!

Complete with an elastic, cinched waist for a flattering and comfortable fit!

You can always add ribbons, trims, pom-poms, appliques and other embellishments to make your cover-up truly unique to you!

Throw it on and head to the pool.

Cool, breezy, and beautiful.

And soooo much more economical than the store-bought version!

Happy Sewing

I hope you can stop by and visit Grits & Giggles sometime!

Make sure you check out our Sewing Patterns and free Tutorials.

Beach Trip: Part 2

Now for my favorite part of the beach trip....the Friends-cation!! As we grow our friends come and go, and friendships change. I have been soooo lucky to have some great friends for a long time. None longer than my friend Whitney.

 We have been friends for 18 YEARS people!! That's forever when you're in your 20's. We have always been close, even when I moved away for college, but now that I'm back home, we are growing up (not old) together and making new memories!

This trip was made more amazing by the wonderful people who came. We have all been friends for years.

There was a lot of "Bro-mance" going on. Boys have to stick together.

The girls had fun with our boys, and separately too. We had some good times shopping, and spending time on the beach.

I love my little family. Gray has more and more personality every single day. She's a wild one....

The boys took some time to revisit their fishing fishing trip when we went to the Battery.

Whit and Lindsay did some shopping in beautiful Downtown Charleston. I never knew there were so many shops there!

At the Battery with Fort Sumter in the background. A South Carolina staple.

This little girl LOVED the Pinapple Fountain. One of her favorite foods is pineapple or "pina-pina" as she calls it.

As we left she yelled "Bye-Bye Pina-Pina" It was too precious.

This was a perfect picture spot. Here's Josh and Lindsay.

And Whitney and Brent.

A little boy gave Gray a Palmetto Rose. These are beautiful roses made from palmetto "leaves". She loved her flower.

It was beautiful every day at the beach and we took full advantage. Gray now looks like a coppertone baby with tan lines and bleach-blonde hair.

Playing with Daddy!

Melts my heart

She is definitely a beach baby.

Brent was her best friend at the beach. He was teaching her to relax and soak it all in.

I think she enjoyed herself. I know we did!

The older we get, the harder it is to get everyone together in one place. Whether this was a once-in-a-lifetime trip, or the beginning of many more, it was an amazing time with great friends.