five

Today Garrett and I are celebrating our five year anniversary.  I couldn't have picked a more perfect match and I am so lucky to be with the love of my life.  Happy five years babe! Here's to an eternity full of anniversaries.

LND

dress: me, bag: Banana Republic, necklace: Ann Taylor, bracelet: J.Crew, sunnies: Forever 21, shoes: 9 West, lipstick: Mac So Chaud, nails: Sally Hansen Heat Flash

Not only should every woman have a little black dress in their closet, but I think a little navy dress is a must as well.  I made this dress by creating a pattern from a dress I already had that was sleeveless, I just added on some sleeves.  I had a ton of amazing quality navy knit that I used.  This dress has darts in the back and in the bust, so it fits like a glove.

Leanne Barlow Shop Memorial Day Sale!

Now through Monday at midnight, I am offering FREE shipping on any LeanneBarlow order from my shop!

Just use the code: FREESHIPLB at checkout.

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

my favorite things:: Maca Root Shave Cream

So this shaving cream may say its for men, but I beg to differ. Last summer my legs would get really itchy and irritated every time I shaved. I tried new razors and new creams, but this stuff did the trick. A little goes a very long way and one bottle usually lasts both Garrett and I a solid 6 months. It lathers great and my legs haven't had any problems since.

This might be a random favorite thing...but it's a good one!

bunting

I love the look of bunting and how quickly it can transform a big open wall.  I loved the wall color in my boys room, and this bunting added just the right amount of extra color and helped to tie in all the fabrics that I used.

I feel a little silly posting such a basic tutorial, but the method that I used was really easy and quick and I thought it was worth sharing.  

I simply cut a big stack of triangles.  The "V" sides measured about 5" long on each side, and about 4" long across the top, but you can make them whatever size you want.  I didn't do anything to the raw edge.  I just made sure they were crisp and pressed.

I picked up some 1/4" double fold bias tape in a color that coincided with my fabrics.  I only used 1 pack to go across my whole wall.

The double fold is nice because it gives your bunting a professional look without having to cut a tiny strip and press each end closed.  Open up your bias tape and just slide in the top side of your triangle and pin in place. 

One side of the folded tape is longer than the other, so I had the shorter side facing the back.  

Repeat this with your remaining triangles.  I chose not to leave any space in between each triangle, but you can space it out however you like.

Then just stitch a straight line close to the bottom edge of the bias tape to secure the fabric in place.

And that's it!  Minimal effort for a nice statement.  This seriously only took me about an hour.  It is a great way to use cute fabric that you don't have much of, and it holds up a lot better than paper bunting.

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I also wanted to let you all know about a sweet deal going on over at GroupDealz today through midnight.  Greenish Shop is an Etsy shop with adorable boys and mens skinny ties.  I rarely find skinny ties for my boys in stores and am always on the hunt for cute ones.  

Today through midnight on GroupDeals you can pick up a great skinny tie for your little man or big man for only $7!  Normally priced at $22.50, this is a steal!  And with Father's Day right around the corner, you can't beat $7 for a cute new tie the hubster can sport that Sunday.  How cute would matching fathers and sons ties be?!

announced

 front

back

I was more on top of Cash's birth announcement than I was with Bradley's.  I think Bradley was a solid 4 months by the time I got his out.  I took Cash's picture and created the announcement in Illustrator and I printed it with Mpix.  LOVED them.  They were very reasonably priced, nice and thick, and the coloring was great.  I got them printed on a pearlized paper at no extra cost.  I would totally use them again.

(this is my personal opinion and not sponsored by mpix in any way) 

dolman + me = love

top: me, shorts: J.Crew, necklace: Nashelle, bracelets: Juicy, J.Crew, lipstick: Mac So Chaud (best orangey-red ever), nails: Sally Hansen Heat Flash

I have been craving some dolman sleeved tops that are loose and flowy.  So I headed down to my local Forever 21 to stock up on a few.  I would see some great potentials on the rack calling my name, but every time I picked one up it was like, "psych!  I'm cropped and about 10" too short!"  Fabulous.  I got so sick of searching for the perfect fitting top, that I decided to just make my own.

I just created a pattern using a top that had the boat neck that I was looking for, as well as the looseness and length.

I had to use the good ol "trial and error" a few times before I got the sleeves right.  My first attempt at the sleeves would have fit Bradley's arms perfectly.  But the best part about this sucker is that the sleeves are just an extension of the shirt....no cutting armholes or sewing in sleeves!  I figured since I would eventually have to wash this top I would make a few more.  Pics to come....


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So......I joined the Twitter world.  Follow me here ( @LeanneBarlow_).  Don't judge me because I pretty much only follow Kim Kardashian and Ryan Seacrest.  Or the fact that I still have a hard time deciphering tweets.  And while I'm at it, does anyone know how to post a condensed version of a url when tweeting from a computer?

quilt

One of my good friends, Whitney, is having a baby boy in June and I made her this quilt for her baby shower a few weekends ago.  I had this great aqua minky from a trip to the LA fabric district about 2 years ago, but never had any good fabric to go with it until I discovered this collection from Dear Stella that they graciously sent me.  The colorway matched the minky perfectly and I love these geometric prints for a little boy.  And when you find good baby boy fabric, you snatch that right up!

best holiday ever

The husband scored major points this mother's day...

Not expecting this at. all.  

I could not be more stoked about this.  I may or may not have curled up on my bed at night with the serger manual in one hand and a highlighter in the other. 

 I hope all you moms out there had a nice relaxing Mother's Day!

four

I thought I would share a few shots with you all this morning from our first photo shoot as a family of four....

 

photos taken by my sister in law, Kate

OPEN

I guess now that my baby is 3 months old I should reopen the shop huh?  Enjoy!

crib bedding 101

I have had a lot of requests for my bedding measurements, so without further ado, here are the measurements I used for my crib bedding.  The measurements should work just fine for most cribs, but just to be safe, make sure to measure your own crib to double check that the measurements will work for yours.

First things first- Here are the amounts of fabric I purchased for each section of the bedding:

Bumper:

4.6 yards of fabric total (168" L X 45" W)

If you want to do 1 print on the outside and a different print on the inside, you will need 2 1/3 yard of each fabric (84").

Ties for the Bumper:

I did 12 ties total.  You can make yours thicker or thinner, whatever you prefer.  For the size that I have, you will need a total of 1 yard (you will have a little left over).

Piping:
I couldn't find the piping color that I wanted, but they do sell pre-made piping in a few different colors.  If you can, try to find piping that is already pre-made.  It makes things a lot easier.

You will need 4 1/2 yards of piping
(If you are making your own piping, you only need about 1 yard of fabric to cover the piping and 4 1/2 yards of uncovered piping.)

Dust Ruffle:

1 1/2 yards of white fabric for the top part that lays under the mattress.  This can be the very inexpensive white muslin since it will not show.

2 1/2 yards of fabric for the dust ruffle.

*note:  You will need 4 of the long sides and 4 of the short sides cut total.  I specified that you will need 2 of each in the directions above assuming that a different fabric would be used for the front and back of the bumper pads.

The tie measurements above with give you ties that are 1 1/2" wide.  Once you have your ties completed, fold them in half, and spread the ends to form a V.  Then, place them on the right-side of the bumper pad that you want to be facing out, like so:

(since the bars on cribs are not all spaced out the same, you will need to measure and mark where you want your ties to be so that they will match up with the bars on your crib)

If you are using piping, next you will place the piping along the top of the bumper, with the selvage edges matching up with the selvage edges of the bumper:

(make sure you use a zipper food when attaching the side with the piping so that you stitch as close to the piping as possible)

Make sure to add the ties to the bottom as well.  Before laying what will be the backside of the bumper piece on top of this front bumper piece (right-sides together), this is what it should look like:

If you don't have bumpers that you are going to cover, you can just make your own.  I purchased a large foam pad from Joann's that was 23" X 61" and about 2 1/2" thick.  Then I cut 2 strips that were 50 1/2 " X 12" and 2 that were 23" X 12" so that they would fit snugly along the sides of the crib.

Next is the crib skirt.  This is really simple, only a few straight lines.  Just remember that you only need one long side cut for the front of the crib skirt, since nobody will see the back of the crib.

And there you go!  For some, it might be worth it to just purchase the bedding of your dreams for $300 since this is a pretty time consuming project.  But if your are a fairly intermediate sewer, make your own!  It is so satisfying to have exactly the bedding with the fabrics and colors that you have been dreaming about.

*piping tutorial coming soon