gaudete

It's snowing; we'll get maybe four inches. And it's going to be colder this week, in the thirties during the day. Now I feel like Christmas is really on the way. I know that's ridiculous.

I'm aiming to make a flannel skirt with a lovely plaid I got from Walmart. It's very nice quality; after washing and drying, there was no need to iron it! But - a strange thing. If you sew, and know a little something about woven fabric, you might have noticed that fabrics don't have any "give" along the selvage length, but there is some give if you snap it crosswise. Do you know what I mean? If you've ever taken material and snapped it sharply, you know which way is the length and which the width. That's why it matters how the pattern pieces are cut. Anyway, this fabric from Walmart has the give along the selvage! And no give across! It's the opposite of any I've ever seen. Opposite of how it's supposed to be, for that matter (sheets don't do this - there's no give either way, that I've even noticed). So I had to piece the waistband since I couldn't get a long enough piece across the width. Quite confusing! 

I was looking up descriptions of plaid names; this seems to be a tartan. 

This struck me this morning:

John announces the coming of the Messiah who will burn away in the fire of the Spirit - the fire of God's love - all that hides God's goodness in this world. 

-  Magnificat, December, 2022