post-vacation grays

Phew! Is it just me, or has July really flown by in a steamy wave of hot, sticky, summer days? Seriously you guys... It's already August?! Honestly, I can’t complain, I spent a whole week of this past month vacationing with my family in Disney World – Mom, Dad, sister, two brothers, a sister-in-law, a brother-in-law, and six nieces and nephews all under the age of 8!!! It was the absolute best kind of chaos imaginable. Of course, me being me, I decided I had nothing to wear for said vacation and that I needed a whole new summer wardrobe a smooth 5 days out from my flight. And I had to make my dream capsule wardrobe because... duh! Completely rational. 

This is where I'd normally insert a little anecdote about how I drove myself crazy up until 4am the night before my flight, manically serging seams, and accidentally snipping holes in the crotches of shorts or something, but, actually, the whole thing went pretty smoothly. I finished all my sewing a day or two ahead of me leaving. I know. Totally undramatic ending to that tale. Either I'm getting better at this whole sewing thing, or I just hit a pretty good patch of dumb luck, because that scenario should have been a recipe for disaster!

I did have a few requirements for my last-minute mini vacation wardrobe, which I think helped make things go a bit smoother  – it had to be comfortable, it had to be cool (temperature-wise, though I wouldn’t turn my nose up at attitude-wise either) I had to be able to get on rides in it, and (most importantly) no shmancy new patterns! It either had to be an uncomplicated pattern, or a TNT pattern. Basically something that I could go on autopilot and whiz through without a lot of fussing with instructions or figuring out complicated seams, etc. This meant that I wasn’t making the most exciting of clothes, but, man, have they ever been getting a lot of wear!

I already shared this outfit on the Mood Sewing Network blog, but I'm hoping to share a few more of my vacation makes in the coming weeks. First up was another Grainline Studio Penny Raglan.  If you’ve seen me in the last three weeks, I’ve probably been wearing one of these tees! I am the proud owner of four already, and I just plan on adding more! They are truly my perfect casual top, plus they are dead easy to bang out factory style, so busting out 3 in one go was just about as time consuming as making one. The version pictured here is made in some lovely, drapey Heathered Gray Stretch Viscose Jersey. This fabric makes such a lovely casual top. It’s more opaque than tissue-weight jersey, but still has the same weightless, fluid feel.  It was the perfect pairing for the Penny Raglan.

I had been wanting a loose, casual woven pant to wear on those days when I not-so-secretly resent having to put on clothes (which is, like, everyday).  I’ve seen so many cute styles on blogs and social media, but for some reason I just couldn’t quite commit to a pattern or fabric.  Then one day, I don’t know what happened, but it was like something finally clunked into place inside my brain and I realized I already had the pattern and fabric sitting at home.  With a few minor adjustments to the shape of the leg, the True Bias Hudson Pants made the perfect casual pant I was looking for.  The true icing on the cake was this Rag & Bone Off-White/Black Striped Cotton Woven from Mood online. This is essentially a double gauze fabric, and if you’ve never worked with double gauze what are you waiting for?! It’s so stupidly soft. If I look a bit rumpled in these photos it’s because I’ve worn and washed these pants several times since making them, they are just that good.

True story: I actually bought a few yards of this fabric months ago, and then just last month, while perusing the Mood Fabrics site again, I saw it, forgot that I had already bought the same fabric, and bought some more. And I don’t regret it. You can really never have enough of such a great fabric.  To add visual interest to these pants I cut the pocket bands on the bias, and the waistband, and back pocket on the cross-grain to break up the vertical stripe.  The back pocket I actually added on whim, as it’s not an actual feature of the Hudson Pants, but I wanted something to break up the back view.

I usually have a strict “no pants” rule between the months of June through September, but these pants are so light and airy that they’ve been getting a lot of wear during these steamy days.

Hopefully if I can get my picture-taking and blogging act together I will have more of my quick vacation-wardrobe makes to share with you guys. I won't bore you with every iteration of the Penny Raglan that I make (you can tune into my Instagram for that) but I'll try to throw together another post on the more interesting stuff. No promises, though, it is the end of summer, and the beach is calling my name...

What have you guys been sewing to keep cool? Is anyone thinking about Fall *shudders* ? I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I've been daydreaming about some knitting projects - a sure sign that my brain is coming to the end of summer, even if the hot weather will be sticking around for a few more months!

xx