A Flying Trampoline Day

Kalispell canceled school for today because we’re under a high wind warning. That is the first time I can remember that happening. (School rarely gets canceled here due to weather.) We had a big windstorm in December that took out trees and power down in the valley, so I suspect they are being proactive. It’s a little breezy up here, but we don’t usually get the worst of the southwest winds. The east winds that accompany back door cold fronts are the ones that cause problems for us. The husband did have to reschedule a concrete pour from today to Monday, because the pour was on the east side of Flathead Lake and he would have been taking the brunt of the winds.

We shall see what happens when the worst of the windstorm comes through. As I write this, Spokane is getting hammered.

I finished quilting the body pieces for the Anna Maria Rosebud Coat and began assembling it yesterday. As expected, it is big and oversized, although wearing it feels like wearing a hug. Here is is laid out on the floor:

And on the dress form:

Those huge, drop-shoulder sleeves are never going to fit well. They don’t in knitted sweaters and they certainly don’t in quilted fabric. And this is not heavily quilted, so it still has a fair bit of drape. Even a slightly set-in sleeve—such as on the Tamarack Jacket—would fit better than these do. I am glad I cut this down to a Medium.

I keep joking that some day, I am going to design the perfect quilted jacket. It will incorporate all the best parts of all the quilted jacket patterns I’ve made so far.

I am binding the inside seams, although part of me is wishing I had simply used the serger. The shoulder and sleeve seams weren’t hard to do and look nice:

The side seams are going to be difficult to bind because of the bulk at the underarm. Oh well, I will do the best job I can and leave it at that.

I still have to quilt the collar and attach it. The invisible zipper for the Burnside Bibs came yesterday, though, so I may switch gears today and work on those again.

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I wore my Tremont Jacket at Sew Expo. That was the one I made using the red and black and hot pink triple-gauze Anna Maria Parry fabric. One of the women in my thread class was a handweaver. She gave me the nicest compliment about that jacket. She said she was glad the fabric ended up in my hands because I knew what to do with it to show it off to best advantage. I do try to listen to what the fabric wants to become.

I think sizing and fabrication are the two biggest reasons sewists have problems making garments. Many, many people choose the size on the pattern based on ready-to-wear sizing instead of their measurements. And a lot of people base their fabric choices on color rather than what is suitable for the project.