New Look 6344 Is a Winner

I carved out some time on Saturday to make a wearable muslin of New Look 6344. This pattern is heading straight for the tried-and-true pile:

The fabric is a Kaffe Fassett wideback. In general, I don’t make clothing from quilting cottons, but this is a lightweight cotton sateen-type fabric and it worked well. I wouldn’t go much heavier than this, though. (And those Kaffe Fasset prints are right up my alley.) I almost wore this to church yesterday morning but opted for the one I made from Simplicity 9469, instead. I prefer the armscye and sleeve shaping on the Simplicity top. I may frankenpattern those onto this one. I had a lot of trouble setting in the sleeves on this top and remember that they went in quite easily on the Simplicity pattern.

In any case, I’ve got two patterns for the summer, which is a start. I also have plenty of fabric. Now I just need to sew.

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I am glad we didn’t have the plant sale on Saturday. It was 45 degrees and raining—we wouldn’t have sold anything anyway. The plants in the greenhouse have perked up and are looking much better than they were a couple of weeks ago. I transplanted a couple of trays of tomatoes yesterday afternoon.

We’re supposed to stay in this cool, rainy pattern all week, so I am going to clean the house. The industrial air scrubber is ready to go. I will tear down a room at a time and dust, wash, and mop everything thoroughly. I can’t stand that gritty dust that settles on all the surfaces. The air scrubber has been a big help in filtering it out, but I have to keep on top of it.

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We got our pre-renewal notice for our homeowner’s insurance policy (through USAA) this week. In May 2023, our six-month premium was $1000. In November 2023, it went up to $1200. Our new six-month premium has jumped from $1200 to $2000.

The guy who deliberately started a wildfire south of here in July 2021 was sentenced this week to 30 years in prison. That fire burned 14 homes. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that our homeowner’s insurance premiums are skyrocketing.

John Michael Greer has written a great series on his blog recently. He’s been exploring what he has dubbed “lenocracy”—leno being the Latin word for pimp—or a system that consists solely of people holding their hands out for their cut of the proceeds. Nothing productive is actually being created; this is a system of parasites. I think it’s an apt description.