http://theadventuresofroryandjess.blogspot.com/2011/01/rachel-wrap-part-1-pattern-and-pieces.html Alright, Rachel wrap shirt, take one. Pattern time! We'll start off pretty similar to the Sadie shirt, So. Find a shirt that fits your child. Lay it out, folded in half like so. I use freezer paper for my patterns-but you could use anything. Even a few pieces of copy paper taped together. (been there...done that) Trace around your shirt like so, leaving a 1/2 inch around the shirt to allow for seam allowances. This is what it should look like! Make sure to trace where it dips lower in the front. Now I am using my Sadie shirt bodice piece, but you can go ahead and use the pattern piece shown above you just made. Just so's you know why mine's different in the pics. What I did was trace around the neckline and arm holes, and then flipped it and marked where the other side was, and drew a swooping line from shoulder to opposite armpit, like shown. You may have to fool around with the angle, but it's a pretty simple shape. I hope this is making sense! I then drew the sides, with sort of an a-line shape. That's your front piece. For your back piece, trace the sides of your front piece, armholes, and shoulders... Then your neckline like this: higher than the front piece obvs. So here's your main pattern pieces! For the sleeves...trace and cut out your piece like so, this will allow for a bit of gathering and make it easier to fit into the arm hole. Mark where the fold should be, too. Now, cut out your pieces! Make sure when you're cutting out the front pieces, that your fabric is wrong sides together (or right, just don't cut them the same way) Not shown: also cut one of your back piece, and two sleeves on the fold. tada! http://theadventuresofroryandjess.blogspot.com/2011/01/rachel-wrap-part-2-bias-tape-and.html Day two: ready to go? Today we'll work on bias tape, first off, you'll need to make some if you didn't purchase yours. It's easy-here's a quick (but with lotsa pictures) tutorial. (pardon the different fabric) Fold your piece of fabric over like so-that angle is the bias. (feel free to ignore me if you're like, duh.) Now, cut strips of fabric-I cut mine at 1.75"-that's the size that works with my bias tape makermore on that later.. You'll need to sew each strip you cut together...lay them down right sides together like so, it helps if you have a cutting mat so you can line them up with the lines so you're as square as can be! (that was a long sentence.) Next, take a ruler and a pencil, or tailor's chalk, and draw a line across like so. Not where the ruler is...right next to it! can you see the white line? hope so! Pin it like this, careful to not move the fabric too much. Then sew along that line. T Then trim off the extra fabric... trim the little triangles, and iron the seam open. Let me introduce you to someone: her name is Ms. Prym. She makes bias tape so easy to make! I got her at Joann's with a coupon for a few dollars. She was worth every penny and more! (If you don't have one of these bad boys, simply iron your strip in half lengthwise, then fold in the sides to the middle, iron that, and then fold in half again and re press. done!) How you use it: Slide the fabric in like so, wrong side facing up. I use a long safety pin to grab it and pull it through, cause it usually doesn't make it through on it's own! Pull it through, and pin it down to your ironing board... Then, iron it down, pulling little Ms. Prym down the strip of bias tape til you're done! it may look a bit wonky-but that's ok! Fold it over again and iron, you're done! Back to the shirt: Cut four pieces from your bias tape-mine were 12" long. (for the ties) Then, sew down the sides of them to create the ties. (I finished my ends with my pinking shears, out of laziness, haha) Now we'll take your sleeve pieces and make some little pleats! First, measure around your child's arm, then add 3/4" or so for the seam allowance. Then measure the bottom of your sleeve to see how much you need to pleat in order to fit your child's arm. Does this make sense? Am I talking loco? Anyways, in the center of the bottom of the sleeve, I formed a simple pleat by folding the fabric like so. I then pinned it, (made sure it was the right length across) and basted it along the very edge to keep it together. repeat with other sleeve. Now it should match the measurement of your child's arm+3/4 inch seam allowance.) Then I cut two pieces of bias tape to fit the edge, wrapped it around the raw edge, and pinned and sewed it on, catching both edges of the bias tape. make sure to sew it slooowly...it will make your stitches look so much better. This is what your sleeve will look like eventually: http://theadventuresofroryandjess.blogspot.com/2011/01/rachel-wrap-part-3-finishing-up.html Well, let's get that shirt put together, shall we? Grab your shirt pieces... Lay the back piece right side up, then lay the two front pieces right sides down, like so. Pin, sew, and serge or zig zag the shoulder seams. Then sew a gathering stitch along the top of the sleeve, lay your shirt out right side up, and then gather the sleeve to fit the arm hole... and pin, right sides together. Sew and serge/zig zag the edges. Now we'll round off the shirt front...I forgot to do that in the pattern post, but oh well....it's easy. Line up your two front pieces like so... and just trim off a little bit, to round the edges, it makes the bias tape much easier to deal with. Speaking of bias tape...starting at the bottom of one side, start pinning it around your raw edge, easing around the curve you just cut, and continuing along the neckline and back down the other side. it should look something like this: Then, sew the bias tape on, slooowly again. Now to sew in your ties: Turn your shirt inside out.... and on one side, sandwich one of your ties in between the front and back, about 1/2" below the armpit. and on the other side, just lay your tie on top and sew it along with the side seam. Speaking of, pin your side seams and sleeves, matching the sleeves up, and sew them up! (sorry no pic) Then pin and sew your other ties in like so, stitching along the ditch, where you sewed before. I finished the edges of the ties with my pinking shears. So here's the ties on one side... and on the inside... All to do now is hem it your preferred way-I serged the bottom, ironed it up about 1/2 inch and sewed that. So that's it! Unless you'd like to embellish with a simple fabric flower! I cut different sized circles and sewed them together, kinda bunching them up every so often. Then I covered a button with the main fabric and hand sewed it all on. Yay! You're done! I can't wait to see what you guys have made! Happy sewing! Let me know if you have any questions, of course. :)