From the monthly archives: November 2011
Christmas Craft: Potato Stamp Wrapping Paper
Posted November 30, 2011
Around here I am always looking for fun things to do with Elliot while Clementine naps. Once in a blue moon he’ll fall asleep during his “quiet time” but usually he pops up after about 10 minutes of reading books by himself or puttering around in the living room — they share a bedroom so he takes his quiet time on the couch downstairs — and wants to be entertained. And I’m like “seriously you are done ALREADY?” but I keep my mouth shut and then try to remember how much I will miss him when he moves out of the house.
My children are very different; Clementine will play by herself, alone, unprompted, for long beautiful periods of time. Elliot is a more…
Knitting, my holiday hobby
Posted November 25, 2011
One complaint — perhaps the only complaint — I have with sewing is that it doesn’t exactly lend itself to holiday socializing. You can’t really put your machine in the living room when the whole family is over and chug away at projects while everyone else talks and eats chocolate covered pretzels. For one thing, if I try and talk too much while I’m sewing I usually mess something up. For another thing, the chocolate always ends up all over my project. And then there’s the issue of machine volume, which for some machines (like my serger) is enough to put everyone off conversation altogether.
We go up north every fall with a bunch of Mr Rae’s friends and their spouses and families and each…
Cow girl
Posted November 23, 2011
This is what she wore to Trader Joe’s the other day. You know, for our less-than-36-hours-at-home-before-we-get-on-a-plane-again shopping trip. Hey, we had to eat. And what do you say when your child asks to wear her (handmade) Halloween costume to the grocery store? YOU SAY YES, is what.
So if you saw a little cow pushing around a mini-cart this past weekend, that was Clementine. And if it weren’t already obvious: the blond boy bumping into her with his mini-cart? Elliot.
Sidenote: This fit her two years in a row. I was very excited about that.
Is it too confusing that there are Halloween costume pictures on my blog the day before Thanksgiving? Sorry!!!
Just gonna rub it in a little bit more
Posted November 18, 2011
Yup a bunch of you guessed right, we’re in Florida! Mr Rae’s parents rented a house in Clearwater Beach for the whole family (parents, siblings/spouses and kids) and it’s been really fun and warm. But it’s almost over, and then next week it’s off to Seattle for Thanksgiving to spend time with MY family. I tell you we are just a bunch of jetsetters this year. I did a little mental tally: this year I have been to San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, New York, Florida, and (next week) Seattle. That’s waaay more travel than normal for me, plus the first four were long weekends without kids (woot!) But Mr Rae wins hands down with so many trips out to New York and San…
Guess where we are this week?
Posted November 17, 2011
I guess I forgot to mention that we’re on vacation this week. Well. We are on vacation this week. And it’s nice and warm! Can you guess where? Here’s another hint:
Flower Garden Dress
Posted November 14, 2011
At the very first SE Crafter’s Meetup ever last November, Emily brought some extra knit fabric along for me to take home (woot!). One of the knits was this amazing border knit that she had found for a bargain somewhere (and now I’m forgetting again Emily, was it Hancocks?). I loved this little garden of flowers along the border, especially these snails…
I knew with such a detailed print that I needed a very simple pattern to show it off. I’ve made quite a few skinny tees for the kids lately just based on their measurements, so I just added a skirt to Clementine’s tee pattern to make the dress. Same idea as adding a skirt to a baby…
Pink Voile Tunic, for me
Posted November 9, 2011
Another project started in New York at the Heather Ross workshop, made with Anna Maria Horner’s Little Folks voile (also used for this Pierrot top for Clementine) and a variation of this basic pattern, just a very simple design I came up with that I’m starting to grow very attached to.
I wanted some little pintucks to play with the plaid a little bit (maybe this isn’t technically “plaid”…but you still get what I’m talking about?), it breaks up the pattern just enough to be interesting without being too distracting.
I can’t think of anything else to say about this tunic. Which is odd because normally I just blather on and on until I realize I’ve been puttering…
Another Dip in the Photo Pool: Charlieeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Posted November 4, 2011
I’m loving all the new Charlie Tunics and Dresses that have appeared in the photo pool lately. Here are just a few of my favorites! Seriously, this Minnie Mouse is killing me:
1. charlie tunic dress, 2. Tula Pink tunic 2, 3. Evelyn as Minnie Mouse, 4. Subject Charlie Tunic
1. sewing september 025, 2. Sz 4 Charlie Tunic ELM_6065, 3. Untitled, 4. DSC_0109.jpg
1. Charli(z)e Tunic, 2. Charlie Tunic (3), 3. new beach clothes, 4. Gingham Charlie tunic
In other news…
NEW CHARLIE POOL! I realized that we didn’t have a dedicated Charlie…
Moon coat for Elliot
Posted November 2, 2011
One of the projects I worked on at the Weekend Sewing workshop a couple weeks ago was an Oliver+S Schooldays Jacket for Elliot. The moon fabric is from the Far Far Away II collection by Heather Ross, and the flannel inside is by Robert Kaufman.
When Elliot is riding in the car he gets really excited when he sees the moon. He’ll point out the window and yell, “there’s the MOON!!!” It’s cute. What really kills me is that when we turn a corner and he sees the moon again a few minutes later he’ll yell, “ANOTHER MOON!” It’s as if, in his little universe, there are more moons around every corner. And of course this fabric just…
New backpack for Clementine!
Posted November 1, 2011
Tonight I’m winding up the “Back to School Wardrobe” course I have been teaching over the last couple of months with Karen LePage at Blue House in Ann Arbor. We’re having a “show and tell” at a local restaurant and I cannot WAIT it’s going to be so much fun. We had a fantastic group of women who have been sewing up a storm and have been so much fun to hang out with. There were five projects over five sessions (a basic pant, Tee for Two knit tee, Charlie Tunic woven top, the Toddler Backpack, and the Reversible Jacket from Sewing for Boys), so as you can imagine it was a rather ambitious curriculum. One of…
For you to sew!
about Rae
Hi! I'm Rae, Head Boss Lady of Made By Rae Enterprises. I love to sew. This blog is a showcase for my crafty stuff.
More about me...
Email me!Sign up for my newsletter!
looking for…?
blog archive
I’m over here too…
spring tops!
add your photos to our Spring Top Sewalong Flickr group!
more info here
all MBR photo pools
I offer licenses for handmade sellers who would like to sell items made with my patterns on a small scale. To see all of the available licenses, visit the 
