This dress is one of my favorite body con dresses. The
fabric is thick and stretchy, so it’s really figure flattering. I wore it in
this same size when I was 6 months pregnant! I also love the back zipper
detailing. It’s less than $100, and it comes in 11 different colors! (I used the
pattern for this dress to create this dress when I was pregnant
too. Can you tell I’m obsessed?) This dress in kelly green is next on my list!
I think it would look darling paired with these heels.
There are so many cute spring dresses available at Nordstrom
right now. I did some searching and found a lot of great spring dresses all
under $100. I rounded them all up for you below so you can see all of the
cutest options at great price points…
While I love getting dressed up, most days you’ll find me in simple jeans and a tee when running around with my boys. A cute pair sneakers and hat help bump up the look and complete the outfit.
Also, make sure you check out the blog this Friday. I have a huge announcement about a project I have been working on with Merrick from Merrick’s Art for the past year. We are finally announcing what #itstimetogetmodern is all about! You wont want to miss it!
One of my favorite tricks while dressing my bump this pregnancy is to style shorter dresses as tops. Some really cute dresses that might look a bit to long worn as a top normally, magically seem to work with a bump! I styled this dress as a top, and added a cardigan over it to add a little more shape since the top is A-line. I have a cardigan similar to this one that I got probably 9 years ago and still wear to this day. But it is getting so old looking, and I was so excited to find almost a similar one to replace it. It’s so soft and lightweight. These nude scalloped flats are going to help get me through these next few weeks of pregnancy! (I sizes 1/2 size down on them)
Almost all of the items I am wearing are currently on sale at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale (see all my top picks here). If you don’t have an early access card, only 2 more days till the sale opens to everyone!! I suggest creating a wish list now, so that you can quickly throw everything in your card on Friday before sizes start selling out.
Also, if you haven’t heard, to day is Amazon Prime Day! It’s basically black Friday in July. There are so many great deals. It is just for Amazon Prime members, but if you aren’t one you can sign up for a free 30-day-trial really quickly here and still get access to all the sales today. Since I have baby gear on my mind, I’ve rounded up some pretty amazing baby deals going on during the sale today, including Petunia Pickle Bottom bags for $35 off! I am in love with this one.
I have been living in dresses lately, and all of my dresses with ruched sides are my very favorite to wear (like this dress and this dress). If you follow me on instagram, you can see how much I wear them! They fit comfortably over my bump and are the most flattering kind of dresses in the third trimester. Shift dresses just tend to make me look huge at this point, and don’t give very much definition to the curves of my body. Ruched dresses show off those curves, but don’t drown you in fabric, making you look like a walking tent.
I created a pattern from this ruched maternity dress, because I can’t stop wearing it. I just so happened to have some navy and red fabric that I picked up in the fabric district a few weeks ago, and knew it would be perfect for the 4th of July! I found this dress online that is super similar to the dress that I made. I picked out some gold loafers to pair it with since I know I will be walking around a lot and wanted to keep comfy. Plus…the are gold loafers. How could I pass that up?! I will definitely be making more of these to last me the rest of this pregnancy.
Another good thing about ruched dresses, is that they are flattering whether you are pregnant or not! So I plan on wearing mine after the baby too. (see the tutorial at the bottom of this post)
Similar dresses and the rest of my outfit details here:
Come make one! I’ve included all the instructions for making this dress in the link below…
Materials:
2 yards of knit fabric
28″ of thin elastic (1/4″ works best)
Wonder Tape for the neckline (not necessary but makes things so much easier!
matching thread
Using an existing fitted dress as a pattern template, lay it on pattern paper or your fabric and trace and cut around each section to create your pattern pieces. For the length of the dress, you will want to make it pretty long. Mine went to my mid-calf before I added the elastic. Make sure you include a 1/2″ for seam allowance, and make the sleeves and dress length 1″ longer for the hem. Cutting out your pattern pieces on the fold will give you nice symmetrical pattern pieces.
Step 1:
With right sides together, stitch up the top shoulder seams.
Step 2:
Open up your two dress pieces and lay one of your sleeve pieces like the picture in step 2. Match up the center curve of the top of the sleeve with the shoulder seam and pin. Then pin evenly down either side and sew with 1/2″ seam allowance. Repeat with second sleeve.
Step 3:
With your dress inside out, stitch up the sides of your dress from the bottom of your sleeves all the way down with 1/2″ seam allowance. Serge down the sides if you would like.
Step 4:
Cut your strip of elastic in half so that you have 2 pieces that measure about 14″ long. Mark on the sides of your dress 4″ down from your armpit and about 8″ up from the bottom of your dress (do this to both sides). Stretch the elastic as tight as it will go and pin it to your seam allowance at the top, bottom, and evenly down the side. It will bunch up when you let go. Stitch it to your seam allowance with a straight stitch, stretching the fabric and elastic as you sew. Once it is stitched in place, your fabric will scrunch up and create the ruching effect.
Step 5:
If you cut out a neckline lining, attach it to your neckline with r.s. together, and stitch around with a wide straight stitch. Flip your neckline lining inside your dress, and topstitch around your neckline to secure in place.
If you have Wonder Tape , now is the time to use it! I just discovered this tape for finishing necklines and I was so amazing and easy to work with! Simply attach the stick tape all around your neckline along the edge, stretching the tape a bit as your go to keep the neckline from becoming lose. Fold under 1/4″ twice and pin around your neckline. Your fabric will stick to the tape and make it easy to fold under twice. Top stitch around your neckline securing the folded fabric. This tape won’t gum up your needle as you sew, and will disappear after your wash it.
Hem your sleeves and bottom of your dress with 1″ seam allowance.
(hover over the first picture to get clickable links to each piece)
TOP: NORDSTROM (40% OFF) | PANTS: A PEA IN THE POD (NON MATERNITY VERSION HERE) | SHOES: MICHAEL KORS (40% OFF) | SUNGLASSES: KAREN WALKER | NECKLACE, BRACELETS, WATCH (ALL 40% OFF)
Happy Memorial Day Today we are relaxing at the beach in the morning and a BBQ and swimming with family in the evening. Today is the last day of my leannebarlow.com Memorial Day Sale (30% off Take A Bow skirts and 50% off Great Lengths Maxi skirts through midnight tonight.
There are also some amazing memorial day sales going on. If you follow me on instagram, you know that I found this amazing cork clutch at J. Crew Factory this weekend that I’ve had my eye on forever and it was 50% off! And today J. Crew Factory is doing free shipping with code FUNSALE.
Easter is always the perfect time to make a dress. I made mine in time to wear it last Sunday since I will be home on Easter with my family watching General Conference. I love the design process of selecting the color and style. And all the bright feminine colors and fabrics this time of year just make me want to sew.
I bought this fabric knowing it would make the perfect lightweight shift dress. I loved it so much and it was so inexpensive, that I picked up some extra and made this top out of it. The sleeves and tulip hem are my favorite parts of the dress. I feel like they set the dress apart from the other shift dresses I’ve made. And the best news is I will have no problem wearing it throughout my whole pregnancy and after the baby is born! The pop of cobalt against the chartreuse was the perfect contrast. I actually went to Nordstrom planning on getting this same pump in the chartreuse, but they were out of my size. I felt a little like I was settling for the blue, but I ended up loving it more than what I was originally planning on! (and FYI, these heels are crazy comfortable)
I’ve linked to everything I am wearing below along with a few similar dresses below if you aren’t a sewer. (the tutorial click through is below)
Click below for the tutorial…
Materials:
2 yards of thin chiffon/lightweight fabric (I used this fabric)
Matching thread
Pattern paper
Loose woven top for pattern
Step 1:
Using your loose fitting woven top as a guide, cut out your pattern pieces (DRESS FRONT, DRESS BACK, 2 SLEEVES, NECKLINES 2 CUFFS). Extend the shirt down to your desired length for the dress. Three inches before you get to your desired length, start to curve in slightly as you draw down to create the curved hemline. I made my back hemline three inches longer than the front hem. Trace the pattern for your sleeve hole and make come to right below your bicep. Add and extra inch of width to the width of the sleeve because we will be gathering this in to create the puff. I measured around my arm where the cuffs would hit, and added about 1 1/2″ for room to pull it on as well as seam allowance. Make sure to allow for seam allowances when you cut. Mine are all 1/4″ since all of my edges are serged.Step 2:
Mark the darts on your DRESS FRONT. To do this, measure 5″ down from the armpit, mark, then 3″ down from there and mark. In the middle of those two points, measure 4″ toward the center and make a mark. Match up your side marks pin, and start stitching along the edge toward your center mark to create a triange. Don’t backstich when you get to the triangel point, just go all the way off of your fabric. Tie your loose strings to secure (backstitching will create a pucker at the center of the dart and won’t lay flat). Repeat this with the other side. Press your extra dart fabric down.
Step 3:
Take your DRESS FRONT and DRESS BACK and place them R.S. together. Pin along the top of the shoulders and stitch with 1/4″ seam allowance. Finish your seam allowances with a serger or zigzag stitch.
Step 4:
Open your dress and lay if flat, R.S. facing up. Lay one of your SLEEVES on top of the dress R.S. together, with the middle of the sleeve curve matching up with the middle of the stitched seam in your dress (see illustration). Pin together at this point, then continue down one side of the curved sleeve pinning to the sleeve opening, and repeat along the other side of the sleeve curve. Stitch together with 1/4″ seam allowance. Finish your seam allowances with a serger or zigzag stitch. Repeat this with your other sleeve.
Step 5:
Flip your dress inside out and with R.S. together, stitch from the end of the sleeve up the sleeve and down the side seam of the dress with 1/4″ seam allowance. Do this to both sides and finish off your seam allowances.
Then use a basting stitch and baste around the very edge of each sleeve. Make sure to leave long loose strings when you start and stop the stitch, and don’t backstitch. Pull one of the loose strings and start to gently bunch up the edges of your sleeves about an inch or so. Evenly distribute the gathers around the sleeve’s edge.
Step 6:
Take your CUFF and fold them R.S. together lengthwise and stitch up to create a circle. Fold in half all around with R.S. facing out and press. Take one of your cuffs and slide it over the edge of your sleeve with the salvage edges pointing down, matching up with the salvage edges of your sleeve. Stitch around the sleeve with 1/4″ seam allowance, finish off the seam allowance, and press the cuff down flat. Repeat this with your second prepped cuff.
Step 7:
Stitch your NECKLINE pieces (front and back) R.S. together along each edge to create a big loop for your neckline. Serge along the outer edge of your neckline to finish off this edge. Lay your neckline over your neck hole opening in your dress with the R.S. of your dress facing out and the W.S. of your neckline facing out. Match up your side seams and pin the neckline all around the neck hole. Stitch together around the neck with 1/4″ seam allowance. Finish off seam allowances. Fold neckline under and press flat. If you would like, you can topstitch all around the neckline very close to the top to secure your neckline in place.
Step 8:
Serge or zig zag stitch along your bottom hem, press up 1/4″ – 1/2″ and stitch. Press flat once completed.
And just like that it’s April. It’s been crazy hot around these parts lately and I can already tell that this is going to be another summer filled to the brim with sundresses and maxis. This dress from the Rachel Zoe collection for A Pea in the Pod is spot on. It’s made of a high quality knit and has an extra drapey detail that makes it extra Rachel-esque. Pile it right on top of my summer wardrobe please.
How gorgeous is this floral dress! It isn’t maternity, but I love the look of it over a baby bump. The floral print and the mini pleating are such beautiful details. I paired it with this denim jacket to dress it down just hair.
I have been a little bit in love with blue and white lately. Its not hard to tell based on my past few posts! But this navy and white embroidered top automatically caught my eye for more reasons than the color combination (it comes in four different colorways). The effortless, relaxed, California casual vibe it’s putting off is totally up my alley right now. That and the pockets. With my growing bump, I love throwing on something that looks easy to wear with a great design.
But the getting dressed part of the day isn’t always super effortless. I usually have an idea of the look I’m going for when I style an outfit, but sometimes I am just plain out of ideas. The kids need to be fed, errands run, etc. So when I have very limited time to plan out a look, I’ve started using this great new WEAR app on my phone. It’s like pinterest x instagram, but only outfit inspiration. Tons of style influencers upload their looks to the app, so I can quickly plow through a handful of looks and be inspired for how to style my outfit that day. Another thing I love is that you can search by store or item of clothing, to tailor it to exactly what you are looking for. For a busy mom, having it right on my phone easily accessible is key. (and the app is free!) You can check out my profile here.
I’m currently 17 weeks along in my pregnancy and my bump is definitely out there! It is starting to be so much fun to dress around. I fell in love with the fit of this dress the second I put it on. It is a thicker knit, so it stretched perfectly over my bump. But it is not maternity, so I can wear if after the baby too. And it comes in 11 colors! (I love it in bright pink too)
I really love this stage of pregnancy. My energy is back, I feel much more like myself, and the bump is actually a bump (not a weird bulge). I have started to feel the baby kicking recently and I forget how much I love that feeling! The boys are dying to feel it kick, but that wont be for a while longer. It is so fun to see how much my boys love this little baby already.
I just hit the 17 week mark in my pregnancy. In a big way I feel like this pregnancy is flying by! One of my absolute favorite things to wear when I am pregnant are maxi dresses. They are so chic and effortless. I love the crochet detailing on this dress. To me, they make getting dressed with a bump fun! I have really been into cream and ivory lately (as you can tell from my instagram here and here). It is clean and pretty and pairs beautifully with Spring pastels.
I am so grateful to be feeling back to normal in this pregnancy! For the first 12 weeks I felt like my body was in total control of me. I wasn’t sick at all with Bradley, but did feel nauseous with Cash. This time was even worse. I felt nauseous starting at about 4pm on. But I never threw up! I wished I could have to maybe relieve some of the sick feeling. Also, there were nights I crashed and went to bed as early as 8:30! That is almost unheard of for this night owl. My energy level is back up now, and I don’t really feel sick until about midnight (which probably means I should just go to bed). I’m trying to keep as healthy as I can and have cut out sugar/desserts from my diet during the week. For some reason the thought of carbs and sugar grossed me out during this pregnancy. Something about the aftertaste of them (I also brush my teeth about 4 times a day because I can’t handle any bad aftertaste). So I haven’t struggled too much without the sugar. It is crazy how gross I feel after eating a donut or cookie on the weekends. We will see how long it lasts, but for now I’m sticking with it!
When deciding what to wear when I don’t have much time to get ready in the morning (which is most days…lets be honest), I usually grab pieces that are simple, classic, and ones that I have worn a hundred times. For today’s look, I paired three pieces in my wardrobe that fit that category. They are also consistently in style. I paired them with this on trend fringe purse (that I am obsessed with). My three closet staples are:
1. A button up chambray top. So versatile. It goes with any color jeans, and almost any type of skirt.
2. White pants. The after Labor Day rule doesn’t apply anymore. With a clean white staple, you can pair it with endless colors of top to make it work in the Winter or Summer.
3. A great pair of cognac ankle boots. I picked these boots specifically for a few reasons. They are close-toed (good for Winter) but with the perforated suede and open back, can easily read Spring/Summer. They are also a lower boot, so I can run everyday errands in them without my feet hurting.
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I also wanted to let you know that Baublebar is having an amazing Sample Sale happening today through Friday. They have a great selection that is 50%-75% off! I picked out few of my favorites below. And the most expensive piece is only $15!
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