ME-MADE VACATION, ST. JOHN // PT. 2

It's Jeremy's turn for some handmade clothing! I will admit to being a bit selfish (well, very selfish) in my sewing, but I really do love sewing for him - and seeing him wear clothing I made!

Right before our trip last month, I made Jeremy two new collared shirts from McCalls 6613. I've made so many of them for him (probably something like 15, and I'm making a green one currently), and now they're fairly easy to crank out in about 7 hours or so. You can see a whole bunch of them in this Handmade Honeymoon post :D


These two shirts actually serve as replacements for a previous white linen version, and a blue linen version. I think they might even be the same exact fabrics - both from Michael Levine. I also recently discovered the joys of Robert Kaufman Brussels Washer Linen (which seems about the same as the Essex linen after I felt some at Michael Levine last week) - and we just bought 15.5 yards!!! All of that yardage will make two shirts for me (one a Pauline Alice Carme which is already completed) and five more shirts for Jeremy!
 

Not much more to say about these shirts that I haven't said before, other than linen shirts make fine vacation wear - especially when it's hot outside! After hanging them, any wrinkles seem to fall out from packing, or they just add to the "linen look." Linen is also super easy, and fun, to sew with. It presses well, sews up nicely, and stays put when you're cutting, sewing and ironing.

 
Both of these shirts are straight size larges from McCalls 6613 - the absolute most tried and true pattern in our household. After making so many, I have noticed a bit of an uptick in my craftsmanship on these two... mainly just that I (finally) properly trimmed all seam allowances, and my topstitching is looking much straighter than some earlier versions (thanks to Ginger Jeans practice!).


As I've probably said before, if you're looking for a classic button up (with several design options) - this pattern is a great one! Men also happen to be easier to fit than women, which is a major plus if you want to make one for a man in your life!


The blue linen shirt pictured was taken at Hawksnest Bay, post sunset swim - and is where we took the Cascade photos from the other day.


We took photos of the white linen shirt on the road outside our cottage - we stayed in the same cottage as our last trip. It's about a mile up a dirt/rock road (4WD Jeeps are a must in St. John!) - but the views cannot be beat! If you're ever looking to travel to St. John - send me an email and I'll give you more information.
 

ME-MADE VACATION, ST. JOHN // PT. 1

HELLO!!!! It's been so, so long since I've written a post - but I had a good reason... vacation!! Do you ever get so wrapped up with the idea of sewing clothing that you "need" to make, but then realize that you have enough? I had to come to that realization before our trip... I had plenty to wear on a 7 day vacation, and much of it brand spanking new (and off of my Spring Wardrobe Plan - which I'm still slogging through...).

For some background, we went to St. John, USVI a little over 2 years ago for the first time - and it was absolutely amazing. St. John is pretty small, but it has many beaches, and they pretty much all have great snorkeling. There's also a good combination of rocky beaches, white sand beaches, tiny beaches where the ocean is booming with fish, and beaches with swim up bars (okay, only one of those). We decided to make a 2nd trip to St. John this year, and it was just as beautiful as we remembered. Funnily enough, we actually ended up with mostly photos of new Handmade Threads as reminders of our trip! So let's get to it...

MEGAN NIELSEN CASCADE

Pattern: Megan Nielsen Cascade
Size: Large
Alterations: Went with the tie front option, leveled the hem
Fabric: Ikat Rayon Poplin from Fabric.com

Blogged previously here

This is absolutely one of my favorite skirts! I love this pattern, and particularly this fabric (it's rayon but thicker than rayon challis). It's perfect for the beach or something much fancier (a different day, I actually changed into this in a parking lot post-sunset swim for dinner - yay for wrap skirts!).

Not terribly much more to say about it than what I said before, just that this skirt is literally a 3 hour (or less) affair - so simple to make, and I think the wow-factor is really there. For my other two versions of this skirt, I added an elastic stay of sorts underneath, but for some reason this front tie version doesn't blow open quite as much. I guess I'll put this to the test with more wear. :D

As for the beach, we took these photos at Hawksnest Bay, on the north side of the island. It's very popular during the day, and we even tried to swim here one day, but it was too crowded. Luckily at sunset, hardly anyone was there! Jeremy and I discovered the joys of the sunset swim a little too late into our trip, and only did it 2 nights.

SEWAHOLIC SALTSPRING

Pattern: Sewaholic Saltspring
Size: 12 (bust) / 8 (waist/hip)

Alterations: Made braided straps inspired by Caroline, cut only the lining pieces (for both lining and shell), eliminated zipper
Fabric: Striped knit from Michael Levine Loft

Blogged previously here

In my Spring Wardrobe Plan, I wanted to use this fabric for a Eucalypt variation, but after re-discovering this pattern and the release of Southport and my Monettie hack, most of my knit plans got thrown out the window. I picked this fabric up at Michael Levine Loft on a day where I had so much luck! I love the stripes, and they had a few more colorways and I wish I'd bought them all. 

I decided to modify the straps to make a braided version, and essentially just cut about 1" wide strips, and braided them together. I sewed the straps into the back first, and pinned them into place on the front before sewing. I made essentially one size smaller than what I should be using for woven fabrics (read more about my previous saga here). It worked perfectly! This is definitely one of my new favorite dresses, and it worked well as a beach cover up - but I can't wait to wear it more around town this summer. 

We took these photos at a new-to-us beach - Little Lameshur Bay. It's a white sand beach, a mile down a very rocky dirt road. There's a reason you have to rent a 4WD Jeep in St. John! We also explored some of the ruins nearby - St. John historically had sugar farming/processing, and the ruins here are from the Lameshur Bay Plantation. 

TRUE BIAS SOUTHPORT

Pattern: True Bias Southport Dress

Size: 12

Alterations: Made this woven dress with knit fabric, nonfunctional button placket

Fabric: Gray t-shirt knit from Michael Levine Loft

As I said above, Kelli's release of the Southport dress essentially put all my spring sewing plans into jeopardy - if only because I wanted about 200 of these dresses (I just finished my third version)! My first version (which is unblogged) was made from voile in a size 14 and was too big. I had a bit of a realization that I needed not only a smaller size, but that I also might be shortwaisted! I removed the skirt, shortened the bodice, brought up the shoulders, and now it's wearable.

For my knit version, I cut a size 12 and left the bodice length, as I didn't mind the idea of blousing. I sewed down the button placket, and sewed the buttons through both layers. Making this pattern in a knit wasn't overly difficult, but I found my cover stitch machine to be essential to making it look polished. For the neck and arm holes, I used wonder tape to fold under the edges by 1/4" and cover stitched them down. I also attached the bottom of the drawstring channel by cover stitching. I probably could've used a regular stitch though, because this doesn't stretch. I also finished the hem with my cover stitch machine. The waistband tie is just some flat trim/tie from Joann's. 

This day we went to Leinster Bay where we saw a lot of great fish, snorkeled/swam fairly far from the beach to a nearby cay (little island), and saw a 4' barracuda twice! I was relieved we didn't see the sharks and sting rays we saw 2 years ago at this beach, even though that was pretty cool. The ruins at Leinster Bay are from the Annaberg Sugar Mill that was here in the 18th century. There's a lot of history here (including unfortunately slavery - but a revolt here helped lead to its abolishment).  A volunteer guide at the site told us that now in St. John they purposefully make buildings look like these do (with exposed brick and coral blocks), even though these buildings would've been traditionally whitewashed. 

Stay tuned for more vacation makes (including a lot for Jeremy)! Where did you go on your favorite vacation of all time?

SILK SEWAHOLIC SALTSPRING

Most of the time, after making a garment for the first time, I think of ways to improve it for the next time: different fabric, different modifications, different sizes. Sometimes, I make the wrong decisions! (But luckily they can still turn out okay) :D

Pattern: Sewaholic Saltspring
Size: started as 12 (bust) / 8 (waist/hip) - more information below
Alterations: Lengthened skirt to midi length, alternate straps from pattern, used bodice lining pieces only to remove blousing
Fabric: Paisley silk from Angel Textiles

The first time I made the Saltspring dress, I made a size 14 in the bust, and a 10 at the waist and hips. Sewaholic drafts for pear shapes (of which I am not), and so the sizes I make in their patterns are always a little funny. For some [unknown] reason I thought the first version of this dress was too big. I honestly have no idea why I thought this - but I left a note to myself to make a size 12 (bust) / 8 (waist/hip).


I bought this silk at my favorite garment district store - Angel Textiles, and immediately had Saltspring in mind (this dress is directly inspired by this Anthropologie dress). So there I was, tracing off a new size from my hardcopy pattern (lining pieces only, to remove blousing), and then I went about cutting out my silk. I merrily contintued sewing the bodice together (lining & shell), sewing the straps (more on that in a bit). AND THEN - I tried it on. My beautiful silk bodice. Was. Too. Tight. *cue tears*

It totally makes sense to climb trees in Swedish Hasbeens, right?

Panic went through me - I was wearing this to a family wedding - and I sat staring into the mirror trying to figure out what to do. It was almost hard to breathe, it was so restricting! And of course, I had to make this mistake in silk. Because I had sewn the two layers together at the arms and neck line, I sewed new seams that started just below the top (on top of the previous line of stitching), curved them out towards the serged seam allowance, and curved them back in at the waist to meet up again with my previously sewn seam. I then unpicked my old stitches.


This ended up giving me about an extra half inch or so in the bust area, which made a huge difference! In hindsight my first Saltspring fits me fine, and I don't need to make future versions any smaller.

For the skirt length, I decided I wanted more of a midi length to match my inspiration dress. I followed Caroline's instructions on the Sewaholic blog - I lengthened the knee length skirt by 10", and I did a 2" hem. I also included (like Caroline) two side slits - which start about 12" above the 2" hem. I really love the length, and the slits give the skirt more movement.


For the straps, I chose one of the options Caroline mentions in the sewalong - I cut short amounts off of two of the straps (I left the other two longer), made a little loop and sewed that into the front, with two straps coming from the back to the front. I also decided to add a little something extra by adding a few gold beads onto the ends of the straps before knotting. Bling bling!


I love my second iteration of this dress even more than the first (which was worn to death and is sadly in the "repair" pile because the straps got wrapped around my washing machine's center spinning thing [technical term] and ripped). I actually just finished a 3rd knit version with braided straps which I wore on Day 2 of Me-Made May!


Have you ever had a tragic mis-remembering of how a pattern fit you the first time around (and hopefully a happy ending)?