Goodbye 2013! Thanks for a great year!!!

 

Wow!  What an awesome year!!!  As I look back over 2013 I am amazed at how much I accomplished! And I also realize how quickly my kids are growing up!

In no particular order, I picked 12 of my favorite posts!  Here there are from top left to right:

Eva Mae's Button Party - I think having parties for my kids is the highlight of my year!  I love planning their outfit, cake, and party details!

The Scrubby Jams Pattern - This was my second drafted pattern!  It's a free pattern download!  I loved being able to come up with the pattern pieces and instructions so people can sew uniforms for the school in Haiti!  I donated a large sum of my pattern sales from the Bumblebee to the school to help pay for their food!  Click the link to read about this great ministry!

Peek-a-Boo Spring Tour - I loved this cute ruffle pant pattern and matched it with an applique shirt for Easter!

The Bumblebee Pattern - my first reeeaaaal pattern for sale!  I love seeing different versions of the dress by so many talented seamstresses!

A Seersucker Summer - this is the post with the matching cousin outfits!!!  We love getting together each year with our extended family in Idaho!

Paper Airplane Party - Again, my kid's birthday parties are so much fun!  This post is extra special because one of my images was shared on the Disney Baby blog!

Casual Lady - I used the pattern "Casual Lady" to create my look for the sewing competition "The Sew Off" - I took 3rd place!

Cupcake Top - My latest pattern!  It's an adorable unisex long sleeve knit t-shirt!

Goodship Dress - Eva Mae's Easter dress for church was made in the adorable fabric by Sarah Jane (Out to Sea) - I love how it looks on her!

Pleated Party Dress - This was my look for the Project Run and Play remix week!

Chevron Bubble Romper - I love the pictures I took of Eva Mae in this romper!  She was the cutest patriotic baby on 4th of July!

Junebug Dress - This dress was made from my grandma's plaid shirt.  The post is very sentimental - if you didn't get a chance to read it I hope you will!  The holidays are so hard because we all miss having the original Eva Mae around. :'(

Thank you so much for supporting me this year!  I can't believe the growth that my little ol' blog has seen and I'm excited to share some fun news with you next week!!!  (hint......I was chosen for something sewing/blogging related but I'm not telling you what it is quite yet!)

Shannon Fabric Guest Post

  

 Visit my tutorial over at Shannon Fabrics today!  I have a tutorial and pattern to create something special for a little baby!

monogrammed boot socks

I love projects that go from idea to completion in an hour or so!!!  I seriously whipped these up in no time tonight and wanted to share with you now to go along with an announcement at the end of the post!

Here's how to make a cute pair of lace trimmed boot socks in a flash.....

First, raid your closet for a sweater and some lace (I rarely wear these so it wasn't hard for me to cut them up!  You could go to Goodwill or a thrift store if you don't want to play Frankenstein with any of your clothes!)

 

Second, cut out the strips you need for your boot socks.  I used stretchy sweater material that was 13" wide and 14" tall.  The stretchy lace I used was 15" wide and 4" tall.  And then I cut a little trim off the lace top that is about 11" long. 

 

Fold your lace in half and pin with right sides together to the top of your sweater boot sock.  Sew 3/8" with a zig zag stitch across the raw edge. I stretched my lace as I was sewing so that it would make it easier to go over my calves.

 

Flip up the top trim and now fold the sock with right sides together so the side seam matches.  Sandwich in any little trim you want to peek out of the seam.  Sew the sides together with a straight stitch and turn right sides out.  

 Here you go!!!  Add a monogram or some cute buttons to finish the look!

 

If you follow my blog you know that I loooooove my southern style - monograms are a girl's best friend!


My mom said the only problem with my boot socks is that they have an "R" instead of an "S"...... 

 

I know what she's getting for a stocking stuffer!


As for the announcement, I wanted to let you all know of a fun new series that I'll host the week of January 13th-17th!  I have some great bloggers lined up to showcase some projects and tutorials featuring LACE!!!  And we'll have a link party and Pinterest board as well to share and inspire creations - I hope you'll join us!

 

Follow me on bloglovin or FB to stay up to date!!!

-RaeAnna

You can PIN this graphic (or any others from this post) to add to your DIY Pinterest board!

Cupcake Top Pattern is Here

Good things come to those that wait!!!  I've had to be patient while revising this pattern to finally have the fit and look that I envisioned!  I'm so thankful to the many testers who gave their feedback and helped me complete this adorable idea for a top!

 

You can continue to read the post or for a quick review of what this pattern includes, check out the flyer: (click this link to open a PDF)

The revisions finalized the size and construction of the kangaroo pocket!  My last round loved how it turned out and they were so helpful to get all the little details right!!!

 

One of the design elements I love is that you can leave the ruffles out to have a simple t-shirt!
(With or without a pocket!)

 

I was aiming for a birthday release of the pattern but we are so close I'm still celebrating Eva Mae's 2nd birthday! (Click for pictures!!)  You can get the pattern for 1/2 off today (Monday), Tuesday and Wednesday ONLY!  It goes back up to full price on Thursday 6am CST! Just enter the code "BIRTHDAY" at the checkout!

******UPDATE - promo has ended*******

  

My joke with this pattern name has been that my kids will now expect every pattern to have a yummy title!  The first round of the Cupcake top had pictures taken at Gigi's Cupcakes!!!

 

After a few revisions we did another photoshoot at the park with more cupcakes!

 

I think Eva Mae likes them!  Haha!

And brother too!

 

The t-shirt is meant to have a longer length - more like a tunic!  And it should have a comfortable slim fit.  Make sure to check the chest measurements to choose your size!  There are two lines to cut for the sleeves and bodice hem.  One is a shorter length so that you can add the ruffles and the longer length is meant to hem without ruffles!

 

The testing was such a fun process and I look forward to sharing more photos on my blog and facebook as different versions are sewn and shared!!!!

 

 

 

 

Thank you again to all my great testers!!!  And thank you for reading to the end! haha!  You deserve a virtual cupcake...........

Now, go grab the pattern in my shop!!!

 

Norah Dress Pattern Tour

I had SO MUCH FUN sewing this dress and taking photos at our local park!  The Norah Dress by Mouse House Creations is a great a-line pattern with a ton of options!  In a time crunch?  Do what I did and make a sleeveless/collarless version!  The bare bones of the pattern and it looks so cute!
  

When I decided to join in the pattern tour I wanted to use my stash fabric for the dress and I knew that this Sock Monkey fabric was PERFECT!!!  It's busy so a dress pattern with a lot of pieces wouldn't work.  A nice clean pattern piece is just what this print needs!

I sized down the pattern for my itty bitty niece!  She's in 3-6months right now and it ended up being more of a tunic but fit great in the chest!  My mom came to the park with us and we had so much fun playing and being silly monkeys!

I'm in love with how some of these photos turned out!  I'm still developing my photo editing skills - any picture with a little baby can never be a bad picture!!!

Look at those eyes!!!  My brother has one adorable kid!  I predict there will be many more visits of Baby G on this blog!

Another addition to the dress was using my first wooden button!  When I ordered from Pick Your Plum I didn't realize they would be so huge!  I think it looks fun on this dress (and I obviously didn't use the lint roller before heading out the door,)

I want my little girl to STOP GROWING!  She had so much fun showing off her riding skills to Mimi!



And of course Mimi just looooooves playing with her grands!  Too bad they won't look at the camera!



Thank you so much for stopping by and checking out my version of the Norah!  I love that you can make this dress so chic and fun with the collars and sleeves but it can be just as fun as a basic dress silhouette!