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Somehow I’ve managed to avoid taking any nature photos in the last couple of weeks, so here’s one from our trip to the Oregon coast, just because.

I had planned on writing this over the weekend, but I wound up spending WAY too much time obsessively following the news and not much got done.  OY.  There’s a part of me that wants to write about this current batshit-crazy election season we’re in here, but a much bigger part is just overwhelmed by it all.

The important thing is this:  please, if you are a U.S. citizen, REGISTER AND VOTE.  Please.  Vote for Hillary Clinton, the only candidate that can stop that narcissistic, xenophobic bully.  I hear you if your conscience is telling you to vote third party.  Lots of us want to change the system, including me, but a third party vote in this election is not going to accomplish that.  What it could do, however, is get us into another war, roll back protections for LGBT people, and plunge the country back into recession.  We have to keep him away from the Presidency, and Clinton can do it.

Okay, let’s set all that aside for the moment and talk about sewing, shall we?  I don’t know about you, but sewing helps calm me and quiet my mind when it’s full of noise, and I could use a little quiet right about now.

No finishes here the last couple of weeks, but that’s because I’ve literally been working on about 10 things at once!  Which–surprisingly–has felt stimulating rather than overwhelming.  I found an out-of-print pattern to make with the fuzzy red fleece and got the notions for it the other day.  I only have 2 1/2 yards of the fleece, a bit skimpy for most jackets in my size, but this one should work.

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I also have a couple of silver-colored buttons I could use . . . putting off that decision until later.

I also got a Hello Kitty fleece remnant at SCRAP the other day (I am pretending to be all grown-up about this, but my inner 6-year-old is jumping up and down with excitement).  It’s a longish strip about 11″ wide, so my head is full of fleece colorblocking thoughts.

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HELLO KITTY!!

Last weekend was all about muslins.  I made one for the black jumper and one for the maroon corduroy.  Which forced me to confront how my body has changed due to menopause.  Sigh.  It’s a lot easier to ignore my new waist pudge when I’m making loose tunics and things; not so much with something a bit more fitted.  The truth is that the pear shape I’ve had my whole adult life is now more of an apple, and I’m going to have to adjust my expectations and pattern choices accordingly.  (So easy to write, somewhat more difficult to do.)

Because these two jumpers are more fitted, I had to grade up to a size 22 at the bust and hip (!), 24 at the waist (!!).  I’m pretty happy with how that worked on the black jumper, so I cut it out in my “real” fabric last week.  This is how far I got on sewing it up during Friday Night With Friends.

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Ugh.  Photographing black denim is a problem.

I didn’t have enough of the black denim for facings, so I decided to use this fun fabric, which I had to piece (of course):

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The denim is fraying like CRAZY, so next step is figuring out a way to bind the seams in a non-bulky way.

As for the maroon corduroy jumper, I’m just not sure about that one.  I’ve set it aside for now while I ponder my options.  In order to get the look I envisioned, I might have to fit the jumper more than I’m really comfortable with.  Hmmm . . . .

Anyway, first priority this week is to prep for the unpaper towel class scheduled for Saturday.  Then it’s back to the black denim.

Have a great week, everybody!

STH