Key West Dreamin'

When I was in Key West earlier this year I packed very lightly.  I literally had 2 t-shirts for the whole month.  One to wear, one to wash!  It was really rather freeing to not have to decide what to wear.  I just put on the clean shirt everyday.  I know it is way early to be thinking about packing for January, but the weather is starting to feel a bit fall-ish and as I was gathering up my summer project pile and putting away the fabrics that didn't quite make it to the sewing machine this summer, I decided that if I wanted new t-shirts in Key West this winter, I could make them now and still get a few weeks of wearing before the weather turns.  (I know, weird, but that's where my brain went!)  

So...new stuff for Key West...

Having only a few things means that they need to work hard and work well together, so I started with a fun tropical print to set the color palette.  Gray and aqua.  I made four pieces and we'll see which ones end up in the suitcase.  It's nice to have a bit of a try-out period.

1.  Fun tropical Hawaiian shirt.

I used my tried and true camp shirt pattern to make an oversized Hawaiian style shirt.  The fabric is a cotton and rayon blend that feels very tropical.

2.  Comfy T-shirt Dress

I worked on this pattern last summer for a t-shirt style dress but never got around to making it. I kept nipping it in as I was putting it together and I think it might still be a bit too big.  The fabric is also quite soft, it feels really lovely, but I'm afraid that it may stretch out a bit too much.  I may need to take another whack at it before I decide if it makes the Key West cut.   Right now it is not an unqualified success.  (I do like the pockets!)

3.  Striped Linen T

One of my two shirts from last year was a gray linen jersey t-shirt.  I really loved it!  The linen jersey was soooo comfortable and dried much more quickly than cotton jersey...important when you only have two shirts!  I found this cute linen jersey stripe to make a new version.   Even though it was quite challenging fabric to work with, I like the way it turned out.

4.  Cropped French Terry Sweatshirt

I am hoping that I won't have to wear this one too often, but it is January...even in Key West!

A gray sweatshirt seemed kind of boring (practical, but boring!) so I put it together with the seams to the outside and stitched down the raw edges.  I think they will fray nicely as I wear it and give it a bit of character!

I'll give these pieces a 'test-drive' for the last weeks of the summer and see it I think they can handle the rigors of the Key West adventure.  Only a very few get to make the trip!