A Free Romper Pattern!

OK, I reeeaaally want to share more pictures of the romper I made for Romper Week but I am going to keep it on the down low until my post on June 17th!

Here's your tease:

 

The reason I'm posting the tease is to tell you that you can get this pattern FOR FREE!!!!

Heidi at Elegance & Elephants messaged me when I announced the Romper Week and was going to give the pattern away to 3 people.  She's had so much success with her previous two pattern releases that she decided to keep this romper pattern a freebie to EVERYONE!

Here are the details:

http://www.eleganceandelephants.com/2013/05/pleated-playsuit-pattern.html

 Instead, she will give 3 readers a copy of either her Ruffle Top or her Bubble Shorts!  You'll have the chance to enter the drawing during Romper Week June 17-21!


Sewing Mama RaeAnna | Naptime Crafters | SewVery | Compagnie M. | Designs by Sessa

Are you planning to sew along that week?  We would love to have you add your creation to our Flickr group HERE

I will also have a link party on Monday, June 17th for you to add your blog post/romper pictures!

And if you are planning to sew along, add our button to your blog!

<div align="center"><a href="http://sewingmamaraeanna.blogspot.com/2013/05/romper-week-day-1-and-link-party.html " title="Romper Week"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9MZgvpwjeTstz2iAr7xlkiWRPU-JSp4lWRCaHse6HT02-4HX_tKwgS_L0ELEbkNAX1YX_WX5yCLfdjHhoQ4QnzkibAVUVgGXMb-uT44qAzrw6SAWX1orqAeGWAhtX0hVev1DZ4WeLnPnj/s1600/Fullscreen+capture+5122013+95531+PM.jpg" alt="Romper Week" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

I can also announce that there will be a special sale on some of the romper patterns in Peekaboo Pattern Shop during our special week!

I hope you'll check back in a couple weeks!  It gives you plenty of time to make something cute and summery for your little boy or girl!  If you need inspiration click here!

Big Island Board Shorts

I am thrilled that Melissa of Melly Sews (Blank Slate Patterns) asked her affiliates to test out the new Big Island Board Shorts (affiliate link)!  I am guilty of sewing more for my daughter and I jumped at the chance to test so that my little buddy could have something new for the summer!  (He was able bodied for the photoshoot but a few days later he broke his little leg!  Thankfully the cast only has to stay on 3 more weeks!)



These shorts are soooo cute and easy to put together!  If you want to try your hand at making your own swim trunks you should definitely get this pattern!

Christian was happy to model his new outfit for me!  I bought the fabric at JoAnn's - it's not specifically board short fabric (shop at the fabricfairy.com for good swim trunk fabric), but it's lighter than quilting cotton and feels like it will dry pretty quickly!

His shirt is a tank from Walmart with the Planet Applique gecko design!  He calls it his "wizard" shirt (I love it when little kids can't pronounce their "L" sounds! haha!)

He had fun with the props - he was pretending to catch a lizard in the bucket!

"Here it is, mommy!"

 One of the options of the pattern is to sew a mesh liner inside!  I've never done this before but it is SUPER easy!!!  I've made plenty of diaper covers and it's basically the same thing only sewing with mesh.  At JoAnn's I found it in the utility fabric section.

If you do decide to purchase I would love it if you purchased through my affiliate link!

Click here for the Big Island Board Shorts

More Romper Week Details

I am really excited about this upcoming series!!!  I've seen more rompers making their way into popular sewing blogs and pattern designs and I hope you will come and share any rompers you plan to make this summer in our linky party!

Here is a Pinterest board that Marte (Compagnie M.) started for us to find inspiration on designs!
http://pinterest.com/compagniem/romper-inspiration/

Also, do you like this romper?

IT WILL BE FREE!!!!  That's right!  Heidi from Elegance and Elephants is GIVING AWAY this pdf pattern as a thank you for her success with the Ruffle Top pattern and Bubble Shorts pattern!

Read about it here!

E&E will also giveaway a copy of either the Ruffle Top or Bubble Shorts to 3 lucky readers!

 And, although it is not romper related, I wanted to share that I have just finished my first pattern!!!!  It will be available for free through my blog for a limited time!  Follow me on Bloglovin' or Facebook to make sure you don't miss it!

New Series - Flip this Pattern

I am really excited to announce a new series that my friends Ashley and Emily at Frances Suzanne are hosting!!!

(How cool is that logo?  They are some seriously talented sisters!!!)

<a href="http://bit.ly/12jUwB2" target="_blank"><img alt="Flip This Pattern" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht2QbEB_WB-hGUjP21xWb0zanuHcFTK_xkwXF0EzggvQ_Y96LVi0hEPm9G7zgrk0S8whrgAuTyM97GyVfd8BvuHx3AGL91qIk7MyWr3WG3iZF6862hY-be82YjImYhGORv4FxOM6DVjjWv/s1600/FlipthisPattern200pxLOGO.jpg"/></a>

You can grab this button for your blog if you want to join us in the sew-along!!!  I will be participating in the actual competition in February (the Violette Fields Threads Josephine) but hope to follow and sew along through the other months as well!  The first pattern that will be flipped is Elephant and Elegance's adorable Bubble Pocket Shorts!!! (See the link in the bottom graphic!)  I hope you can join all of us and participate in some sewing fun!!!!  The series starts June 5th!

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Also, stay tuned for more information on my series "Romper Week" and a fun giveaway for all the readers!!!

Vintage May

 

Hold the phones.......I think this little girl is oozing too much cuteness!



I'm showcasing this little outfit today as a teaser for my post on Project Run and Play next month!  I'll have the full tutorial of how to put this look together for your little girl!

 

I just love vintage inspired outfits and I uploaded these pictures to the Vintage May Flickr group!
Vintage May is an awesome blog series hosted by Jessica of Craftiness is Not Optional and Kristin of Skirt as Top!  This was the first series I religiously followed and even uploaded to a Flickr group! (see my post here) - I am amazed at how far I've come in my blogging and photography!  Here's to new growth!

 

And as an extra bonus, here are some pictures we took at our local retro cafe - Marcy Jo's! The country music duo Joey and Rory perform here and it's their family that owns the restaurant and land! (If you go, you have to get a homemade cinnamon bun!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Romper Week Announced!

I am very excited to announce my first series!!!  Have you noticed how popular girl rompers are right now for the summer?  Even in the real fashion world it seems like rompers are all the rage! (I have an obsession with watching Fashion Star!)

Our Romper Week is not just for girls - adorable boy rompers like the iconic "Jon-Jon" are a must for little kids to keep cool in the summer heat!

Sewing Mama RaeAnna | Naptime Crafters | SewVery | Compagnie M. | Designs by Sessa

Make sure you come check out all the cuteness next month and we will have a link party at the end where you can showcase your favorite romper! 

Zig Zag Dress blog tour

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today!  If you've followed the other Zig Zag Dresses you'll notice I took liberty with the sleeves in my version:



I wanted to make sure I had Kate's permission to change since I committed to being in the blog tour.....I didn't want to go all rogue on her awesome hard work!!! lol!  I had the original sleeve length cut out and ready to go but there would be some directional issues with this print!

 

I do love the way the dots have kind of an ombre effect - and I absolutely love this color on my little girl!  The fabric is Jennifer Paganelli and it's called "Bell Bottoms"  You can see all the other variations of the Zig Zag dress by clicking the blog links below!  I'm so honored to have been part of a great pattern tour!!

Justine at Sew Country Chick | Veronica at Sew Very | Sabra at Sew a Straight Line | Ashley at Cherished Bliss | Angelina at JoJo and Eloise | Summer at Sumo's Sweet Stuff | Jen at The Crafting Fiend | RaeAnna at Sewing Mama RaeAnna

 

 The features that I love about this dress is how easy it is to put together and the perfect pleating placement in the skirt!  I also learned a new sewing technique - Kate explains what "scoring" is when trimming your seams....I've never done that before!  Thank you for teaching me something new! :)

 

I do plan to make some more dresses with this pattern!  I didn't use any piping on the bottom of the bodice but now I wish that I had used some red piping!  I think it would have been the perfect pop of color!


 And although I always love flutter sleeves, I think the original pattern with the elastic 3/4 length sleeve will be perfect for a dress this fall!

At the end of our photoshoot this is what the dress looked like:
 

We had so much fun at Mimi and Pop Pops but I think Eva Mae is trying to tell me that she's ready to get cleaned up!
 

Thank you again, Kate, for having me participate in your awesome blog tour!  I've loved seeing all the adorable Zig Zag Dresses!