2012 July

From the monthly archives: July 2012

Birthday Dress

Posted July 31, 2012

Clementine’s Birthday dress!

It was perfect for running after bubbles,

playing in the sandbox,

pulling around her new suitcase,

riding her new bike,

(though a bit of modification was needed for the actual bike-riding)

and, extra bonus, it coordinated nicely with the Birthday Hat:

Happy 3rd Birthday Clementine!!!

Fabric by Sarah Jane, from her “Children at Play” line (and be sure to check out “Out to Sea,” her latest line with a nautical theme that is just as adorable!)

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What I did this weekend

Posted July 30, 2012

We had a party yesterday for our sweet little stinker Clementine, who turns 3 today!!! She requested a Lowly Worm cake, and I was more than happy to take on the challenge.

If you follow me on Instagram (madebyrae) you got to see the “magic” unfold yesterday…hee:

I have to say this is definitely the most “involved” cake design I have ever attempted. It required a bit of creativity because I wanted to avoid piping any frosting: cocoa powder for Lowly’s body, marshmallow and chocolate chip for his eye, marshmallow rolled in red sugar for his bow tie. I have to say I was v. proud of self after the birthday girl expressed her satisfaction with it.

I also finished a special…

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Foxes, Moonrise Kingdom, and Washi

Posted July 18, 2012

First. Am so excited about my fabric samples that came from Spoonflower yesterday. This little foxy print is one I designed in Inkscape last fall in just the blue and orange. It took a $1 swatch sale at Spoonflower last month for me to try out a few other colors. Still like the blue best, but the pink/orange combo is a close second. More on these later, but if, perchance, you need some foxy fabric of your own, these are now available in my Spoonflower shop. What do you think??

Second. I finally saw Moonrise Kingdom this past weekend with Mr Rae (it finally made it to our indie theater here in Ann Arbor) and I…

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Summertime creations by…YOU!

Posted July 16, 2012

Hey everyone, it’s time for a totally awesome photo roundup! Here’s just a small sampling of what you have been making, via the Rae Made Me Do It Flickr pool:

1. Purple Long Sleeves, 2. Tiny Tour de France Yellow Jersey, 3. Heartbreaker Tee, 4. Sweet Ride, 5. Painted Purple Stripe, 6. Upcycled Pippi Tee

Lots of great Flashback Tee variations have been popping up, including many that are short-sleeved. If you haven’t seen my tutorial on how to turn the Flashback Tee into a short-sleeved tee, be sure to check it out. And you also absolutely must check out this tutorial on how…

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Traced Teal Tee

Posted July 13, 2012

A couple of weeks ago I taught the Trace and Make Tee class here in Ann Arbor along with my friend Karen. I wanted to make another tee just to make sure I knew what I was doing before the class so I pulled out the teal rib knit I’d bought earlier this year from Brenda at Pink Castle for the knit series and made a short-sleeved version of the striped 3/4-length-sleeve tee I posted earlier on this blog, which was traced from a tee I own. And what the heck, why do I always have this same serious expression on my face? I guess I need to start laughing more…

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Seattle

Posted July 8, 2012

I hopped off the plane to Seattle on Friday (and a blissful 5 hours without children THAT was, I say!) and had a snack and went straight downtown to see the big new ferris wheel that just opened on the waterfront along with my sister Elli and my dad. The line was long, but it was fun. I love a good ferris wheel. Some photographic evidence:

The Big Wheel.

Love the colors on this crane/barge thingy near the pier:

Waiting in line. Those are my new Dansko sandals. They look like something you might see in a Las Vegas movie scene from the 70′s. Love.

Umbrellas from the ground:

Umbrellas from the top:

I love this town! Mom’s 60th birthday is tomorrow…

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Colorblock Pearl Bracelet Dress

Posted July 5, 2012

A little friend of Clementine’s turned two a few weeks ago and I made her this little dress as a present. Couldn’t help myself. How could I help myself when these three Lizzy House prints go SO WELL TOGETHER? No answer. I must say she looked quite fetching in it the other day at the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum. So cute!!!

The ambulance at the museum was an unexpected hit (with all of our kids).

A bit more about the fabric:
For the last couple years, Lizzy House has been putting out new colors of this circle print (called “Pearl Bracelets”) each time she designs a new line of fabric. I made the now-”iconic” pair of…

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Making clothes for me, lessons learned

Posted July 2, 2012

I have to admit that reading your comments on the Orange Washi Dress post last week made me freak out, just a little bit. For one thing, it made me really excited to see how excited so many of you are for this pattern. NO PRESSURE.

But the other thing: I worry that some people might think that because I have spent so much time on this pattern, getting the bust darts just the way I want them, for example, that the bust darts will automatically be perfect for you as well. Knowing what I know about women’s bodies (that we are curvy and all shaped differently), I know that just simply isn’t true. And while the Washi Dress has some really awesome…

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