Last week was exciting... well for me anyway.
It has been well over a year ago that I started working on a project..making phone calls, sending emails, and sitting up way too late through the wee hours of the night whittling away at....this. Yank. Drawing shirt patterns, adjusting seams and sleeve lengths till they were just right. Sweating over how much merino is too much when placing fabric orders. Sewing - Picking seams.. picking seams.. picking seams.. pick yet another seam.. then a bit more sewing. Constantly thinking if there is anything I could do to simplify what I have designed any further.
So on Monday last week, the first set of shirts that I started planning (what seems like an eternity ago) arrived on my door step! Pressed. Packed. and ready to go! Every spare moment I had from that point on was focused on getting images taken and tidied up to insert into the website that I have been building for the past few weeks. Way too many late nights had - but very pleased that I finally had something to publish by Thursday. Not perfect, definitely still a work in progress... but it is published.
I now know for a weekend trip away camping I really only need to pack one shirt to go along with the one I am wearing. Comparable to tramping (or hiking) in the mountains. You have a dry shirt that you carry for wearing when you stop for the evening... and the smelly one you walk in all day and hang up - hoping it is remotely dry by morning.
Friday could not have been planned any better for timing. We managed to get away in our caravan to spend a few days camping at one of our families favorite local sweet spots surrounded by beautiful beaches and mountain bike trails. It was a much needed moment of space from my computer.... AND I had one of my new fancy Yank shirts hot off the press to wear while away. Simple. Practical. Easy to care for. (...but this one is just that little bit nicer than the ones I have been sewing up myself.)
But from my experience so far (knowing just how much I have tried)... these shirts take a bit of effort if you want them to be smelly, and dry by morning is proving to be very possible. Running, mountain biking, walking the hills with my family and Lucy dog, I believe it is safe to say it was a great weekend had by all.