travel wardrobe Archives - Handmade by Carolyn

hiking in Italy/Norway; a travel wardrobe

26/07/2025 5:54 pm \ 7 Comments \ Carolyn

hello! We have very recently returned from a long hiking holiday, which involved some clever packing of seasonal extremes into a small suitcase with a 15kg limit. Challenge accepted! I shall now proceed to discuss my travel wardrobe and analyse its success. Or not.

Time away: 31 days

Where to: Italy and Norway. More specifically: Venice, followed by a week of hiking through the Dolomites and staying in Cortina, San Cassian, Colfosco and Campitello, followed by short stays in Verona and Milan. Then we travelled on to Norway, staying in Oslo, then another week of hiking around Geilo, Finse, Flam, Aurland and then a short stay in Bergen.

Season: early to mid summer, lol. I can only laugh here because we actually experienced the full gamut of weather from 0C and freezing hail, right up to blistering 40C days hiking in full sun.

Expected activities: lots of hiking! plus a few rest days in cities, specifically Venice, Verona, Milan, Oslo and Bergen

Colour scheme: I’ve found choosing a colour scheme as the very first step has made packing so much easier so this is integral to my packing strategy nowadays! I went with navy/denim blue, red and pink.

What I packed:

from left to right, top to bottom; all items are linked to their original construction post. The number of days I wore each thing is in brackets alongside it.

linen shirt (5), red merino tee (7) , blue striped cotton tee (4), pink merino tee (3), navy merino tee (3), chambray top (3)

floral/black corduroy dress (7), pink twist top (4), navy cardigan (4), lightweight red cardigan (3), chocolate hiking pants (3)

yellow raincoat (4), pink miniskirt (7), red velvet skirt (5), navy shorts (7)

bathers (5), hiking boots (16), pink handwarmers (5), 4x tights (14), scarf (knitted by my Mum) (5), blue thongs (9), booties (5), red backpack (everyday), striped hat (11)

What I wore:

Italy

Norway

Thoughts: This was a loooong trip – one of our longest ever actually – with no opportunities for washing at all apart from the usual undies in the hotel room each night! So I packed as much as I could, always leaving just a little bit of room for shopping of course, and managed a different outfit every day! I really love this kind of outcome, satisfies the lover of outfit-variety that lurks within me. Fortunately this selection turned out to be an excellent one that covered all possibilities. Having said that:

We did not anticipate that Italy would experience an intense heat wave so early in the season, with unseasonal temperatures of at least 36C from 8am up until 10pm each day. It was extremely hot which made hiking a lot more challenging… and at the end of each day everything was a sweaty mess and had to be aired overnight. I found my hiking pants were only bearable if I rolled them right up above the knee,. My shorts were absolutely fabulous, though!
I never ever thought I would be wearing that pink miniskirt without tights, worrying that it was just too short for someone my age… however, needs must and I found that if it’s hot enough then anything’s possible! It was perfectly fine to wear it without tights in the city, in fact a lot of other people were wearing mini skirts in both Italy and Norway too so I fitted right in.
I neglected to bring a sunhat! doh! so I bought that striped hat in Torchello, Venice. It was chosen purely because it fitted in nicely with my colour scheme, and I wore it most sunny hiking days. Did not regret this purchase at all!
It’s funny, I always toss in my bathers and a pair of thongs “just in case” and quite often never wear them. This trip I needed both! For a start thongs were the only bearable footwear for city wear on the very hot days … and I wore the bathers multiple times when our accomodation had either a pool or a sauna.
Footwear always takes up the most suitcase space; so you have to balance needing a variety of footwear for different situations, against how much room you can spare in your suitcase for these space-hogging things. I’d bought new hiking boots and these took up a good quarter of my suitcase. Obviously these were a necessity though. I even decided to wear them on the trip home to free up the suitcase for some of my purchases. During the trip I often wished I had just one more pair of shoes; 3 is quite frugal for a trip this long. But I managed so it’s all fine really.
If I had to point to something surplus, it would probably be the lightweight red cardigan. I wore it several times, but could have easily gone without it. I was grateful for every single other piece that I had.
One exception to the no outfit-repeat is the corduroy dress … it did get worn on the plane in basically the same way with the red merino underneath each time, but I did try to mix it up a little otherwise! I wore it with the linen shirt underneath on one of the last days and absolutely loved this, will definitely wear this combo again. Most of the photos of this dress away on the trip are featured in my previous post, dedicated to the making of this dress.
I dug out a lot of older makes for this trip that I’d made many years ago. and rediscovered a love for some of those old things. Specifically the red velvet skirt, the chambray top and the pink twist top. I always try to wear all the new things I make fairly and completely, but I do also hang onto old things that I particularly love and occasionally take them out for a spin. Some things, while old, are just amazing and you cannot get rid of them, you know what I mean?

What did I see other people wearing: ahem, I’m going too split this up into Hiking Attire, and City Attire, since these are obviously very different things…

Italy, Hiking Attire: you can’t escape the fact that Italians love brightly coloured hiking gear and it seems to be just the tourists who opt for neutral colours. I saw lots of Italians biking and walking on the trail wearing gorgeous intense colours like bright orange, mustard, turquoise and cobalt outdoor gear, and it looks absolute fabulous too.

Italy, City Attire: women in the city are wearing elegant midi-length shirt dresses, big-skirted and belted at the waist; in white, lovely florals and blue/white chintz prints, along with white and raffia sandals, and big sunhats. Absolutely beautiful! Also the other extreme, mini skirts! with either oversized white T-shirts, blouses or tank tops, and white sneakers.

a good example… I took this picture because I want to copy that top sometime…

Norway, Hiking Attire: kind of the same as Australians, as in simple subdued neutrals like khaki, navy, black, grey and white.

Norway, City Attire; Norwegians are, like Italians, into the extremes of either long midi skirts in plains or florals mostly, or alternatively short skirts or shorts, and nearly always with white sneakers. They do seem to prefer a more subdued colour scheme overall, with neutrals like grey, cream, white, and stripes predominating. Aside from this, there’s a definite trend to wear denim separates, like a denim shirt and skirt, or ¾ jeans together. This is interesting to me since there’s a budding trend here in Australia for that same look right now.

this doesn’t represent daily wear obviously, I just took it because I think Norwegian national costume is so beautiful…

Purchases: I’m determined to knit a Norwegian jumper, so purchased some wool with that in mind. This is not actually Norwegian wool, but I’ve made my peace with that. There were tonnes of wool shops in Norway – it was amazing! – but I struggled to find something appropriate for the pattern I’d prepared before our trip … anyway, I felt lucky to eventually find enough colours and skeins in this Jensen yarn from Denmark. I’m holding myself to finishing this as quickly as I’m able! I have already cast on so off to a good start. 🙂

random holiday snaps:

Venice

we had gelato nearly every day!

hiking in the Dolomites

the best apple strudel I’ve ever eaten! we had it at the chalet in the above picture

this amazing apartment building in Verona famously has a flock live flamingoes living in the garden… so pretty!

wading in the Oslofjord, it was surprisingly hot in Oslo too

hiking out of Finse, Norway

between Myrdal and Flam

Sognefjord … yes, we climbed up to this spot too! below was our last hike out of Aurland, we got to a tiny cafe run by a goat farm that made their own cheeses, perched high up the side of the fjord… of course we had a cheese platter!

Posted in: fashion, Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, travel wardrobe

South Korea and Japan; a travel wardrobe

13/04/2025 5:17 pm \ 4 Comments \ Carolyn

hello! so as I mentioned in my last post we have just got back from a nearly month-long trip through east Asia, and just for fun I’m assessing the usefulness/workability of my travel wardrobe as usual…

BTW; if you’ve ever been to South Korea and gone on a tour to the DMZ, you might recognise that this picture is taken near the border between North and South Korea, near the entrance to the Third Tunnel. It’s forbidden to take photos at the lookouts and in the tunnel, and they ensure compliance by confiscating all your belongings before going in! however taking photos in the carpark here was allowed. More of my holiday snaps are at the end of this post, if this is more interesting than my clothing…

Time away: 21 days

Where to: South Korea and Japan

Season; early March to beginning of April, the early days of spring

Expected activities: exploring new cities and towns, plenty of hiking, plenty of sightseeing, hanging out with my friend Yoshimi… we visited Seoul inc 1 day to the DMZ, 4 days hiking throughout Kunisaki, Hiroshima, Kochi, Kyoto just briefly, the Hida region outside Nagano, Tokyo

Colour scheme: mostly warm browns and autumnal shades

What I packed:

everything is made by me except shoes, bag, umbrella and gloves

from left to right, top to bottom; everything is linked to its original “making’ post. the number in brackets is how many days it got worn during the trip.

long brown coat(7) purple cardigan(4) orange corduroy hoodie(5) yellow raincoat(5) mustard cowl(5) brown bag

mustard tee(5) white fleece top(4) dk green tee(4) red tee(3)

brown corduroy jeans(5) brown skirt(7) purple skirt(8) striped tee(2) brown tee(3)

black hiking boots, black booties, 2x black tights(16) 2x sockettes(5) 2x knitted socks(9) pink thongs, bathers, umbrella, gloves

not pictured, my pjs, toiletries bag and underwear.

Oh! I forgot to mention in my previous post that I made 4 new pairs of black tights before going away, taking only 2 with me… but they’re really not worth a separate post. They’re practically identical to all the black tights I’ve made previously. Unbelievably I forgot to pack a pair of gloves so I had to buy those charcoal ones in Perth Airport before flying out, whoops! These are possum wool so are divinely soft and warm. I do not regret this purchase at all!

My daily outfits:

note; the first and last days were essentially worn for two days each because of our drawn out travelling schedule

Thoughts:

We’d been to Japan just one year ago so I deliberately chose a completely different wardrobe to take this time, with the exception of my indispensable white fleece top and yellow raincoat. I decided I just couldn’t do without these things! I was really happy with my more autumnal colour scheme, felt very different to the more spring time colours I would normally gravitate towards for a spring-time holiday.

I was determined to pack light, and took as little as I dared! I generally get quite bored with my choices after a trip like this and I didn’t hate everything by the end of it, so that’s a nice outcome. Everything got worn multiple times and went together pretty well too. I know my outfits look kinda the same a lot of the time, but there’s a range of different tops and skirts underneath those coats, I promise! You start out the day thoroughly rugged up and by lunchtime you’ve often stripped off some of those outer layers.

The weather forecast had hinted at rain, so I popped in that little telescoping umbrella; and it turned out that even when I had on my raincoat I’d use the umbrella sometimes too! For example, it’s actually hailing on us in picture 6 above! so it was nice to have the little bit of extra protection. Also you don’t always want to wear a raincoat, especially if you’re in a city, and then suddenly it’s pouring.

My long brown woollen coat looked so nice and stylish and was pretty fabulous in the windy cities, like being wrapped up in a snuggly cuddly blanket. It’s so voluminous that it also doubled as an actual blanket sometimes … comes in nice and handy when you’re spending long hours in transit somewhere. 🙂

For the first two thirds of our trip, I honestly thought the purple cardigan was going to be a giant waste of suitcase space… it’s pretty bulky and took up more room than anything else. It is also, however, toasty to the extreme and the last 4 days temps dropped down below zero with snow each day… and so out it sprung from the suitcase to blessedly justify its existence. I also half-doubted that the new striped T-shirt was going to be particularly useful either, however to my surprise a couple of days in Hiroshima and Kochi were quite warm and humid and I was glad to have a lightweight option after all.

I correctly predicted that I wouldn’t wear either my bathers or my thongs… but as usual I don’t really mind taking them because they don’t take up a lot of space, and I still hold out that you just never know if you might need them *shrugs*. Everything else I took was absolutely worthwhile and I was relieved that I had enough choices to keep my fussy self happy.

What did I see other people wearing:

well, Yoshimi has made some really cool jeans and beautiful shirts which was a joy to see!

hmmm, what else did I see? Lots of people wearing black, mostly. It felt very late winter with everyone hanging out for spring. Apart from in the main parks where the sakura is bursting forth in stunning profusion, one sees girls in either ball gowns or at least wearing lots of pink. It’s kind of de rigueur.

Something that stood out to me in the cities was that quite wide leg jeans seem to be fashionable right now; and with lots of cargo pockets, and just in general baggier, longer and loose-fitting clothes. People were also wearing lovely coats and trench coats which is really nice and kind of a novelty to me still. People don’t wear coats that much where I live, so I really love seeing them in other places.

Of course in Japan I always enjoy seeing kimono on the streets. For convoluted reasons, this trip I seriously checked out a lot of kimono and obi in department stores and was totally shocked at the prices. I mean, of course these are absolutely beautiful one-off pieces that feature weaving and embroidery of the highest quality, and I also know that you can buy cheaper second hand ones too… but well, the newer ones are really priced so high that it’s hard to imagine anyone being able to afford them, really.

Here are a few of my favourites…

this one above is my absolute favourite!

I really loved how this kimono and obi matched each other so beautifully…

In general, here are some of my favourite photos of the holiday…

Seoul forest…

climbing up to Seoul tower

pilgrimage to 10-31 Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

Yoshimi and me

we saw a tv crew filming in the park while we were there, and then Yoshimi sent me this, hahaha…

check us out…!

making a tiny snow duckling… I know I know, I’m such a dag

pilgrimage to Seoul forest

did we all watch squid games?! btw I would have failed this round…

matcha tea with Yoshimi

near North/South Korea border; ribbons of hope put up by South Koreans wanting to be reconciled with relatives in North Korea

Hiroshima. so moving…

loved this rooftop bar…

along Meguro river, Tokyo

hiking…

this was really cool and I’m so glad I read about it beforehand… in South Korea you can customise your own travel card. I picked one of my favourite pictures of our family, taken by Cassie’s now husband during our skiing holiday in Hokkaido a few years ago…

egg bread, a popular street food in Seoul, omg so yummy. I’m definitely going to try to make this!

Posted in: fashion, Uncategorized \ Tagged: travel wardrobe

Maldives; a travel wardrobe

11/12/2024 12:54 pm \ 2 Comments \ Carolyn

hello! So as hinted in my new bathers post just recently, we have been on an absolutely gorgeous holiday to the Maldives… this is our third visit, each time as well as this time staying on Velassaru. I know, I know, there are lots of other islands in the Maldives and maybe we should be more adventurous but we just love this charming little place; as well, our theory is that if it’s not broken then there’s no need to fix it! As usual, I’m compiling a little summary of my travel wardrobe…

Time away: 7-8 days

Where to: Velassaru, the Maldives

Season; mid to late October, the tail end of the rainy season

Expected activities: not very much at all! lots of swimming, lazing around and reading

Colour scheme; white, blue and pink … really just the prettiest and lightest summery colours in my wardrobe

What I packed;

from left to right, top to bottom, everything is linked directly to its own “making” post…

denim skirt, raspberry cardigan, white top, floral dress, pink dress, beach coverup

large polka dot dress, small polka dot dress, navy/white dress ~~(not yet blogged, and wow, I cannot believe I forgot to blog this dress!)~~, blue floral dress, orange polka dot bathers

light blue shirt, yellow shorts

blue bag, pink thongs, white sandshoes, 2x white sockettes, white hat, raspberry crocheted hat

not shown, nightie and a selection of underwear, my toiletries bag

My daily outfits;

Thoughts;

After two of basically the same holiday then you’d think I’d have got it right by now! I took a different light summer dress for each day, and this is a good strategy for a very warm, beach holiday like this one. I absolutely love all of these dresses and so I felt happy and fresh and comfortable in all of them. I also learnt my lesson from last time and took a pair of light sandshoes for our daily (gentle) exercise routine, for which I also wore the day 1 (pic 2) dress because it was already a bit sweaty by then. I don’t have a dedicated “exercise outfit” but sometimes I wonder if I should make one… ?

For the flights I went for comfort and warmth, but not too much warmth. The plane is always cold, but then you’re dying from the heat immediately as you alight in Male, so one’s outfit choice must always comprise some compromise! I did opt to wear my new shirt over my plane outfit coming home, just for that little bit of extra warmth.

For most of each day I was just in my bathers(pic 5) and beach coverup for swimming and sitting by our private pool and the ocean outside our own cabin each day… I don’t really wear my bathers out and about on the island like a lot of people do, because I’m shy that way. I know it seems counterintuitive since here I am posting my bathers on the internet like this! but well, I hope you know what I mean. And then I would wear actual clothes for the times we were amongst other people, like our breakfast session in the island cafe and then from 5pm onwards, which was the time we wandered over the beach bar for our happy hour drink. I became particularly fond of a mocktail called “pink sand” which was a divine mixture of pineapple juice, crushed mango, pink passionfruit juice and pulp, strawberry juice and coconut water. Mmmm!

what did I see other people wearing; a new category! speaking for myself I absolutely LOVE checking out other peoples’ outfits so I know I’m interested! First of all, observed nationalities during our week were; Russians, South Americans (sorry, cannot be more specific since I sadly cannot tell the difference between Spanish and Portuguese, but did see one Argentinian football t-shirt in there), Swiss Germans, South Koreans, Italians and Chinese. We were the only Australians.

I’ve noticed men generally wear the same global mens’ uniform of shirt/T-shirt and longish shorts combo, no matter what the nationality. If a couple has booked themselves in for a “beach shoot” then he will invariably wear a white linen shirt and white trousers.

Women, however, are a completely different kettle of fish and fashion-wise the sky is the limit … for the aforementioned “beach shoot” the woman will almost always be in something almost like a ballgown. In case you’re interested; no, Craig and I did not do a beach shoot!

For everyday beach and poolside wear, women will be in anything from lace and jewelled caftans, floorsweeping maxi dresses and palazzo pants, giant sunhats and giant sunglasses, chiffon, silk, lace etc… to more ordinary, what I would call “normal” summer wear like shorts and blouses, or pretty light dresses, and all the way through to near nudity! I’m not judging at all btw! I love that everyone can just do their own thing. I also noticed some women who had a different bikini with a different matching beach coverup for every day. I personally don’t think I could do that, it seems kind of extravagant? even though I myself normally swim every day I still have just one pair of bathers. Though honestly, is having a different dress for every day really any different?! I don’t know… food for thought. A debatable concept!

Trending note: lace coverups and neon, solid-colour bathers seem to be quite popular.

Anyway. I shall now sign off by boring you with some of my favourite Velassaru views…

coming back from dinner our little cabin always looked so cosy and welcoming… and can I just point out the tiny fairy lights embedded in the bottom of the pool? So cute and pretty!

breakfast time views…

could never tire of this view from our cabin …we spent our days meandering between the pool and the ocean and the deckchairs and then all over again…

nom nom…

this unsuspecting heron probably plays a starring role in about a million holiday photos… #naturalborninstamodel

definitively NOT a ballgown. #kindaboringeh

Posted in: fashion, Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, travel wardrobe

Bali, Indonesia; a travel wardrobe

13/07/2024 9:23 am \ 3 Comments \ Carolyn

Well! it’s taken me an awfully long time to get around to this! several years in fact… I’m a little hazy now as to why I never posted this draft post before but well, I didn’t…. however, as mentioned it in my previous post I really do enjoy reflecting on my travel wardrobes so decided to finally finish this one up too…

Time away: 8 days

Where to: Bali, Indonesia

Season: May, which is early dry season. Meaning hot, and quite humid by our standards

Expected activities: attending the wedding of our friends L & L, a couple of fancy dinners, and the rest of it beachwalking, exploring and lolling about the pool

Colour scheme: not really relevant, I just went with my most lightweight and breeziest of summer dresses!

What I packed:

7 dresses (inc 1 fancy for the wedding), 2 skirt and top sets (inc 1 fancy for other dinners), 2 hats, 3 pairs sandals (inc 1 fancy for the evenings), one beach coverup and one bikini. I made everything, including my shoes! except for the turquoise sandals worn to our friends’ wedding

(see below; from top to bottom, left to right.. all are linked to the original blog post)

silk dress, turquoise sandals

white hat, polka dot dress, white sandals

blue dress, white hat, red sandals

floral dress, khaki hat, red sandals

yellow top, ‘map’ skirt, white hat, white sandals

white hat, white coverup, pink bikini (not seen)

lace top and skirt, white sandals

Marimekko dress, white hat, white sandals

turquoise dress, white hat, red sandals

(worn on plane) brown dress, red cardigan, white scarf, white sandals

I cannot post a layout of my pieces this time since a few, namely the turquoise dress, the bikini, and the yellow top, are no longer in my wardrobe and I just felt it would be unsatisfactorily incomplete. Anyway, the outfit pictures should give a good idea!

My daily outfits:

Thoughts; it seems like a lot for an 8 day holiday but it’s really not! Bali is hot and very humid and honestly, your outfit is usually a sweaty mess by the end of the day! so it’s a really good idea to plan a separate dress for each day. Each outfit I packed was very light and airy and worked perfectly for the temperatures. Hats were also an absolute necessity.

Of course I wore my bathers every day for swimming in our little private pool (pic 6 above), and got dressed properly for leaving the hotel room, even walking the beach right out front. Bali is conservative and even though you do see tourists walking around with not much on, it’s considered quite disrespectful to do this. I had my little cardigan and scarf (last picture) for the plane, because the plane is always cold! however I had no need of these items in Bali.

The last time we had been to Bali was for our own honeymoon, a looooong time ago now! and so I made the lace top and skirt (pic 7) to celebrate. I wore this to a few special dinners, and for our friends’ wedding I wore the silk dress in pic 1. It was really nice to have lots of special occasions actually! all in all, a totally lovely holiday and we had a great time, soaking up the sun and enjoying the last little bit of heat before returning to a fast approaching winter back here in Perth.

Posted in: fashion \ Tagged: travel wardrobe

Japan; a travel wardrobe

17/04/2024 2:01 pm \ 4 Comments \ Carolyn

Hello! We’ve just got back from our … fifth! I think? trip to Japan, and it was absolutely fantastic, as always! For the purposes of hand-making related blogging, here’s a compilation of the clothes that I took and how I wore them, plus general rundown of how it all worked out.

Time away: 25 days

Where to: Japan… we visited Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Kanazawa, Matsumoto, and also almost a week of hiking in the mountains.

Season: early spring

Expected activities: lots of hiking, plenty of city strolling, viewing cherry blossom, catching trains, and shopping.

hiking details: 3 days along the Kumano Kodo trail (Takijiri-Oji to Takahara, to Chikatsuyu, to Hongu Taisha) and 2 days along the Nakasendo trail in the Kiso Valley (Nagiso to Nojiri, then Nagiso to Tsumago-juku, and Tsumago-juku to Magome-juku and back). We were NOT backpacking though, we had our luggage ferried in between towns which is the absolute best way to hike, imo!

Colour scheme: lots of pink, black and white, with my moss green and yellow jackets playing along

What I packed:

all items linked to the original construction posts with the exception of the two new starred items blogged right here in this post, below

green jacket *pink jumper striped jumper cream scarf yellow raincoat

pink striped jumper black check jacket red neck warmer

charcoal skirt *pink miniskirt black jeans rtw black gloves

blue miniskirt black tights (x4) cream T-shirt charcoal twist top

white fleece top ivory Tshirt

cream twist top sockettes(4) hand knitsocks(x3)

yellow handbag bathers black hiking boots black boots

not pictured, pink thongs, pyjamas, underwear

My daily outfits: not necessarily in order, in fact all reproduced after I returned home, since I pretty much only took rough mirror selfies just to remind myself what I wore each day…

Thoughts: I didn’t allow myself enough time to pack and kinda threw a lot of stuff in this time (hangs head in shame) however, I’m very pleased with the variety of outfits I had at my fingertips. Really, I know I could probably get by with less but I’m definitely the type who gets really bored and a little sad with wearing the same outfit day after day, so I try as much as possible to achieve a variety of different looks over the span of a trip. Also, it was all quite light and compact and I still had plenty of room in the suitcase for shopping, very important!

I admit though, I was rather astonished when I realised I’d packed FOUR white or white-ish tops! What was I thinking?! Although to be fair to myself, they all serve different functions. Yes, really! One cream T-shirt goes hand in hand with my pink striped jumper; I always wear them together and they count as one item of clothing really. The white fleece top is SUPER warm and a little bulky, ideal for those extremely cold days, which we had a few at the beginning of the trip. The ivory twist top is kind of a stand alone top, that is visually interesting and good for wearing by itself. And the ivory merino T-shirt very thin and lightweight for warmer days – probably didn’t need this one to be completely honest. I really could have put more forethought into the ivory top situation!

Things I didn’t need at all, my bathers and thongs. I’ve said this every trip though; I toss them in, just in case because they don’t take up much room, but I’ve hardly ever needed them in Japan. maybe I should rethink if I ever take them on future trips?

I was so pleased with the skirts I took; all of them are very comfortable and versatile. I wondered if I would need those jeans at all; but I very much appreciated them on those few very cold days in the cities.

I also wondered about whether I’d need the green jacket, but it’s lovely and cosy and was great to wear around the city; I was glad I had it. My yellow raincoat was absolutely essential, for the few times we were hiking in torrential rain, and is a good windbreaker too.

I didn’t make the gloves – they’re actually Craig’s but his hands don’t get cold and he was happy for me to wear them. These are kinda special; they have a metallic fibre knitted into the finger and thumb tips so you can operate your smart phone while wearing them. Such a good idea! I’m thinking of incorporating this into a future pair that I knit for myself… somehow?!

Maybe now is a good time to introduce the two new items of clothing in my wardrobe, made just especially for this trip!

Firstly, the little pink mini skirt… this is made using the Paprika Patterns Jade mini skirt pattern; an old favourite that is instantly recognisable as a stalwart in my tried and true pattern collection. I made it using a piece of cotton jersey bought a few years ago, during the early days of covid, just before lockdown and I was panic shopping at the thought of being unable to go to a fabric store in days/weeks to come. Priorities!

I lined it with lightweight blue cotton jersey, the same stuff I used for the blue mini skirt also pictured in this trip’s lineup. The blue is not a very stable knit, quite flimsy actually, but I figured the pink jersey had enough body that it didn’t need a super stable lining. I really love this new pink skirt and felt really good about my outfit each time I wore it. No surprises there since I love this pattern so much, and I really love the colour too. Win!

(worn here with my ivory twist top, and at the top of this post with hand knit jumper and yellow raincoat)

Item 2; a pink sewn jumper, made using the Paprika patterns Jasper pattern (worn here with my black jeans). I’ve made this once before and love my first one too. I made this the dress length, without the little collar clinch, and more flared around the hips than the pattern and am happy with this extra width. To be honest it’s way too short for me as a dress, but I find it perfect as a sweater top.

The fabric is super fluffy and cuddly knit stuff from Spotlight… I’ve been hoarding this fabric for quite a while but it’s always been intended for a Jasper. Just one of those projects waiting for the right opportunity, and of course a cherry blossom viewing holiday in Japan was exactly that! I whipped this up with barely half a day to spare before our flight out, actually. I’d almost forgotten how I’d once-upon-a-time planned this fabric+pattern for this holiday, and was so so glad I was able to fit the making of it in, because it was indeed exactly the new thing I wanted.

doing some hard yakka up a mountain

I made the pocket in the front without welts but just turning under the seam allowance and topstitching the pocket edges to stabilise them, and I really like this small variation. Really, my fabric was too bulky for welts and I think it would have been disastrous to attempt them; plus I didn’t have another fabric I wanted to use for welts either. For the pocket inside, I used the some pink jersey leftover from my new skirt. There is just something about this pocket though; I’m not sure what I did different or if it’s the fabric, but the pocket has a tendency to hang on the inside in a way that shows up visibly on the outside. I may or may not cut the pocket in half inside to make it two separate pockets. I’ll see how I feel about this after a bit more wear.

I straightened the pocket out for this picture but it has a tendency to drop down after a while, and visibly “hang”

Some other making news from the trip; I was thrilled to meet up again with my dear friend Yoshimi… she had kindly organised a very interesting activity for us to do which was a bicycling, sock-making workshop! These are semi-automatic sock making machines, that have been attached to bicycles so you can use human power to knit your socks… it was such fun! You chose your colours, the ladies in the “factory” pre-programmed the machines for your individual sock lengths, both foot and above ankle sections, and away you went! It took about ten minutes or so for each sock, and the ladies stitched up the toe for us. It was lots of fun, and something I wish I could do again some day. Also, fastest socks that I’ve ever “knitted”, if I can even lay claim to that!

Anyway. We had an absolutely wonderful time! I bought a few little kits… and several books… and just one piece of fabric. I know, so restrained! I’m still very committed to reducing the stash, but just had to allow myself one souvenir piece!

Vowing right now that each of these things will be used/made in the space of one year… I’m holding myself accountable!

I also bought skin care, a manga, quite a few little odds and ends and bits and bobs… Also Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in Japanese. This is so I can read side by side with my English copy and hopefully improve my Japanese. Oh, by the way, I managed to speak Japanese every day! This is the first time I’ve got to actually speak with people, and I really enjoyed trying… however, I know the lack of Japanese speaking people in my life is going to be the reason I’ll never been fluent since it was sometimes quite challenging. Honestly, I feel so dumb compared to Yoshimi who’s English is so completely excellent.

On that note, maybe it’s time for me to go and do another lesson… ever onwards and upwards!

頑張る!!

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: travel wardrobe

the Maldives; a travel wardrobe

26/10/2022 11:18 am \ 4 Comments \ Carolyn

phew! it’s been aaaaaages since I did one of these! or it feels like it anyway! We’d originally booked this holiday back in 2019, to be taken in 2020; and well, we all know what happened in 2020! Covid, in case future me has forgotten this world-altering event already… hehe. We’d decided we wanted to treat ourselves to a lovely relaxing break after catering to the respective two weddings of our two eldest; Tim to Kelly, and Cassie to Daniel. Of course these were both lovely and wonderful events in our lives, at the same time I’d made the wedding dresses plus all the bridesmaids’ dresses for both and was pretty much exhausted.

Anyway, we finally got to take this longed-for dream holiday! and return back to our dream holiday spot in the Maldives.

Time away: 7 days

Where to: Velassaru, of the Maldives

Season; tail end of the monsoon season, meaning possible rain. High tropical temperatures from 27C lows to 29C highs #heaven!!!

Expected activities: lots of nothing at all! no really, just swimming and lazing

Colour scheme: cheerful and colourful, as befits a blissfully beautiful oceanic isle

What I packed: We’ve been here previously, so I know that the ideal holiday wardrobe is basically a new little sundress every day. So this is what I took!

From left to right, top to bottom; all items are linked to their construction posts… (I will update this post with the links once the as yet unblogged ones are finally blogged)

pink checked sundress

rtw red thongs

rtw turquoise thongs

rtw ivory scarf

ivory, long sleeve tee

black tights

rtw black booties

not pictured; my oxen dress, a few books, small knitting bag, my nightie and a selection of underwear

I’ve been so slack with blogging this year! I’m sorry! I will make a big effort to blog everything as soon as possible 🙂 Also, there’s another sundress in my outfit shots that I wore but forgot to put into the lineup… also unblogged, whoops!

My daily outfits:

Thoughts:

I’d taken the long sleeve tee, cardigan, tights, scarf and booties to wear on the plane. It was bitterly cold in Perth as we were leaving, plus planes are cold, so I knew I’d need to be warmly dressed just for this short part of our trip. I wore these things over/under one of the sundresses on travelling days, to minimise packing space. Verdict: necessary!

The bathers got worn every day obviously, the bucket hat occasionally, and all of my colourful pretty sundresses got worn, each perfect for the climate and location. 🙂 it’s pretty hot and humid so you basically need a fresh one every day… verdict; all necessary!

I didn’t really need the raincoat; although we’d gone at the tail end of the monsoon season and it did rain several times, the resort provides big umbrellas for you. Plus, it was too humid and hot to wear the raincoat anyway… verdict; unnecessary!

I’d taken one pair of red thongs however I did not wear them even once! since the resort also provides a pair of thongs for you, the turquoise ones pictured above; and I wore these ones every day! Such a pretty, summery colour, and as a bonus they have “Velassaru” stamped into the bottom. There are Velassaru footprints all over the island, and I found this totally charming!

One thing which I did not take and which I wish I had? a pair of sand shoes, or sneakers. This trip we did a good solid hour on the treadmill in the resort gym everyday. This is actually so unlike us! a gym?! but for some reason we just got into it and enjoyed it. Possibly because the first day it rained quite heavily ALL DAY (thus the umbrella in my 1st daily outfit pic) and we still wanted to get some exercise after a day of travel. And after day 1 we decided to do it every day; just that one hour of solid exercise and then we could fully relax, swim, read, snorkel and just generally laid about for the rest of each day. And I had to wear either my thongs or a pair of Craig’s socks on the treadmill, because I had no choice! In future; I will take a pair of sneakers for both on the plane, and that I can wear for exercise if needed. because actually the booties were a kinda frivolous, plane-only thing… verdict; better footwear choice needed!

Some favourite holiday snaps: Craig took the 1st and 2nd distant shots of me, and the final one is our de facto pet from during the holiday; a rather large fruit bat hanging in the tree outside our cabin. I loved watching him swoop silently along the beach at night!

Posted in: sewing, Uncategorized \ Tagged: travel wardrobe

San Francisco and New York, USA; a travel wardrobe

29/10/2019 12:10 am \ 15 Comments \ Carolyn

above; this is me, shopping in Mood… eeeek!!! #dreamcometrue

So, during our April holiday in Japan, my lovely friend Yoshimi suggested an idea; that she and I meet in the US for a short holiday together; to go fabric shopping and to meet with sewing friends who we have both known for years but not actually “met” yet… I didn’t have to think for very long because I thought it sounded like lots of fun!

Time away:

14 days

Where to:

San Francisco and New York City, USA

Season:

early autumn, with expected daily temperatures of around mostly 21-24C to one glorious day of 28C

Expected activities:

mostly visiting and hanging out with fellow sewing enthusiasts in the US! we planned for exploring the city, fabric shopping, museum and art gallery visits, and also for one day of bike riding along the shoreline of San Francisco and across the Golden Gate bridge.

Colour scheme:

no particular colour scheme, just my regular palette of neutral/autumnal shades. I picked things that I thought went nicely with my new deep green canvas jacket, which turned out to be a good plan because I ended up wearing it every day.

What I packed:

(from left to right, top to bottom, the number in brackets after each item is the number of times it got worn… all items are linked to their original construction post. I made everything here except for the shoes, the ivory scarf and my gold handbag)

bottle green canvas jacket (14)
white cropped top and “autumnal” skirt (1)
cockatoo print top and skirt (3)
floral dress (3)
mustard merino tee (2)
forest green twist top (2)
white shirt & purple top with leather sleeves (3) pictured together just because I always wore them together
ivory scarf (5)
blue-grey cardigan (3)
bookshelf skirt (3)
striped tee (1)
blue 3/4 trousers (4)
pink raincoat (0)
white sandshoes (8)
black booties (6)
green thongs (0)
black tights x2 (6)
a selection of sockettes (8)
gold handbag
white sunhat (0)
yellow bathers (0)

not pictured; my underwear, pyjamas, toiletries bag, knitting bag

My daily outfits:

or; more messy-looking but definitely more “authentically”…

Thoughts:

Overall I was very happy with the clothing I took, I think I took just the right amount of stuff actually, and wore things pretty evenly. I’ve already waxed poetic about my new Sienna jacket so will not repeat myself by raving afresh here… but, it was for sure the MVP!

The only time I miscalculated my outfit was the day we rode over the Golden Gate bridge… everyone warned us it would be cold and we’d need to rug up. Well, it was actually pretty hot and I sweltered in my merino tee and trousers! I had to go hide behind a tourist bus and sneakily strip my merino tee off from under my, thankfully rather loose and baggy striped tee because I thought I was going to legit DIE of heat exhaustion. Overly dramatic? MOI?!

I loved wearing my cockatoo outfit… it got quite a few compliments, and not just from sewing friends who “knew” it from my blog! I always feel good wearing it anyway, it’s quite unique and interesting; and especially being overseas it felt like a little bit of Australiana too, which made me happy.

I’d made my new Nicola Finetti outfit too, and this was absolutely perfect for that one very warm day in San Francisco. Oh! I was so glad of that one warm day! It would have been perfect if we’d had another warm day for when I met with the New York sewing peeps too, but oh well, c’est la vie. It was ok because I wore one of my favourite dresses that day, the floaty floral number pictured at top, so that was fine. btw, I took that sneaky selfie in Mood fabrics… propped my phone up on a handy roll of fabric and set the timer. It’s not a good photo at all; grainy, badly lit, off kilter and blurry, and I totally love it for all those reasons!

Was there anything I packed that was not the slightest bit useful? Well, my bathers, hat, pair of thongs, and my raincoat; lay completely undisturbed in the suitcase and did not get worn, even once! Four things!! Now, normally I hate packing and taking things for nothing, because of the waste of suitcase space; however I’m not too devastated this time. For one; it’s always a good idea to take bathers I reckon, just in case; they don’t take up much room. There was no need for them but hey, no biggie. And thongs, for the same reason. My hat; well, I dunno, just being in a sophisticated city environment kinda disinclines me to wear something as touristy as a hat. Yes of course I AM a tourist, true, but still I didn’t want to wear it. And not needing my raincoat was a good thing! We were so lucky with lovely fine weather the entire time!! …

Yoshimi, Claudine, Peter, moi , Carolyn ….. btw Claudine’s jumper is one she knitted herself, using wool she spun herself, from the raw fleece if you don’t mind! and then dyed herself too… WHAT A WORK OF ART I ASK YOU!!!

So, I’ve already posted pictures of the ladies we met in California, and it gives me so much pleasure to post these pictures of the New York sewing peeps we met too! As with the California girls, so many of these people I have admired and followed for about a decade and it was so amazing and fantastic fun to meet for real! I’m so grateful to Carolyn, of Diary of a Sewing Fanatic for organising a fabulous fabric shopping day out together with Claudine, Peter, Caroline and Carol, and to Sonja and Yvette for coming out to meet us for dinner later at Carolyn’s favourite restaurant Brendan’s. It was such a wonderful day!

with Carol and Yoshimi in Mood… hehe, that thing behind us made me laugh when I noticed it creepily photobombing our picture!

below: Caroline, Claudine, Yoshimi, Carolyn

Earlier in our NY sojourn, we met up with the fabulous and very funny Marcy in the beautiful Grand Central Terminal! I wish we could have gone fabric shopping with her at her favourite wax print store too!

and we had the most delightful breakfast and visit to Lucy’s Grocery Store with Kyle and Tomasa. It was such a joy to chat at length with these two lovely ladies!

Yoshimi, Kyle, Tomasa,

Honestly, meeting sewing friends was the purpose and happily also the highlight of my trip; and dare I say it? even eclipsed the fabric shopping at such a worldwide sewing mecca as Mood, if that is possible. And the fabric shopping in the Garment District is indeed an amazing experience. I have no words actually. It’s truly overwhelming, and everything you’ve ever read about the stores, the size of places like Britex and Stonemountain and Daughters in San Francisco, and the spandex shop and Mood in NYC, the stuffed-full-ness; the sheer ungodly number of bolts of fabric which must surely number up in the tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands… Pacific Trimming alone, oh my god. What wouldn’t I give to have THAT haberdashery heaven in easy reach?!

OK, I said I had no words, and yet there ended up to be quite a few words after all… Ha!

Finally, Yoshimi was the most delightful travel companion and I’m so happy and grateful that she suggested we take this lovely trip together. I had so much fun and I sure hope she did too. Thank you so much Yoshimi! for your friendship, and I hope we can take another trip together, some day!

randomly; another favourite ootd selfie … I sneakily took this one in the NewYork Met by propping my phone against my bag, on a handy seat… Sneaky!!

Now, seeking a random opinion…usually when photographing my travel wardrobe I lay everything out on the floor, as in the kind of “floor-drobe” that I used to have to steel myself to confront when entering my teenagers’ bedrooms… and this time I tried draping everything neatly over Jane, so it all looks nice and neat and clean and clear. What do you think? Is this preferable to the usual floor-drobe? Or is it not as “real?

versus

yes, I did both…

Likewise, my daily outfit pictures… I think putting the outfits on Jane gives a clear and clean and well-detailed overview of the items and how they go together, and definitely looks quite “nice” compared to my real life pictures where you might not even be able to see details very well. On the other hand, the “real” pictures are, well, REAL.

versus

It’s ok, there’s no “right answer, but still; which do you prefer?

Posted in: fashion \ Tagged: travel wardrobe

Japan in the spring; a travel wardrobe

22/04/2019 10:23 am \ 17 Comments \ Carolyn

So, we’ve just recently returned from a fabulous holiday in Japan! had the most wonderful relaxing time and have come back all rejuvenated and charged up ready to dive enthusiastically back into the wedding-related maelstrom that is currently my life…

My typically bloggy habit is to do a bit of reflection and analysis of my travel wardrobe and think about what was good and what… was not?

Time away:

17 days

Where to:

Japan… time spend in each of Tokyo, Kyoto, Kanazawa, Matsumoto, and up in the Kiso Valley area

Season:

early spring, expected daily temperatures of around 4C-ish up to 24C-ish

Expected activities:

as much viewing of cherry blossom as possible! with tonnes of hiking, some biking, visiting the studio Ghibli museum and a hedgehog cafe, shopping for fabric and wool – obviously! and hanging out with my lovely friend Yoshimi

Colour scheme:

mostly pink/red and whites/ivory, with splashes of blue and yellow/mustard….

What I packed:

all items are linked to their original construction post. I made everything here except for the shoes, handbag, and the apricot scarf was a gift from my Mum…

from L to R, top to bottom, the numbers in brackets after are the number of times each item got worn;

yellow/white sundress (2)
apricot scarf, a gift from my Mum (4)
cream infinity scarf (5)
striped sweater (4)
lt blue jacket/cardigan (9)
cream beanie (2)
pale pink raincoat (3)
lightweight ivory sweater (3)
white polar fleece turtleneck (8)
pale pink twist top (5)
pink mohair sweater (5)
jeans (7)
gold handbag (every day)
lime-green hand warmers (5)
3 x pairs of socks, plus 1xsockettes (11)
two lightweight white T-shirts plus lightweight striped T-shirt (every day as thermals)
red mini-skirt (4)
mustard skirt (4)
blue bathers (not even once)
pink thongs (none)
hiking boots (8)
2 x prs of black tights (10 days, sometimes doubled up)
little black walking shoes (3)
black ankle boots (5, plus most evenings for dinner)
(not pictured) my pyjamas, knitting bag, toiletries bag and a selection of (me-made) underwear

My daily outfits:

Thoughts:

After a few weeks of obsessively stalking the weather forecast in Japan, I packed both wintery things and a few warmer weather things too, since it all seemed quite variable. So, it seems like a lot of clothes… but I needed everything!! For most of our trip it was absolutely freeeeeeezing!! and by freezing I mean, yes it actually snowed several times! Those expected temps of 5C to up to 24ish? well, it plummeted to 1C and highs of 11C on a coupla days! brrrrrr… So even my warmer weather lightweight T-shirts got worn every day, underneath everything simply for thermal purposes, and my just-in-case jumpers got worn layered and oftentimes doubled up too, just to stay cosy enough. Several days that you see me wearing tights above, well I’m actually wearing BOTH pairs of tights, doubled up!!

My white fleece turtleneck that I made for our Alaska trip was a lifesaver; it’s funny, I never wear it at home but it’s got worn a tonne on two consecutive holidays now. I know lots of people loooathe fleece, and I’m not the biggest fan either; but for warmth and the fact that it weighs practically nothing, it’s so easily washable in a hotel sink and very fast drying… well it’s a traveller’s no-brainer really.

In retrospect, I should have taken a coat, but you know what? I survived! My old woolly blue cardigan was kind of a coat substitute and I carried it nearly everywhere. It was ok, and I enjoyed that I could get by with what I had brought, but I have to admit I was bored to tears with it by the end of our holiday.

The weather was just so cold I thought I wouldn’t get to wear my yellow/white sundress at all… and I hate it when I think I’ve brought something for naught! but fortunately on our last two days the bitterly cold winds abated, the sun blazed delightfully and I joyfully freed it from its cobwebby corner of the suitcase and wore it two days in a row… yes, I still needed the tights and the trusty blue cardi but still; hurrah!!!

I wore my hiking boots for hiking and biking, my little black walking shoes for city walking, and brought my heeled booties for the plane and for dinners every evening. I love having smart shoes, just in case! and these ones are both stylish and comfortable. I took my bathers and thongs, again just in case! and didn’t even wear them once. Oh well, at least they don’t take up much room… Each of the hotels we stayed in had Japanese style, segregated public baths and I did take my bathers down with me the first time as a precautionary measure, but embraced the Japanese bathing way when I saw I would be the literal only person in bathers. And I didn’t die of embarrassment!

The one thing I really wish I’d brought?? a pair of gloves. My arm warmers were great, but one day biking in Kyoto it was like 3C and sleeting rain and my hands got SO COLD. Craig kindly let me wear his gloves … btw; I think I did an excellent job choosing a husband who has perpetually warm hands and doesn’t need gloves. Very good planning on my part, if I say so myself; hehe.

So that’s that! Now please allow me to bombard you all with a million cherry blossom laden holiday snaps, ahem…