Why progressive politicians with majority mandates don’t pursue more aggressive climate policy is one of the great mysteries of our time. Apparently. Or not. Because to me it makes perfect sense. This conundrum comes from a complete misunderstanding of what political will is and where it comes from. Political will is not like iron ore.Continue reading “Political Will is a Quilting Bee”
Author Archives: Andrea McDowell
OMG, it’s Me Made May! Again.
It seems like it’s Me Made May all the time–like, at least once a year. Holy cow. Regardless, here we go again! A month to celebrate making and wearing clothes, and then, in June, a few days to celebrate not having to talk about or taking pictures of ourselves making and wearing clothes. It’s theContinue reading “OMG, it’s Me Made May! Again.”
A bunch of long words about something we already intuitively understand: social capital and building resilience to climate change impacts
(It’s a Season of Presentations apparently, Dear Readers; and here’s one I gave on Thursday evening at the first public meeting for a Community Response to Extreme Weather (CREW) group and project in one of our lower-income communities. It ties in nicely with the bit on Building Communities I wrote here recently, so I thoughtContinue reading “A bunch of long words about something we already intuitively understand: social capital and building resilience to climate change impacts”
A Rainbow of Renfrews
I keep promising to post about my Renfrew hacks, and I keep finding other things to post about, but no longer! Today is the day I finally write about the approximately twenty I’ve made over the years, fifteen of which I still have (the others long since having worn out and joined the Great ScrapContinue reading “A Rainbow of Renfrews”
Start Where You Live
Right now, your body exists in a physical space: your feet, your back, your legs, press against some surface. Your lungs fill and empty with oxygen we don’t share. Your fingers rest against a screen or on keys; you can hear a furnace, or an air conditioner, or people talking or laughing, or a busContinue reading “Start Where You Live”
Losing the Plot (and maybe finding it again)
Those of you who have met me in the last few years, particularly online, especially particularly through the blog, may not know that I used to write. A lot. As in, I started reading novels when I was five, and started writing them when I was seven. As in, I have an overflowing bankers boxContinue reading “Losing the Plot (and maybe finding it again)”
It Came from the Ends Bin: Jalie Basic Blog Tour
It’s a good thing people sit down when they read blogs, because, Dear Readers, this post is part of a blog tour. I know! But it’s a Jalie blog tour, and I’ve made a big deal before about how their sizing proves that it is possible to create a sizing system that is predictable andContinue reading “It Came from the Ends Bin: Jalie Basic Blog Tour”
To think that once upon a time, I thought I didn’t like yellow (Burda 8/18 Jacket #111)
I saw this brilliant yellow scuba-weight stretch faux suede in FabricLand, and petted it a lot and left it there. And then I saw this fantastic fun jacket in the August 2018 Burda issue. And then I determined that they were meant for each other, waited for the members sale, and bought enough of theContinue reading “To think that once upon a time, I thought I didn’t like yellow (Burda 8/18 Jacket #111)”
We were bound to get to fall sewing eventually: Burda 2/17 Coat #103
After the summer sewing orgy and my decision to try limiting myself to two new garments for me each month, I thought I’d start with something nice and complicated and time-consuming … like a trench coat. This pattern from Burda was nicely tailored and classic, and my favourite local fabric store was selling some beautifulContinue reading “We were bound to get to fall sewing eventually: Burda 2/17 Coat #103”
Selfless? Selfish? Self-agnostic? Sewing: Gift Bags for Xmas
In our house, there are two types of Christmas wrapping: presents from Santa, which come wrapped in paper with store bought tags, and presents from Mom, which comes in handmade fabric gift bags. When Frances was younger and sold on Santa, this was a great bit of holiday magic: *obviously* Santa was real, because otherwiseContinue reading “Selfless? Selfish? Self-agnostic? Sewing: Gift Bags for Xmas”
Zoopolis 