This free tiered baby dress sewing pattern has subtle gathered ruffled tiers and a classic pillowcase-dress-inspired neckline with ribbon ties that’s perfect for late spring and summer. And it’s super easy to sew.

This sewing pattern was totally inspired by a piece of fabric; specifically, the Texas Modern Strips Coral fabric at Spoonflower by Jacinda from Prudent Baby. When the fabric arrived in the mail I swooned, dreaming up in my head a free sewing pattern with elegant, subtly gathered tiers that would showcase Jacinda’s hand painted watercolor coral stripes in a classic yet modern way.

And well, I have a little secret to tell you. This pattern didn’t start as a baby dress pattern. Oh no. It started out as a tiered toddler tunic shirt pattern for my 2-1/2 year old daughter, Elise. I made it at night while she slept, not trying it on until the morning. And I realized too late that I had designed a super cute free pattern ….that was was waaay too small under her arms. And I was crushed.

But then came the lemonade! I realized that the free pattern I made was not only a super cute tiered ruffled BABY DRESS pattern but also THE PERFECT SIZE for Dagny, my downstairs neighbor Jamie’s adorable 6-month-old baby girl. Yippee!

The final free baby dress pattern size measures 10″ from underarm to underarm, 12″ across the bottom of the front panel, 16″ across the bottom of the middle tier, 20 inches around the bottom of the lowest tier, and 13.5″ from top to bottom. You could increase it as needed to fit larger sizes, details below.

Such amazing fabric. Such a cute combination of ruffled tiers with a classic pillowcase dress top. Lemonade it is.

WANNA MAKE IT? Free sewing pattern, step-by-step tutorial and supply list for making a tiered ruffle baby dress –>

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These free DIY printable garden seed markers are made from recycled plastic salad containers.  The packrat in me always kinda feel bad about throwing these plastic salad containers away so thought I’d try to make something useful from them. And I thought that the salad container plastic could make a great waterproof outer case for garden seed markers.

This year we decided to 86 buying flowers for our deck and instead just grow vegetables and other edibles. So far Elise and I have planted tomato seeds, lettuce and basil. These seed markers not only help you keep track of which seeds are what but they also show plant maintenance and care including watering instructions, thinning distances, and harvesting guidelines.

The geometric design was inspired by the latest patterns at Anthropologie that I first saw on design*sponge and uses the super cool font Blanch from the Lost Type Co-op.

And bonus! This project gave me an excuse to use one of my favorite hardware store materials: colored electrical tape…

Hopefully we’ll have a good growing season in Chicago. And with our budding lettuce crop, Elise and I will hopefully be buying way fewer plastic salad containers this summer.

WANNA MAKE IT? Free printable template, step-by-step tutorial instructions and supply list for DIY garden seed markers from recycled plastic salad containers –>

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Thanks to everyone who entered to win a copy of This Is Your Book: a fun, modern spin on the traditional baby book. Many of you liked the idea of gifting (or having!) this fill-in baby journal with a pop culture twist: not only do you record standard newborn info like height, weight, birth hospital and hair color but also current events, fun statistics, and other pop culture, everything from Academy Award winners to countries at war to the cost of a Starbucks coffee to musicians your parents liked.

To enter this giveaway, I asked you to tell me who this book would be for in your life:

• Rebecca Cynamon-Murphy said “My brother and sister-in-law’s baby-to-be. They are stylish and super-busy. This seems perfect.”
• Liesel said “Me! We are expecting our first, a little guy, in just a few weeks. I haven’t bought a book because they are all hideous and generic. I love this!”
• Lia Lara-Tellez “My little sister was in a coma last year. This year she’ll be giving birth! Daddy is a graphic designer & both of them are awesome so this VERY awesome book would have to be theirs!”

Oh, I wish I had free copies of This Is Your Book for every one of you gifters and new moms! Keep reading to see the lucky winner randomly selected by Rafflecopter…

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Three readers have each won a personalized stationery set printed on luxe paper and a complementary gift box and personalized 40-page journal for notes and sketches worth $51 plus free ground shipping, from the talented indie designers at minted.

And everyone can use the minted promotion code MOTHERS for 10% off minted personalized stationery sets or journals. Plan to place your order by May 7th for items to arrive by Mother’s Day for your mom. Or maybe, uh, for yourself. Don’t worry. I won’t tell.

To enter this giveaway, I asked you to tell me your Mother’s Day plans. Here are a few of my favorite answers:

• Kristen Pierce Clemens said “My mom and grandma are the best. I will be making them brunch and bringing them flowers to celebrate all that they have done for me.”
• Meagan said “Going to see the play Hairspray”
• Danielle John said “Eating a special breakfast with the kids that someone else cooks.” Ha!

Keep reading to see the three winners who were randomly selected by Rafflecopter…

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My dad’s 80th birthday was approaching and we wanted a milestone birthday idea that was memorable and fun. And what’s better than a mailbox stuffed with personalized postcards sending well wishes from your family and friends?

I designed these 80th birthday postcards in four colors with super cute matching custom stamps from Zazzle. The postcards and stamps printed up perfectly.

Then we gathered addresses for friends and family and mailed them each one a blank pre-addressed, pre-stamped postcard inside an envelope that also contained a little note explaining that it was dad’s birthday and that we’d like them to write memories or best wishes onto the blank stamped postcard and drop it in the mail to arrive during his birthday week.

And what a flood it was! My dad was so thrilled and touched to hear from all the important people in his life. Some stories were funny, some were heartfelt, and all were very meaningful to my dad. And all in all, milestone birthday postcards from friends was a pretty inexpensive birthday idea.

I was inspired by my friend Susan who made milestone birthday postcards for her dad’s 70th birthday, and also by my friend Cristin (who you know from the free Giving Tree Wedding Announcements template and dog blanket pattern) who made milestone birthday postcards for her mom’s 65th birthday. I used two awesome free fonts: Lavenderia from the Lost Type Co-op and Chunk Five from the League of Moveable Type. My friend Renee also pointed me to some super lovely 70th birthday postcards with a well-designed postcard back and really great wording that we used for the instructions enclosure:

I’m giving you my free birthday postcard template for you to customize for your own milestone birthday. You’ve got a few options: either download and do it yourself either by printing yourself or at an online service like Overnight Prints or Vistaprint …or just go to my Zazzle store to customize the birthday postcards and custom stamps and Zazzle will print them for you. Keep reading for more details.

I’ve provided templates for an 80th birthday celebration. Need a different milestone year, like 75th, 70th, 65th or 60th? Just contact me and I can help. And there you go: a heartfelt, fantastic birthday idea fit for any milestone birthday.

WANNA MAKE IT? Free printable template, step-by-step tutorial instructions and supply list for making birthday postcards for milestone birthdays –>

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