My dream... Pattern Stash

The spring summer cleaning bug hit me this weekend, like literally when EVERYTHING in my craft closet fell out on my head. (more on that later) After I reorganized all my crafting stash, including my fabric hoard, I felt ubber (definitely a word) inspired to get some selfish sewing done. So I of course spent the evening searching the internet for new patterns to love on. Now here I am sharing the love...
(P.S. I got so inspired I started a sewing pattern wish list board you should check out!)


                       

First off is made by Rae's washi dress pattern. How can you not want to sew this dress after seeing SO many great variations around the web!

                 

Holla Grainline studio! This is the most normal shorts pattern I have ever found. Simple. Sweet. It looks like something I would wear everyday. The scout tee would not have grabbed my attention on it's own, but I have seen some pretty awesome ones on the inter-web.


                   

                   

Megan Neilsen I am in love. truly!  Do you see those culottes? I need that pattern, along with the blouse, tank, and sweater... And I hear they are so pretty in their little packages too. I am thinking this may be the first pattern designer I will have to purchase from.





Victory patterns is rockin' too! This is not my usual everyday wear but if I have a special occasion this is the site I will be visiting.

There are more but I will stop here before my (and your) bank account kills me! Happy sewing!

Easy Peasy homemade babyshower gift

My dear friend is having a sweet baby girl soon. I needed something to give her besides my go-to baby shower gift, my personal lifesaver, the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. (affiliate link) So I made a couple of sweet outfits for her.

I used the circle skirt pattern from MADE and dyed cotton onsies to match. I love sewing for newborns because  it always looks like little doll outfits!

The flowers on the headbands were made by following this tutorial.  the only change I made was to not use any felt instead I used fabric circles for the base.

 

I am excited to hand this gift over this weekend and I am even more excited to see a sweet new baby in this outfit!

 

Rachel

Banyan shorts

I hinted last week that although the blog's been quiet the sewing machine has still been a whirring. Here is some evidence for you. I made the Banyan shorts by Figgy's patterns. The list of things that I sewed for the first time for this pattern is epic! 

•  cuffs
•  functioning fly
•  pleats
• first time using button hole elastic
•  patch pocket

Wild huh?! And I think they turned out okay. Now, I will just keep to myself how many hours days it took me to make these bad boys, especially that fly... and I STILL didn't get it quite right! But next time I definitely think I could cut my time in half, and get the fly right. :) The fabric is Amy Butler and I lurv it. Honestly I think using such a busy print was a lifesaver in hiding all my little mistakes. The only sad news about these shorts is that they are to big for the Z-baby. Better to big than too small right!

A super sweet button from my stash. Isn't it just perfect!

Pretty aren't they. I kind of want some in my size too!

Happy sewing

Rachel

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KCW finally

I ran out of time to sew at the end of the week but not before I finished up two more pieces.

The Popover dress is a free pattern from Oliver + S. The patterns is very simple, a quick sew, and a great dress to showcase a fun fabric. I liked how the dress turned out but I was a wee bit scared that the ties would bother Zadie. Good thing my worries were unfounded because Z-baby LOVES this dress. She needed to wear it the minute she saw it. The girl rocked it too!

I was happy to finally find a place to showcase this amazing fabric. Tula Pink's Saltwater fabric line is my favorite on the market right now and I have been hording a little stash. Don't you just LOVE the submarines on this print?!

I also finished a pair of Elegance and Elephants bubble pockets shorts. Can I just tell you how much I adore this pattern! They are so cute, hardly use any fabric, and have an elastic wait...SQUEAL! I foresee many pairs of these bad boys in my future!

Isn't the contrasting fabric so stinking cute! Well that is all I managed to finish this round of KCW and I must say I am rather pleased! If you missed any of my other posts this week here they are: Ottobre Tangerine top and the boardwalk skirt.

Rach

KCW day 3

If you follow me on instagram then you saw this little sneak peek at the and of KWC day two.

Thankfully, I got to sqeeze in the time to sew it up. This pattern is called Tangerine from Ottobre Spring 11. I really love how it turned out. Please ignore all the dangling strings!

And a little hint at today's sewing...

                    

Rach

Kids clothing week day 2

Hi friends! SO I have realized that when I sew a lot I blog, well, none. Sorry! Good news is that I have been sewing a TON lately and have some good eye candy for you. Right now, I am participating in kid's clothing week challenge. Day one was spent collecting fabric and cutting out the patterns. Today I got to actually sew! Whew, I hate cutting.

True to nature, I totally bailed on my list and snatched up the go to pattern's boardwalk skirt when it was offered 40 percent off. I love the two layer look! I replaced the regular waist with jersey and I used ALL repurposed   material! Using only repurposed material is my personal goal this year, let's see how I do.

PR&P signature style week

It is the final week of project run and play and the theme was 'signature style.' Over the past year of increasing my sewing skills (I use that word lightly ;) I have learned a little bit more about my style, especially for my kids. I love simple and comfortable with a little flair. I love play clothes as much as any mom, but what I REALLY love are cute little dresses that can be played in and still allow my girls to look like the little divas princesses they are. When I saw the go to shift dress in the huge pattern sale last week I was immediately sold. Luckily the size three only called for a yard so I got to use my VERY FAVORITE FABRIC IN THE WHOLE WORLD right now :) Salt Water by Tula Pink.

(Love this keyhole detail!)

We are a family that loves the ocean. My husband was a beach lifeguard for 5 years while we were dating and he still surfs and fishes constantly as often as he can. Z-baby has already started to ask if she can learn to surf and we just purchased a family kayak (which honestly kinda scares the bejeebes out of me because as much as I love the beach a near drowning incident when I was a teen left me with a healthy fear of the ocean's power.)

 We go to the beach at least once a week year round and my girls are already little beach bums. I love it and I love this fabric. A little ocean, a little whimsy, my heart flutters...

 To finish off the look I made her a simple shell headband. She loves her "treasures" from the beach and I wish you could have seen how pleased she was when I showed it to her! Actually, she loved the whole outfit so much that she CRIED when I took it off of her- Score!

I really love it with or without the belt. It just looks so comfortable without being frumpy and it really lets the fabric shine! I think she inherited our love for free and easy style. The girl is rocking this outfit!

xo

Rachel

Grandparent {or any adult} valentine gift

V-Day is in T minus two days and I already finished my Valentines! We like to get the grandma's a little  something and surprise them at work with it. This year our lemon tree went crazy! We had SO MANY huge lemons (ponderosa lemons) and no idea what to do with them, so we got out the faithful old juicer. When I was brainstorming ideas for grandma-treats I had an epiphany, why not share a little lemony goodness! Maybe the grandma's will want to return the good deed with some lemon-flavored treats (hint, hint!)

I found this free printable at see vanessa craft. I just glued them to the top and tied a little bakers twine bow around the jar to finish it off. 

Easy Valentine- check. 

Useful Valentine-check. 

Cheap Valentine- check

Paired with a sweet painting done by z-baby, I think the grandma's will LOVE their gift. And more importantly I think they will FEEL the love we have for them!

Happy day of love!

xo

Rachel

Project run and play :: men's shirt challenge

So, in spite of the five million things I NEED to sew I decided to participate in the PR&P challenge this week. I just couldn't resist. It has been on my sewing bucket list to refashion a men's shirt for a while. Well actually ever since I saw Dana's shirt dress tutorial on MADE.

Can you tell that Zadie baby LOVES when her fingernails are painted :) I made the shirt dress a shirt tunic, kinda on accident, and I also decided to leave off the waist band because I loved the simplicity of the look. Since this is the second outfit I made for Zadie I figured Mattie needed some love too.

I drew my inspiration from luvinthemommyhood's shirtsleeves to pants tutorial. I paired that with See Kate Sew's baby bloomers pattern and a little of my own ingenuity. I think the end result is pretty stinking cute. Mat liked them so much she pooed in them, thanks baby ;) Well even though I didn't get to check anything off my immediate to-do list the bucket list is just as important, right?!
This was a fun challenge!

xo

Rachel