MOVING SALE

Hi! Don't be mad at my mommy!!!!! She is SO sorry that she hasn't been here in so long!!!



 Ahhh my sweet girl, - I had to start off today with her!

As you know we are moving, and trying to sell our home AND we both work full time. We close on our new house in exactly a month. My mind is running on high gear and I am trying to take care of a million things at once!

 

BUT I do have a treat for you- a BIG TIME SALE in my etsy shop. Go HERE!!!

I am offering 25% off anything... and that includes your entire order! You don't have to spend a minimum either... just go there, pick out something you want, add it to your cart, and at check out enter code MOVING20 and you will get 25% off your order, (excluding shipping)

It is an excellent time to get some goodies for summer... dresses are perfect for summer photo sessions AND pictures when you are on vacation. This picture was from our trip to Hilton Head, SC last year.... LOVE!
 

 

 

 

Head on over and treat yourself!

 

  So just so you know what I have swirling in my head, amidst all other design things I want to do to my new home..... I have so many new things I want to sew and show you too! I am half way into a fold over clutch, want to make some adorable bubble shorts that everyone and their brother is making on Instagram, and I also wanted to make my mom and mother-in-law a few quilted mug rugs, but guess what... this lady is spent. I am emotionally and physically exhausted from the moving process, oh and duh I have two little girls to tend to too!  So all that stuff is on hold but I promise as soon as July is here and we are settled in a bit I will get back into showing you some awesome stuff.

 

It's been a ride to sale the least, (haha, to SALE the least....get it?) but no pain no gain right?


P.S. here is some baby cuteness for you- Emmie just turned 11 months, and is SUCH a sweetie-pie these days!




 

 
 

XOXO- Lauren

 

Where in the world is Lauren?

Oh my goodness!!!! All I am so sorry I have been MIA!!

 

BUT

 

 I have some exciting news!!!

We bought a house and just put ours up for sale and it has been nuts around my house! I may be taking some time off from the blog world for a few months, and my etsy shop for that matter, to do all this crap to ensure the move goes smoothly!!! Please understand!

I am soooo sad I can't sew right now but I am so happy that our family will be getting into what I hope will be our forever home. Here she is! Until we meet again please pray (to St Joseph) we sell our home quickly and have a smooth transition into the new house!!!

 

 

 

Thanks all! Much love!

XOXO- L

Project Run and Play - Week 4

Wow that was a good run!

I had so much fun sewing along with my first season of Project Run and Play. It was a challenge in some areas, and in others just pure creativity time! I loved it! I am so thankful for the folks I met along the way!

 

 

This final week was all about formal wear, an Easter dress perhaps... I actually had half of this done a while ago, I just had to come up with something coordinating for Emmie....



I knew I wanted the girls to match a bit for Easter but I am not the matchy-matchy type so I just use some of the same fabric for each and used a different dress design for each of them too... I want them to have their own personalities and while I like them to match a little it isn't necessary for them to wear the SAME thing. :)
 

 I am not your typical frilly dress type person either- unless my daughter begs for a huge twirl type situation. I like little girls in dresses but I don't like all the crazy details that people sometimes put on them, just unnecessary in my opinion. I like simple and clean, or boho/trendy. The stuff you can find at your typical department store just makes me ill sometimes. Lace/polka dots/buttons/embellishments make me think, "who would by that dress?" I love having the freedom to sew whatever I want!

 

 

 

So this spring my daugthers would get a few coordinating dresses without the frill but that would satisfy that Easter attire that they needed.

 

Below is Hannah's. I used Anna Maria Horner's Paper Fan Dress Pattern as inspiration on this dress. I used her bodice pattern piece, and then decided to add some of my own details and leave out the paper fan detail around the skirt, (sorry Anna, I didn't have time for that!) then added a belt and a lovely ruffle around the neck.

 

It came out gorgeous, and the pictures were to die for, actually taken on my iphone! My sweetie was so willing to model on this day! One of my all time favs of Hannah!

 

I want one in my size! Well, maybe something coordinating.  And little bitty Emmie has something coordinating that Mommy whipped up too....



They both have Anna Maria Horner and Jennifer Paganelli prints in their dresses but they don't have the same style. They age gap between my girls is almost 5 years... so it isn't like a totally matchy-matchy dress would work for each of them anyways.

I really love the detail on the back of Hannahs, and it was a quick sew! Sorta! My machine got all sorts of mixed up when I did these button holes. Normally she is great a button holes but on this day she was like uh, I forget how to sew a darn button hole! Argh!

 

Emmaline's.... well hers is just a knot dress pattern that I have had forever but instead of a sash, I made her a ruffle around the waist. ADORBS!

 

 

 I don't like the knots/straps hanging down on little babies so I made her straps extra long so they could be tied in the back. She seems happy about that too.

 

 

I just love how they turned out.
 

I am just going to leave you with some baby love.....Emmie had an outdoor photo shoot, and some of her shots came out great... too great, not to share!

Babies are SO hard to photograph!
 

Oh, no you don't,...... not crawling away from me. I am remember Hannah being difficult to photograph too but this little Emmie will take off at 50mph at any moment so you gotta watch out.

 

Ahhhh so sweet.

 

 

Thank goodness for the grass and mulch laying around, perfect distraction, and the cars driving by.

 

 

 

Thank you to EVERYONE who took a little visit to my little old blog the past 4 weeks, and read along as I showed what I came up with this season.

I really appreciate all of your comments and wonderful feedback!

 

XO- L

Project Run and Play - Week 3 - Details

Today marks Week 3 in project Run & Play. It's all in the details my friends.
 

 

We were asked to, "Choose a favorite detail to showcase in a children's wear design. (Such as piping, embroidery, pin tucks, etc.)"

I have to say just as I was about to start a project with piping all over the place I changed my mind.

Instead, I went with RUFFLES, gathers, ...whatever you want to call them!!!
 

 
 

For all the beginner seamstresses out there, ruffles are SO hard to figure out. (When I got back into sewing it took me months to figure them out. Everyone does them differently.) Either they can't get the tension and stitch length on their machine to ruffle the fabric for them correctly, or they just don't get the concept.

Well this week I decided to showcase ruffles/gathers because darn it, ruffles are difficult for some folks, and I am not going to discount that! Amen!

 Now onto my design!

I haven't sewn with seersucker very much in my sewing career, but dude, the stuff it awesome!!! It gathers nicely without fraying too much, and it was perfect for this project.  

Here is the look:

 

The assembly of this dress is quite easy all you do is cut squares/rectangles for the body and the sleeves of the dress. Then long rectangles for the ruffles on the sleeves. An easy way to figure out how to make a full ruffle is to lay your fabric down next to the edge of the sleeve and make you ruffle portion of the fabric 4 times as wide. This way you have plenty of fabric to gather.

 

 

 

Then all you need to cut out is your "j's" on the body and the sleeves: From there you assemble the dress with a simple zig zag stitch or you can use french seams, then attach your ruffles. I have found that gathering is easiest if you put your stich length on the longest length and your tension on the highest level. SUPER EASY!

 

 

 Ruffles at the sleeves.
 

 

Ruffles at the skirt.

 

The neck line gathers its self because there is an elastic casing with elastic in it.

 

I finished it off with two front pockets with pink quilters cotton as an accent on the top of the pocket.
 

 

What do y 'all think?
 

 

I LOVE IT! It can even be worn with this super cute belt! You can find the pattern for the belt in my shop, here.
 

 

This is totally a Hannah outfit too, she would so say, "Mom, can I wear this for the rest of the day?"

Sure you can!

 XO- L  

For behind the scenes photos from ODDS OF PINK, follow me on INSTAGRAM: Laurosario

Project Run & Play Week 2

I had time to do Week 2! Yippee!

The theme was, "The Riley Blake Chevron Week---Create a children's design where a chevron pattern is featured."

 

I have to say, I am a totally little over the chevron trend BUT I was excited to make something other than a dress with chevron in it.
So what did I come up with? Skinny pants and a circle top.

Here is the whole look all together.



I really love the way it turned out, more than anything that you could buy right now in the stores.... Why don't the main stream shops make this kinda stuff? Duh!!?



I really love the look of skinny jeans or pants on a little girl.
There is something so trendy and feminine about it. I took it a step futher by making the pants not only skinny but with a flat front, (sorry, I didn't get a good picture of this but I promise, the front is flat) and a bit of bias detailing at the bottom of each pant leg.

I challenged myself a bit this week too. I used an existing pair of pants that fit her kind of skinny, as a pattern and made them just a tad more skinny on the bottom of each pant leg for this look. At one point though, it was a hold your breath and cut kind of a situation because I didn't really know if my pattern was going to fit her the way I intented.

But, NO WORRIES Y'all, IT WORKED!

Also, instead of just hemming the pants, (which I am TOTALLY over these days- or adding a silly ruffle) I opted for black bais tape to show some contrast. I LOVE how they turned out.

Normally I would have used a little more color in my designs but this was the only chevron fabric I had in my stash and I really like the contrast of just black and white. It's soooooo classy!

We all know I LOVE the classic looks, after all I did win an award in my college sorority for the classiest Kappa! He he he ...

I also wanted a simple top to pair with the pants. I was orignally going to go with something a little more fitted, that could be tucked in, but this is what came out of my creative endevor this week, so I ran with it. I was inspired by THIS , and I have to say it's a super cute little design!

 

I think now that I have the pattern down I could try and make her some in kelly green or something. I am into green these days.



It's so cute, eh?



Thanks for reading along everyone!

 I adore reading your comments, so leave me some LOVE!!!
I know you guys are out there! Wink, wink...

L

PS- I made the necklace too, SUPER easy. I'll tell you about that another day :)

For behind the scenes photos from ODDS OF PINK, follow me on INSTAGRAM: Laurosario

Drawstring Skirt Tutorial

I really love this knit chevron fabric. It is super easy to sew with and not too pricey. 

I really wanted something chevron for myself for this summer but the stuff they have at Target and Macy's just wasn't what I was looking for, AT ALL.

 

So what did I do? I got out the last forever21 tank I had, and used it with some of this really awesome chevron knit and came up with my own drawstring (lined) skirt!

 If you can sew a straight line, (almost all sewing is a straight line), you just have to know how to put your pieces together, you can do this!!

 

You might remember that orange and navy print I showed you last week but ONE- I didn't have enough of that for this project and TWO- I decided I wouldn't be comfortable in that type of fabric, and its hard to wash.
 

So here is how I made my comfty knit drawstring skirt.

 

First I decided that the width of the tank I already had would be perfect for the width of the skirt. I measured it up against my chevron-knit, and cute 2 squares the same size. I am not picky about matching up the zig zags so I just cut, don't worry - it will still look cute if it doesn't match up.

An easy way to figure out what will fit you (I hate taking measurements of myself) is just to put the tank or t-shirt on that you have for the bottom band, and see if it is roomy enough for around your hips. This tank was pretty big on me but it hasn't been washed yet and knit shrinks so I think it will be a little better fitting once washed. 

Then I decided on length. I have an old favorite skirt that I often wear in the summer and it hits more at my mid calf. So I laid that up against my 2 chevy-squares, and then added the band across the bottom for some contrast. I used the bottom of the F-21 tank so I wouldn't have to finish the edges. I also allowed for 2 inches at the top (where it is folded down in the picture) so that I had room for the drawstring casing, and about an inch or so for seam allowance of the contrasting band.

After those are all cut up you would add 2 button holes, or if you don't want to to that with knit because it is tricky and slippery you can just cut two small slits in the middle of the top piece about 2.5 inches down. (It shouldn't fray, but you might want to test your knit!)

 

 

THEN I decided that the chevron alone was too thin for a regular skirt so I cut 2 more squares of fabric the same size as the chevron pieces, that would be used for a lining. If I didn't use lining this would be more of a little cover-up skirt for the pool or beach, which changes the process a bit but I am sure you can figure that out (just add a casing at the top). 

 

 I think this is cute for running errands, or out for a little lunch date so I needed a lining and who wants to wear a slip in the summer? Dude, no way! Not me!

 

Then all you do is sew right sides together along the widths of your lining and right sides together with your main fabric. I really wanted to add pockets, but as always I was short on time and just opted for the quick solution.

 

This next part is tricky BUT you will thank me after you see this. It was one of those "light bulb" sewing moments that I figured something out that makes this whole process so easy! (It can be done 2 ways but this way was how I did it and got a pic).

 

You sew the top edges of the skirt right sides together (if you use a solid it won't matter, so don't stress out), then once sewn- FLIP the lining inside of the skirt. Make the lining fall about 1-2 inches down,......then.... 

 

Sew a casing around the top of the skirt. remember those slits or button holes you put in at the very beginning, you can see them below. You can just sew the casing all the way around UNDERNEATH IT, because you already have an opening to put the drawstring in. MAKE SURE YOU SEW UNDER the button holes or you will be really mad at yourself!

 

A note about the drawstring, I didn't have that rope stuff that is usually in these skirts so I just took about a 1 inch strip off the selvage edge and stretched it out then put a safety pin on the end and cased it threw the button hole. You can see my button holes here:

 

Here is a picture of the casing being sewn.... easy!!!!

OK- now it will look like this..... EVERYTHING IS ENCASED WHOOOP WHOOOP!!!! I always love that because it is SO professional. This skirt would be like $45 bucks, or more in one of the top retailers or cute boutique!

 

Now you can either stop here and hem, or you can add a contrasting band to the bottom of the skirt. I opted for the contrasting band because I am loving this shade of teal right now and it gives me more options for what I can wear as a top with this!  

To add the band I used the bottom of that tank  (the widths were already sewn together) in the first few steps this was why you made your main pieces the same size as the band) just make sure that your fabric is cut the same size as the main fabric and then sew right sides together, only on the outside fabric, leave the lining alone here, just push it up so you don't sew into it when adding the band. I used a 1/2 seem allowance here, and top stitch when done.

 

THEN, OH MY GAWWWWSH, you have an amazingly A-dorbs skirt! You can do this with old t-shirts, brand new knits, add side inseam pockets, or just keep it simple and make it a classic one color item. I want to try this again with linen,  and then make the lining a comfty soft knit.



 I LOVE IT!!! When I first posted some pics of it on INSTAGRAM (You can follow me at Laurosario) I got SO many compliments, and people that wanted them- so sweet!

I may have taken too many pics of myself, oops.

 

 

So there you have it!!

I know I am going to be making a mini of one of these too with my left over fabric, Hannah already said, "That is so pretty can I have a matching one?!"


  Please let me know if you have any questions and I would be glad to help you!

 

HAPPY SPRING, .......ALMOST SUMMER!

 

L