Tag Archives: Dresses

Create a Coastal Preppy Wardrobe with Me and Love Notions Patterns

…Spring 2023 Love Notions 40% off sale

This week, May 1-5, 2023, all Love Notions patterns and courses will be 40% off! This doesn’t happen very often, so I highly suggest grabbing any patterns(and courses) you really want to sew up soon! You can use my code MACSEWS10 which will give you an additional 10% off the sale prices. I will also be giving away one Love Notions pattern to one of my blog readers. Make sure you read to the end to learn how you can enter!

The “Coastal Grandma” aesthetic has been getting a lot of attention the past year or so. This is mainly due to a TikTok trend. But, where I live (and where my family is from) ~ it’s been around for a long time and it’s always how we dress!

For this year’s Spring Sale, I thought I would put my own spin on this trend and talk about creating a “Coastal Preppy” wardrobe with Love Notions patterns.

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Patiently Waiting In The Willow Wrap Dress

Spring is officially here~ now someone needs to tell the weather that! Here on the Northeast Coast the weather has been so fickle. Regardless, I’m sewing for warmer weather! My first official sew of Spring is a brand new pattern for me! I can not believe I waited so long to make the Willow Wrap Dress from Love Notions!!

What better way to celebrate Spring than with an amazing dress for the $5 Feature Friday Pattern! Today, 3/31/23 you can grab the Willow Wrap Dress for just $5. If you don’t have it already, I highly recommend grabbing it today. I never thought this was a style that would be flattering on me~ but boy was I pleasantly surprised!!!

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Sewing Up Swim With Raspberry Creek Fabrics

…The New 2023 Swim Collection

DISCLAIMER: If you’re expecting to see cute swimsuits sewn up in beautiful Raspberry Creek Fabric swim fabrics- you won’t find them here.  BUT– you will see some other ways you can use this awesome swim fabric from RCF! Hopefully my blog post today will inspire you to grab some of these awesome swim fabrics and make something other than a swimsuit! Because we all know swim fabric isn’t just for bathing suits anymore!!! The fact that Raspberry Creek Swim fabric is UPF 50+ makes it great for any day/activity out in the sun.

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Sew Scallops For Summer

The New Saltwhistle from Love Notions

The newly released Saltwhistle peplum top and dress is such a cute and flirty sew! It’s just perfect for summer! I didn’t test this pattern, but as a Love Notions Ambassador I was able to get my hands on it a few days early so that I could whip one up. In just a couple hours, I had this cute little summer peplum top with an adorable scalloped hem!

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The Cadence Got Updated~ My Mindset Did Too!

The Love Notions Cadence just got an update for Spring~ and to my surprise my mindset has gotten an update as well! I’m going to be totally honest here. I planned to make this a post simply about the updated Cadence, it’s options and how I made it to fit my pear shape. I made a top version and then a knee length dress. I was happy with them both. Then I went outside with my trusty tripod and took photos. And that’s when it hit me. Everything I thought before about fitting my body changed. Be sure to read down to the Sizing and Alterations section to learn what I discovered!

Oh yeah, and the Cadence is only $5 today, Friday 5/6 and $9 on Saturday and Sunday 5/7 and 5/8. Seriously go grab it~ you won’t be disappointed. This breezy shift style dress deserves a place in everyone’s closet!

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Aria + Linen = Summer Perfection

Have you heard? Love Notions has released a new blouse pattern, the Aria Button-down, and it’s LOVE! I received the pattern a few days ahead of it’s release (as a Love Notions Ambassador) and I’ve already sewn up 3 versions in my favorite fabric for summer ~ LINEN and I’m not done! (I also made a muslin which turned out to be totally wearable!)

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The LBD Laundry Day Tee Dress

(The Little Black Dress Laundry Day Tee Dress)

Make sure you read to the end to find a coupon code!

LDT dress with a Boyfriend Cardigan- a PERFECT combination!

I think most of my followers know that I LOVE the Laundry Day Tee Dress from Love Notions! If you didn’t know that, I suggest you click HERE and read all about my love of the LDT dress.

This past Spring and Summer I basically lived in my LDT dresses. Partly because they are so comfortable and partly because I’m dealing with some post COVID fluffiness. As the temperature started to drop and leaves started to change I realized I needed a Fall LDT dress.

So, I shopped my stash and came across a beautiful heavy weight black rib knit that I had purchased from Boho Fabrics last year. I thought to myself, “What if I make a solid black Laundry Day Tee dress?!” And the rest is history!!

The LDT became my LBD! Never could I have ever realized that this one dress would get worn as much as it already has been!

To make this the perfect Fall dress, I made my first 3/4 sleeve version. I did slim the sleeve just a tad so it wouldn’t get pushed up when wearing it under a jacket or cardigan. Other than that one change, I made it exactly the same as all my other LDT dresses. (For fitting and fabric tips, see my original LDT Blog Post HERE.)

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My Top 5 Love Notions Patterns

In honor of the 40% site wide sale over at Love Notions this week- I decided to give you a run down of the 5 Love Notions that I use the most! These are the patterns I use over and over again to create my wardrobe.

Make sure you read to the very end of this blog post for some really exciting news!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1. Sloane Sweater

What I love about this pattern:

  • The versatility of this pattern is never ending!
  • Amazing options to choose from: hood, pockets, yoke, elbow patches, 2 body styles
  • Hackability: the Sloane is so easy and fun to hack.
  • Easy to achieve a good fit- it makes a great pattern to use for gifts

Click HERE to see my blog post all about my Sloanes. You can read about several hacks and RTW copycats that I have created. All the Sloanes below are made from sweater knit and are the ones I am wearing most this Fall. My blog post features Sloanes made with French Terry and other fabrics.

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A Sundress for Summer….the new Tempo from Love Notions

As a Love Notions Brand Ambassador, I had the privilege of testing the brand new sundress, the TEMPO!

Edited: Scroll down to see my newest version of the Tempo and details for my wider ruffled strap 🙂

Edited June 24, 2021: Exciting news! The Tempo is now available in kids sizing!!!!

Rayon Challis- Raspberry Creek Fabrics

I don’t own anything like this. To be honest, it was totally out of my comfort zone. I made my first fit test dress, and I wasn’t sure I even wanted to continue and make the final garment! After Tami addressed the few fitting issues that most of the testers had- I thought why not? I am so glad I made a final version!!!

One of the great things about Love Notions patterns is that testers of all sizes are part of the testing team. Fitting issues for ALL sizes are taken into consideration. When buying and making a LN pattern you can be assured that someone close to your shape/size has made this.

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My Favorite Things Blog Tour with Raspberry Creek Fabrics

I am so excited to be back on the Raspberry Creek Fabrics “My Favorite Things” Blog Tour this year! This tour is where members of the 2020/2021 RCF Promo Team get to share their favorite Raspberry Creek fabrics, patterns and sewing notions.

The hardest part of preparing for this blogpost was selecting my fabric! I had the opportunity to select any past or present RCF print and have it printed on any base! There were so many possible combinations! I think I changed my mind about 20 times. I finally settled on this floral print from 2018 that was available on rayon challis only. I chose to have it printed on the Essex Cotton/Linen blend. This substrate is perfect for the Farrow dress- more on that later.

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