Practice Makes Good Class Samples

I spent yesterday working on class samples. It was not a straightforward process. It rarely is. I can’t just wave a magic wand and create samples out of thin air. I made several iterations of each sample to make sure I understand the process and—more importantly—can teach it to others. I experimented with fabric and threads and made refinements to the techniques. All of that takes a surprising amount of time. It’s time well spent, because I am learning as I go, but that time doesn’t always get factored into “teaching.”

I don’t have any photos yet. I want to get all the samples made, first. I plan to drop them off at the store on Thursday.

On our travels this past weekend, we stopped at a travel plaza halfway between home and Coeur d’Alene. The gift store had a lot of this kind of loungewear made in very cushy fabrics:

I have no desire to make these—although the cardigan isn’t bad—but it’s fascinating to me to spot trends in the wild.

I skipped out on the sewing group Christmas party yesterday because I am a bit peopled-out from this past weekend and because I am trying to keep ahead of my to-do list. December sometimes attacks me when I am not looking. I have a meeting this morning and then I am heading to town to run errands before windy weather moves in tomorrow. The wind is supposed to come out of the south-southwest, which doesn’t hit us as badly as the wind from the back door cold fronts coming from the east, but we could still lose power or a few trees.

Washington State is a mess. Two lanes of I-90 eastbound on the way up to Snoqualmie Pass from the west side have been closed because the embankment is washing out underneath. Parts of Highway 2 are washed out. The Hood Canal bridge was closed to traffic for a few hours yesterday due to high winds. There have been two levee breaches southeast of Seattle. Residents are being evacuated and parts of state route 167 have been closed. That is a very busy highway. Weather equipment clocked a 92 mph gust at Snoqualmie Summit yesterday afternoon. The town of Concrete even had a 2.9 magnitude earrthquake yesterday morning. 😳