It’s winter, it’s Covid, it’s time to huddle, and wearable blankets, otherwise known as “ponchos”, are everywhere, and mostly meh and so large as to be unmanageable. Like a lot of people now, I, too, want to hibernate until it’s all over — define “all” however you like — so obviously I needed a day wear blanket.
Masks — so simple, so essential, so bothersome! In cold weather, it’s a pain juggling a hat, hair, maybe glasses, and maybe other behind-the-ear gadgets.
Canadian pattern maker Jalie has come up with a sleek, clever solution to the behind-the-ears problem.
Covid, and the need to consider risk where risk once seemed much less significant, has touched nearly every aspect of our lives here at Chez Noile.
Two small changes affect the way I sew every time I sit down to my machine.
Tactile lap quilts can provide various types of stimulation for those who are in lower stimulation environments, or for others who are soothed, in care residences or not, by their weight and various textures. Or at least that’s the theory!
I made six for donation to a care home — they were a welcome donation, and not a bad antidote to all the depressing Nordic Noir I sometimes watched while making them! They aren’t my finest work — I don’t have any experience in working with quilted goods — but I’m hoping “sturdy” matters more than “finesse”.
My second Sew House Seven Toaster I looks as if it had been made out of teddy bear fur — if Teddy were made of upholstery material.
I wasn’t sure how that would work, but it’s actually turned out, well, Teddy-rific!
In a mis-guided attempt to lean into the leisure-at-home that characterizes this Covid year, I decided to make a caftan. I dreamt of gliding gracefully through the day — or at least an evening — wrapped in a flowing cloud. Serene. Relaxed. In, as it were, another world. A not-2020 world.
This did not entirely go to plan.
So sheltering-at-home is getting old, but a surprising benefit, around here, at least, is that old projects, long-procrastinated, are finally getting knocked off. This week duvets got addressed.
We got our duvets and covers quite a while ago because one of us was always too warm, and the other always too cool. Two wonderful over-sized twin duvets, with covers, one for each side of the bed, did the trick. One duvet is thin, and the other thicker; we each get to pick our own. Problem solved!
Well, maybe less “jogger” than just “sloppy comfort wear”. Clothing for our [Covid] times! Like Vogue 8499, these, Vogue 8712, are wide-legged pants, but these taper in more at the ankle.
So, while tooling around the Mennonite fabric stores of Lancaster County, PA back in the days when tooling around places was possible, we ran across this charming faux-retro fabric. I figured I’d use it for pocket linings, if nothing else.
Count me as one of those who looked at this pattern and who said “um, noooo, never”. Well, never has arrived . . . and it’s pretty cool. Or warm. Or cozy and just right . . .
