Caftan Season

I’m getting ready to go on my annual Palm Springs trip. Every year 3 of my girlfriends and I rent a house in Palm Springs and spend a few blissful days reading and relaxing by the pool. No kids, no husbands, no work. Just sunshine, lounge chairs, and pool drinks for 5 days. We call it “The  Most Wonderful Time of the Year”. We go every May when it starts to get hot. Really hot, like 100 degrees hot. I usually spend most of the trip in a swimsuit, but on the days when we actually leave to house I want to wear something easy and comfortable. Enter the Caftan. It’s the best item of clothing to wear on a trip like this.

It’s comfortable, lose fitting and has a style all its own. They have come a long in terms of fashion. Gone are they days when caftans were associated with middle age frumpy women from the 70’s like Mrs.Roper. Today they are very chic and can be seen just about everywhere during the summer.

The sleeves are by far the best part of this caftan. They are very dramatic, and very fun. The only problem is that you can’t really see how fabulous they are unless you hold your arms out. When I do that it looks like I’m getting ready to take off!

I made this using a vintage 5366 Simplicity pattern I found on Etsy. I made version 3 but didn’t make the collar. I’ll be honest as cool as the sleeves look they were difficult to sew. I had to read the instructions multiple times before I understood the process. Vintage patterns are great, but sometimes I find the instructions very complicated.  I think the instructions are more in depth because back then clothes were designed to last more than just a few months. Anyway, if you are looking for vintage patterns Etsy is the best place to find them. The selection is great. I have this pattern sitting in my to do pile. I just need to find the right fabric. Speaking of fabric I found the lovely floral cotton I used for this at Mood Fabrics. I wish I could link the exact fabric but, I purchased this last year in the store. However, any cotton or woven fabric would work, and in my opinion the bigger and brighter the print the better!

I’ll have more fun Caftan projects to post later in the summer. In the meantime you can shop some fun styles here and here (couldn’t resist because it’s palm print!) and here.

Thanks for reading. Hope you are off to a good week!