Vacation Sewing

Before heading off for a Mexican vacation back in February, I panic sewed some new dresses for myself. Usually the promise of warm weather causes this reaction in me. I often panic sew summer dresses when confronted with the promise of good temperatures. I meant to blog about these while we were away, but my Dad broke his leg while we were down in San Miguel de Allende and needless to say blogging took a back seat.

This first version of the Closet Case Patterns Charlie Caftan was originally made for my Mom out of this wonderful tiny bicycle print that we found at Fabricland here in town. We settled on this pattern when looking up the fabric requirements as this was the last of the bolt. I had made this version back in November for her to take on her trip to Southeast Asia, but I don't think she wore it much and gave it back to me once it was time to pack for Mexico. Fine by me, I love these little bikes!

On another trip to Fabricland, I had come across this AMAZING silky polyester fabric turquoise fabric with wonderful neon pink polka dots. After having it around at home for a little while, I decided it ALSO would make a perfect Charlie Caftan. After trying to wear it one day, I found it was insanely staticky. So I think it's a candidate for some kind of slip or I need to get an anti-static spray.

After making the polyester version, I remembered that I still had tons of this grey and white cotton mystery woven that I bought a million years ago at Fabricville in Montreal, back when they still had a downtown location. At the time I was following the fabric buying rule of "if you really like it, buy 7 meters." So even though I'd already made and Adelaide dress from this fabric, which I've worn a lot in summer weather and just love the look of, I still have enough for this pattern and probably another dress still.

I realized after finishing this third version of the Charlie Caftan that this fabric would have been better suited to a View A version. The structured cotton didn't quite sit as nicely with the gathers as the other, more flowy versions that I made. Oh well! I still wore it a ton while we were in Mexico. And I'm dreaming of making an Indigo linen version where I'll definitely try out view A!