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How to make a Last Minute Neck Warmer

If you are anything like me, you are looking at your Christmas list and panicking right now. Here is one present you can make very quickly, perhaps even with fabric left over from the last project you made for yourself. I made this with an old skirt and some nice lining fabric. You could even use an old T-shirt for the inside.

This is similar to Zoe's cowl, except made from a woven fabric with a soft lining. I cleverly designed it so the inside is larger than the outside, so that only softness touches the tender neck.

You need two pieces of fabric. Cut an inner soft rectangle 24" by 9" (61x23cm)and an outer fabric 24" by 8" (61x20cm). Basically this is the formula for the heights: Inside = outside+ (seam allowance x 2). This makes a rather fitted neckwarmer that easily slips over your head, yet tucks easliy under a coat. You can easily adapt the sizes to be wider for a looser look.

Place the two pieces right sides together,

Remove the kitty, if one appears,

pin and sew the long sides together. The inside will not lie flat.

Now push one half of the tube in side the other so that right sides are together and pin so that the seams are exactly aligned outside to outside and inside to inside.

Using a 1/2" (1.5cm) seam allowance, start sewing on the inside, around the outside and back to the inside leaving about 3" (8cm) open on the lining.

This will look wrong, but when you turn it right side out it will rearrange itself into the correct shape. Now you can either slip stitch the lining shut. or simple fold the seam allowance inside and topstich it close.

Here's another view:

And here is an interesting version with buttonholes:

Yes, It is cashmere and it has that swanky chain, but it costs 225.00.

By the way, I think you could use something manly and maybe get a guy to wear this too. It's worth a try anyway.

Basic Navy Skirt

Rumpled from wear, I know. 

This is a much more conservative version of Ginger than my last! I cut it to the longest length, made it from some nice thrifted navy wool and lined it for comfort like Scruffy Badger. I didn't actually follow her directions because my son was using the computer, but when I went back and looked at her method I saw that great minds think alike and we basically did the same thing.

Except my lining wasa boring grey, so I added pink bias tape to the bottom of the waistband lining.

And I am liking the lapped zipper and didn't have an invisible zip on hand so I used that technique.

And I added some topstitching in a heavy silk thread on the bottom of the waistband, because I love topstitching.

This isn't anything fancy, but I did enjoy taking my time to get the fit and details to look good.

I wanted to debut this with a white peterpan collar blouse I am drafting, but I ended up wearing it to my uncle's funeral--an event which required extreme versatility in dress. We went from small country church, to bizzard-like conditions at the cemetery, and back in the pick-up truck for a cross-country detour to the town hall. I was so comfortable I wore it home on the airplane too. whew.

I wrote a long description of how this skirt might be lined in a more perfect way, but when I left the computer the kitty marked that text somehow and replaced it with gibberish. And so,

Just the Facts Ma'am

 

• Pattern: Collete Ginger
• Fabric: Navy Blue Wool Flannel (thrifted in stash)
• Lining: Mystery Fabric 
• Zipper, thread, silk organza interfacing, hem tape: (thrifted in stash)
• Total cost probably 12.00
• Time: 4 hours?

 

 

 

Uncle Ed

I had big plans, but life has a way of happening. And so, I have been back with family in Montana again. 

My uncle, a larger-than-life Western rancher and outfitter, died last week. Born in 1928, when life on the range was pretty rough, he lived a long and colorful life.  He was my father's only sibling, and I grew up next door to his family--which meant a mile down the road. If you have ever wondered how the protagonists of tall tales or epic hero cycles could be inspired, then you've never known someone like my uncle. This was man whose sneezes could be heard a half mile distant, a man who slept as he burned down half his house, who could drive up any mountain, and ride his horse through any stream. He seemed fearless and his risk-taking led to so many totaled cars, motorcycles, trucks, 4-wheelers and cars that not even Lloyds of London wanted to insure him. Once when my Dad was preparing to make an emergency crash landing in a Piper Cub airplane that was choking up and losing air and altitude, my uncle climbed out the plane's door, opened the hood and hacked ice off the carburetors with a screwdriver while hanging from an overhead wing. Its a bit hard to imagine those two resting in peace. . .

My cousin made this spray for the casket, and when I saw it, it was so perfect It brought tears to my eyes. Because the other side of my uncle was a nature-loving cowboy, an extremely social man who always had a witty retort or a well-worded dinner blessing.

I do get a bit antsy waiting for things to happen when I don't have any projects, so my sister and I drove up in the mountains to collect greenery. Here we are at the Judith Game Range (with a mitten/camera prop in the foreground).

We found about 5 different kinds of evergreens (mostly from the stumps of trees that other people had cut) some grasses and berries and even a nest and made a giant wreath for my brother's grave. (Except it's not a grave, just a spot next my Dad's grave where we sprinkled some ashes.) This was all wired to a big circle of old, heavy barbed wire so it won't blow away.

 And since this is in a community cemetery on land donated by the adjacent landowners, there are no rules about what we can put there. It felt good to do this. I know this is sort of a strange idea, but the reclaiming of rituals of mourning from commercialization might be one of the most powerful things the do-it-yourself movement can do.

My uncle had a multitude of injuries and Parkinson's disease, which made walking difficult, yet he insisted on getting out and doing things as long as possible. About a year ago, he backed his 4-wheeler off a bridge (that he and my dad built) fell in the river and had to be pulled out. He was cold and rattled, the 4-wheeler was further bent and he lost his glasses, but he had survived--again !  I thought that might be the real end of his driving days, but when I was out last spring I saw that he was still speeding down to get the mail.

I'm going to miss him, but I'm not going to forget that spirit.