40's Casual Style

This summer my Sister-in-law gave us the option to join her family on a cabin camping trip up in Rickett's Glen. They usually do some sort of camping trip during summer vacation and had plenty of extra room in their cabin for the three of us. Steve and I though Des would enjoy running around the woods and cooking with fire so we accepted.  Which meant it was time for every seamstress's favorite activity.... planning some trip sewing!

Seriously though, as someone who is a "lifetime fancy dresser" the amount of casual clothing I own is 3 pairs of yoga pants and some ratty old Renfrews.  My suitcase was in desperate need of a few items of clothing that could handle a slog through the woods.  Guess I just "had" to buy some new patterns to fill this hole in my wardrobe.  (Let's pretend I wouldn't have bought a new pattern for any type of vacation.)  What I ended up purchasing was the recently mentioned Simplicity 3885.  The bottom half of the pattern worked out a lot better than blouse portion of the pattern.

View 1 is the button up skirt with some nice little patch pockets.  Pockets which happen to be big enough to stow your sunglasses when the hiking trail turns out to be deeply shaded.

Then maybe it gets hot or you want to go play tennis with the girls....assuming you are far more coordinated than I. Unbutton the skirt layer to reveal.....

View 2 Flirty Shorts! Here I am doing "Vanna hands" to show off the pocket welts of the nonexistent pockets.

The plan was to have pockets, but the residual post baby fat shelf caused some major gapping issues. In a perfect world I should have muslined with pockets and figured out how to adjust for that. Instead this was deadline sewing and some corners were cut.

Pocket issue aside, these were very easy to fit to my lower body.  Mostly thanks to 40's styles being really loose around the lower derriere area.  Not having to worry about under butt wrinkles is a giant relief.

Pattern
Simplicity 3885, Shorts and Skirt.

Fabrics used
Light weight stretch denim from Emmaonesock.com

Pattern changes/alterations
1.  Graded up the bottom pieces one size.

2. Raised CB of shorts 3/8".

3. Removed side seam pockets from the shorts.

4. Took in CB of skirt 1/2".

6. Let out side seams of skirt 3/8".

Confessions/Advice
- I didn't muslin the skirt portion figuring how much fitting does a button up A-line skirt need?  Ummmm plenty if your me. Ended up having to take in or let out most of the seams and I'm still not happy with the waistband fit. You'd think I'd learn by now that muslins are not optional for me.

Husband Comment
"Hey pretty lady, I like your grandma shorts."

My Final Thoughts
Both garments served me well on the camping trip. I ended up wearing yoga pants for the long hike and used these garments for short walks and trips to the lake.  It got me thinking that adding a few more causal garment projects to the sewing list would be a good idea.   Occasionally....only occasionally a dress isn't appropriate for having fun with your kid.

Speaking of him, let's just say he had a blast.