How I Feel About Cold Weather (And How It Relates to Sewing)

As someone who sews some of her own wardrobe, cold weather has shaped my sewing decisions considerably. I’ve always lived in a northern place: first NYC, and now the Pacific Northwest, so I’m no stranger to cold weather. We have about 8-9 months of cold weather here, much of it rainy and the Springs tend to be cold all the way up through June. We’re still running the heat here to give you an idea of what it’s like. Sometimes I’m really tired of it! Extended cold weather can be very bleak at times. The seemingly endless gray skies and lack of sun are a challenge, and they do influence my choices of what kinds of clothes to make for myself.

When I look at fabric websites I see many beautiful lightweight prints and gauzes, but honestly, there’s hardly a time to wear those here. A few years ago I made a dress in linen from a Burda pattern that I fell in love with instantly:

I was wowed by the lattice work collar and bought and made the pattern anyway, even though there’s only a very limited time to wear a dress like this here. It’s just not warm enough for the majority of weather we have. I could layer it with a long sleeve and leggings underneath to extend the wearable season, but it’s essentially a dress for very warm weather.

I sometimes wonder what it would be like to live in a southern place, and when I do, one of the first things I think about is how my wardrobe needs would change! How it would be a whole new way of dressing: more clothing made from lightweight wovens, less time spent in heavy coats. The need for sun hats and cover ups for sun exposure would be a priority.

The cold weather hasn’t always been a bad thing; at times it’s also been an inspiration, like the time when I needed a new winter coat and I came up with the idea of using up my extensive stash of knit fabric scraps. I made what I think is my magnum opus, my best piece of work ever:

This coat is double sided, so it has the heft to take me through cold winter days. It took me 9 months to make. It’s my baby and I’m so proud of it!

So to finish, the cold weather is rough stuff. It requires a lot of patience and strength to deal with, but it can and does build character.

It’s also turned this post into a mini retrospective of my work. Thanks for the prompt WP!

Those are my thoughts on it, thanks for reading if you’ve read this far.