McCALLS 6613 MEDLEY // HANDMADE HONEYMOON

Over the past year, I've made a lot of collared shirts (specifically button front shirts - check out this kind of interesting video from Buzzfeed) for Jeremy using McCalls 6613. This is a great, basic collared shirt pattern that I turn to time and again. I also just finished another flannel version!

This is a bit of a travel/handmades (and picture heavy) post - I thought I'd gather all of Jeremy's shirts he wore on the honeymoon in one place. I think only the blue checked and black chambray versions were specifically made/finished for the honeymoon, and the rest were made over the last year. But here they all are with Italy as a backdrop! :D

Waiting for our UBER to take us to the airport two days after our wedding!

ROME

We started our trip in Rome, for three nights. We've been to Rome before (we spent 2 weeks in Italy in 2011), so we made time for important sites, but allowed ourselves maximum relaxation. Between aperitivo or hitting museums... Aperol Spritzes and prosecco won basically every time (see the above and below orange concoction).

Fabric: Tan linen from Michael Levine

The picture below was taken in Rome at the Largo di Torre Argentina, a square that has the remains of the Theatre of Pompey (and some temples) - where Julius Caesar was assassinated, and is now a cat sanctuary. Jeremy is a complete cat magnet. 

Fabric: Red plaid flannel from Joann's

Yes, my husband took a flannel shirt with him to Italy - where it was in the high 80s the whole time :D

While in Rome, we stayed in the Jewish Ghetto in an AirBnB apartment - which was pretty centrally located between the Colosseum and Roman Forum and the other main sites in Rome (Piazza Navona, Pantheon, etc). 

Fabric: Black Chambray from Angel Textiles – 846 S. Maple Avenue, Los Angeles

These photos were taken near Piazza Navona, in some of the many alleyways and streets surrounding it. For some reason, we didn't eat much gelato on our last trip, so that was remedied this time!

Jeremy also rides a motorcycle, and he was always checking out the cool motorcycles and motorbikes around Italy.

RAVELLO

In my last Handmade Honeymoon post, I mentioned that we chose to stay in Ravello on the Amalfi Coast. Ravello is a totally beautiful, totally serene small town perched in the hills above the actual coastline. This provides beautiful views like the one above - taken at our amazing hotel - the Hotel Parsifal. 

Fabric: Very lightweight blue check cotton shirting from  Michael Levine

We stayed in Ravello for five nights, and we pretty much ended every day with a bit of a stroll, and aperitivo in the main piazza.

Fabric: Super drool-worthy white linen from Michael Levine (I wish we had 10 more yards of this stuff, great weight, loose weave, perfect for summer). 

 
 NAPLES 

Fabric: black and white check shirting from Michael Levine

We stopped in Naples just for one night on our way to Florence, and I know that it's not at the top of many people's lists - but it should be! The feeling we had in Naples this time (we stayed 2 nights in 2011), was that it's just a normal Italian city, where people aren't catering to tourists. It's much different from Rome and Florence, and a lot of historical buildings are just surrounded by newer buildings without much fanfare. We spent our day and evening in Naples eating pizza, going to the National Archaeological Museum (below in a non-handmade t-shirt), and walking from our hotel to the Bay of Naples.

We stayed at the Hotel Piazza Bellini, and I highly recommend booking them through their website - they gave us pasta for booking that way! The hotel isn't super "Italian" feeling - it's more modern - but it was very comfortable.

FLORENCE

Fabric: Blue linen from Michael Levine

We stayed in Florence for 4 nights, in a really great AirBnB in a medieval tower! Florence was another city that we've visited before, so we prioritized eating, aperitivo, and walking around wherever we liked. One new-to-us place that we visited were the Boboli Gardens.  We spent several hours walking around, hiking to the top of the hill they're on (to get the view below!), and just taking in the gardens.

We also hit up the Accademia again (you can take pictures of the David now!), as well as the Brancacci Chapel and the Duomo.

UMBRIA

Blue check, same as above... but now in a field of sunflowers!

Finally, we stayed at the fantastic Il Fontanaro agriturismo - which was the perfect way to end our honeymoon! I highly recommend staying here, and Lucia (the owner along with her daughter) was such a welcoming host. By this point in our trip, I was actually coming down with a cold, and she made us tea and gave us medicine... in addition to drinking wine with us and imparting her wealth of knowledge of grapes, olive oil and Italian food.
 
I didn't get many pictures of Jeremy besides the one above (sickness setting in...), but I'll end this with a few beautiful photos Jeremy took with my camera (and therefore, I get to pretend they're mine!).