January 13, 2015

JALAMA BEACH CAMPING // WITH LINDEN & MCCALLS 6613

Right after Christmas, Jeremy and I went on an overnight camping trip with friends to Jalama Beach - near Lompoc and about 2.5 hours north of LA. Four of our friends met up with us for the night - which was freezing cold (about 38 degrees - which for Southern California is just about as cold as it gets).

As a child, we camped often (and had a pop up camper), but I've found it hard to get into as an adult. Something about sleeping in a tent (especially when it's cold) - and not having my mom making amazing camping meals turned me off. However, I shouldn't have worried so much because my friends all love to eat good food! We had duck stew, Moroccan beef kabobs, and bacon, eggs and French press coffee. The only "roughing" it part came from freezing our asses off (but we built a big fire to offset the cold a bit).

Jalama is such a great beach and campground - you can even camp right on the sand. The beach is very otherworldly - rocky with constant waves (there were lots of surfers in full cold water gear), and surrounded by very high cliffs. I'm not from California originally, so I haven't been to too many beaches outside of cities, but I think Jalama Beach is the most beautiful beach I've ever been to here.

Pattern: Grainline Studio Linden Sweatshirt, View A
Size: 10 (bust), 8 (waist), 12 (hips)
Modifications: Omitted bottom band, lengthened by 3" and hemmed
Fabric: Red sweater knit from the Michael Levine Loft
Worn with: My newest pair of Ginger Jeans!

There's not much to say about Grainline's Linden pattern that I haven't said before - just that it's very versatile, and very much a wardrobe staple pattern. In November, I made two Lindens and one Hemlock on a Sunday, and this was one of them (you can see the other Linden in the photo at the bottom of the post).

The sweater knit fabric came from the Michael Levine Loft on the most magical day there ever. I bought several sweater knits and have made 2 pairs of True Bias Hudsons (one of them is in the photo at the bottom of the post) in addition to the Lindens.

The Linden at the bottom was made as instructed in View A, while this red one has no band at the bottom. I lengthened the bottom of the front and back pattern pieces by about 3" and hemmed at 1" with my beloved Wonder Tape and a zigzag stitch.  It's sort of the best of Views A and B combined, in my opinion.
Pattern: McCalls 6613, View D
Size: Large
Modifications: None
Fabric: Blue and red plaid flannel from Jo-ann's (not available online)

A few months ago, a random trip to Jo-ann netted this amazing flannel for another version of Jeremy's most TNT pattern - McCalls 6613. I also picked up some of this flannel for myself in a green and blue colorway and made an Archer with it - which came out very lumberjane (and I'm wearing it as I write this!).

I made no changes to this pattern (I always use View D), and meticulously lined up the pockets to match the plaid pattern - using Wonder Tape to help with placement (how amazing is Wonder Tape?!).

Jeremy has deemed this his favorite plaid shirt to date - which I can appreciate, because this flannel is surprisingly stable and was easy to use. Flannels for his other two shirts have been very squirrelly to line up and sew straight.

And now I'll leave you with more photos from our camping trip!

10 comments:

  1. Yikes I'm with you regarding cold weather camping! My beloved and I have recently started camping with our renovated kombi and I'm very much a fair weather camper. At least in the van it's nice and warm! How awesome is it to make your own camping wardrobe? Your red linden is lovely and of course I continue to be most impressed with your shirt making output!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just had to look up what a Kombi is... that looks awesome! I would definitely be more inclined if I didn't have to sleep in a tent! We'll have to try again when it's warmer - I think I'm done camping for the season :D

      And a camping wardrobe is new for me! Jeremy wants to go camping more during long motorcycle rides, so I want to make him some Thread Theory Jutlands - waxed and flannel lined!

      Delete
  2. Great photos! Looks like a fun trip and the food sounds fantastic!! Looks like a lot of great makes Katie!! Your husband is so lucky with all the shirts you have made for him. That McCall's pattern is a great!
    Both your Lindens look fantastic and I love your Hudsons too! And I want to see your Lumberjane Archer too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Heather!! I guess the Lumberjane will have to make an appearance here. Can't ever have too many Archers!

      Delete
  3. This looks like so much fun! I live in LA and I've never heard of Jalama Beach. I would really love to try camping there now. Your Lindens and Jeremy's plaid look great!! I'm also excited to see the Archer you made :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Mia! I definitely recommend going to Jalama - so gorgeous, and the store there has really awesome burgers. Our friends live in Buellton (basically close to Jalama Beach), and we're in the area all the time for wine drinking and hanging out. Now we'll have to add camping to the list!

      Delete
  4. Like you, I used to camping and tramping ALL the time when I was growing up (and usually grumbled about the tramping, lazy kid that I was). It's harder to keep at it as an adult with noone to motivate me - my husband and I have all our camping gear as we did it a lot a few years ago but I don't think I've been in a tent (other than at a music festival) in several years.

    Awesome photos though! The Linded looks so comfortable, and the shirt looks great - I'd love to make my husband more shirts but have difficulty finding suitable fabric for them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Sophie-Lee - I had to look up what tramping was... and yes, I would've grumbled about that too as a kid!

      And maybe your husband would be open to different types of shirt fabric - my husband really likes linen and just chambray/light cotton along with flannel. He actually dislikes traditional "shirting" fabrics.

      Delete
  5. I doubly enjoyed this post cause it has camping AND sewing. I was just talking about camping/road-tripping today with my boyfriend. I have a van and he has a ute (I think in America you call them pick-up trucks?), so we just need to tool up for camping. I also used to go camping as a kid a lot and I miss it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Sundari! I will say that with just a tent (and some sleeping bags and sleeping pads) - it was super easy to set up camp! Having a van and a pick up would go a long way to help too! You should go for it! :D

      Delete