Made for Mermaids Lee Raglan for the Family

15 years ago I thought I would never have children. Oh how my heart changed!! After the first year of being married to my husband, I found a sweet doctor who listened, knew his stuff, and was able to help me, and God changed my heart to realize that I did want to be a mother. Within the year, I was pregnant with our first child. My life changed drastically, and I never imagined it would look like what it does now! It seemed like that was just yesterday, and now I have 5 kids!!

Sewing is that hobby that I need, and I love how blogging allows me to document it all. My kids are so sweet about my sewing too. They will tell a complete stranger that their mom made their shirt while smiling from ear to ear. It has been too long since I have sewn each of them a shirt, so last week, I signed up to test the new Lee raglan pattern by Made for Mermaids and was able to make each of them (and even myself!!) a shirt!! I guess when you are homeschooled and your mom likes to sew, it becomes school picture day. I am so glad how sewing pushes me to get photos of my kids.

Today’s blogpost will be about my thoughts on the pattern and what sizes I made for each of us.

The Lee raglan has the option of a normal neckband (which I used on all the tops I made) or a placket. I love the placket look but knew I would be pressed for time with making so many tops. There is also a men’s pattern available that I have not made (sorry hubby, I needed to sleep too!) There is a straight or curved hem option, and for the women’s, there is also a tunic length.

Let’s start with some sweet photos of my youngest in her top. She just turned 1 (you can see that post here). I initially made her the size 1/2, and it fit but was a bit hard to get over her head. So, on her final raglan, I made a size 1/2 width with a size 1 length. The fit was perfect for her in this size!

She is wearing the free Bonny Leggings pattern to go with her top.

For my 4 year old Aaron, I made a size 4 width with a size 5 height.

He really loves to pose for photos and always makes me laugh (when I am not telling him to get down from something)

The fabric I used for his shirt was a gift from my friend Aimee. When he was two, she made him a tank top with this fabric, and it was his favorite shirt. He wore it ALL. THE. TIME. Almost all of his photos from 2 to maybe a few months ago have him wearing that shirt. I felt like I needed to tell people that he did have other clothes, and I had to wash it sooo much. I finally hid it from him because it was becoming a crop top and was stained beyond my ability to fix. I knew it was time to make him another shirt form his favorite fabric.

“Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.”

My 6 year old is his best friend. These two boys are pretty inseparable. I made the 6 year old a size 6 with 7 length.

The 4 year old is the active, full of energy kid. My 6 year old is the calmest and sweetest boy I have ever met. I can’t tell you enough about what a sweetheart this kid is!

I love that this pattern looks so great on boys and girls. The sleeves are NOT cut on the fold, which is necessary on a raglan, since the front and back should have different necklines. I mention this because the first raglan pattern I ever tried for my kids had sleeves that were cut on the fold. It just didn’t look quite right. This pattern has the perfect ease and yet is not baggy on the kids. I think it will be my go to staple pattern when I need to make a quick shirt for one of my kids or have some scraps to use up on them.

My 8 year old wanted the curved hem option on her Lee raglan. I made her a straight size 7 based on her measurements. She asked for the same fabric as her baby sister, and since I was working with scraps, I only had enough for her front. I paired the pandas on her top with some yarn dyed stripes from Made Whimsy on her sleeves and a Made Whimsy solid for her back.

For my 10 year old, I made a size 10 and graded the bottom to a 12 to accommodate her hips. I noticed on both of my older girls, the height for their size was perfect; while I graded to a taller height for both boys. This sweet 10 year old loves the simple raglan style. She usually says no when I ask to make her anything too frilly or girly! She is also the photographer behind many of my blog photos!

Now for my top….. I made a size Pink for bust and hips and graded to Purple for my waist. My overbust fit in a size Grey, but I struggled with the FBA and knew that a straight Pink would fit just fine. I used cotton lycra on all the kids tops and used rayon spandex for mine. I love how the neckline looks on this top. I am always a fan of a lower neckline, and this one was super easy to pull down and nurse in.

I still really love the floral with stripes trend and hope it is not going away anytime soon because I plan to wear this top soo much!

Resources

1. The Women’s Lee Pattern can be found here.

2. The Kid’s Lee Pattern can be found here.

3. The Women’s and Kids Lee bundle can be found here.

4. The rayon spandex for my top came from a Sincerely Rylee mystery box. She usually has stockings of amazing deals every Friday. If  you are quick, you can grab a box too at an insanely good price.

5. The solids and striped cotton lycra for my kids’ tops came from Made Whimsy. Her solids are always my favorite, and I try to keep each color on hand at all times – especially black!

6. The cotton lycra grey screw/nail print and pink panda prints came from Jumping June Textiles. The black/white stars came from TKB Prints. The Suess print came from Wonderground.

7. My pants are the Patterns for Pirates SOS pants.

Thanks for reading! I hope I have inspired you. You may follow me on Instagram or receive updates by liking my page on Facebook. If you want to take a look into the things that inspire me, you can follow me on Pinterest. You may also follow my blog with Bloglovin.

Disclosures: I received this pattern for free as part of the testing process to give the designer feedback about the instructions and fit of the pattern. This post also may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small compensation when you purchase via my link. There is no cost to you.  Any and all opinions expressed are my own.