It’s snowing!

Nothing like a little a little snow coming down to get me in the mood for sewing something for winter!  It’s been a weirdly warm winter, with 55 degree sunny days in January, interspersed with 24-degree days without snow.

This week I cut out the collar and marked the man’s sweater-turned-capelet. I took detailed photos which will become a tutorial on this blog soon. The sewing will go fast, hopefully it’s done by next weekend.

For at least the last ten years, I’ve been envisioning a hip-length vest with tall zip collar for cross country skiing. I wear Polartec power-stretch leggings from Christine Jonson’s Base Wear Two pattern, and a wicking top from Patagonia (which is now too large, I’ll be replacing it with a wicking top from Christine Jonson’s Travel Trio Three – the raglan sleeve top.)  If it’s really cold, I wear a black-and-yellow (for visibility) winter bicycling jersey from Giordana over the wicking top and under a vest or jacket.   I’ve been wanting this vest for running or skiing for years. Complete with handwarmer pockets, a pocket for my phone and my iPod shuffle. When I run, or when I ski, or bike, I often concept projects (it’s also how I fall asleep.) Some day, some technology will exist to transfer these designs to a file, instantly. But for now, this vest, which has been in my head for a long time, is in the sketching stage, on paper.

But it’s not just any old vest, I want something with some style – asymmetric zipper, a really tall fold over collar, curvy shaped princess seams. Something equally at home with jeans and a blouse as with a wicking thermal top and running tights. The vest must also have integrated back pockets.  If you’ve ever biked in a bicycle jersey, you know how handy those back pockets are! I run in a bike jersey just so I can have pockets for my stuff – phone, food, music) that won’t move around too much when I run.

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