Sew a spring break road trip capsule wardrobe for the mid-Atlantic coast
- Luna Pants – woven jogger pants by Made by Rae
- Toaster Sweater – turtleneck by Sew House Seven
- Unfolding Jacket – woven oversized jacket by Wiksten
- Miracle Pants – cropped or full length flare stretch knit pants by HotPatterns
- Shirt Tail Tee – cut-on cap sleeve tee by HotPatterns
- Mr. & Mrs. HP Breton tee – classic French Breton/Marinéire 3/4 sleeve tee shirt in striped fabric
- Slit Skirt – front slit skirt in doubleknit by Christine Jonson Patterns
- Emerson Shorts by True/Bias
- Fleece ruana with ruffled edges
- La Mégeve sweater with pockets from Naughty Bobbin Patterns
I mixed these with some pieces from my closet: a cotton cable sweater, skinny jeans, rain jacket, fleece jacket.
I’ll note that this is the Spring Break that didn’t happen! But I did sew a spring break roadtrip capsule wardrobe. And then my teen got COVID from a schoolmate after being back in school just 3 weeks.
So I decided I’d wear my spring break outfits anyway, because our rescheduled trip for June will be decidedly more summery (and will need different clothing for sure.) The rescheduled trip was Charlottesville, VA, Colonial Williamsburg, and Virginia Beach with a dip into North Carolina.
And in 2 years’ time, we took a very similar trip to Washington DC, through FallingWater, Pennsylvania, Monticello, Gettysburg, a full 8 very chilly days in DC for the blossoms and then back through New River Gorge, WV and Charlottesville WV before coming home.
We are driving from a cold Michigan to a warm(er) southern coastal Virginia for this trip, and I sewed for long drives and variable weather conditions, beach walks, bike rides and kayak trips.
Our first day is driving from Michigan to the Appalachians, Charleston, WV. I selected a Toaster Sweater by Sew House Seven in navy ponte from my LFS Seams Fabric in East Lansing, and a pair of Miracle Pants by HotPatterns in denim-look stretch knit.
The Toaster Sweater is part of a trio of Toasters I sewed. I like the Toaster for it’s all-serger construction, funnelneck turtleneck and cropped high hip fit. This ponte is warm and almost scuba-like in it’s structure, so the funnelneck stands up well on it’s own. In softer fabrics, the neckline drapes a bit more.
These Miracle Pants are key for a road trip. These are 100% stretch denim-look knit fabric (close to a ponte weight but not double knit), fitted at the high hip and waist, shaped gently to a flare at the ankle. They are either cropped flares or full length, I opted for full length. The waistband is hidden elastic “hollywood” style. I made my usual size in Hot Patterns (12) but I tapered in a lot at the waist to almost an 8 (as I sometimes do) on both sideseams and the center back. I traced off my Levi jeans pockets and added patch pockets to the back, otherwise this style doesn’t have pockets. They are comfortable for sitting in the car for hours!
I topped this with a ruffled edge Polartec ruana (patterns abound across the internet, but I used the Christine Jonson Travel Trio Three ruana and curved the edges) in teal, a socially-acceptable car blankie! I can wear this open like a cardigan, belted, or with one tail tossed over a shoulder. The fleece “grips” itself so for shoulder-tossing, it stays in place pretty well, and looks very chic. If you’re belting this, use a stretch elastic belt for extreme comfort and style.
This outfit would have been day 1 and day 2 of up to 8 hours of driving, so being comfortable is key!
Day 2: Driving, broken up by a bike ride, a tour of outdoor Monticello and the University of Virginia for architecture.
The Toaster Sweater and Luna Pants (woven joggers) are my next cozy outfit, worn with a cream puffy down vest from LandsEnd (not shown). This is the perfect hours-long car drive outfit – not too warm, definitely comfortable. The Luna Joggers I sewed are here. I created a short sew along/how to videos of my experience altering and sewing these.
I also brought the Wiksten Unfolding Jacket (out of print but I have several recommendations on the blog), and a shirt-tail tee from Hot Patterns.