I’ve never been one of those people who hate winter and cold weather. But this year…I hate winter and cold weather.

The last few months have been a kind of emotional roller coaster for me. This summer, I actually got a lottery invitational to the Tokyo marathon, only to struggle this fall with nerve pain that made it extremely difficult to run. I tried to help it with injections and other exercises, but it just got worse. My dream of running another world major marathon was squashed. After I made the decision to forgo the training, it seemed like a giant black cloud moved in over everything. And it hasn’t left for months. The last few years in New England, winter has been pretty tolerable, sometimes even downright pleasant. But this year, it’s been unrelenting.

The constant cold and ongoing snow and ice storms have definitely not helped the depression that set in after the holidays. I haven’t wanted to do much of anything, the outside just seems too unforgiving and my current mood has killed any ambition I had in the first place. But this weather has caused me to pull some pieces of my wardrobe that I haven’t worn in awhile. One is my winter vest made with fleece that I got in the Southwest a few years ago. I made it last year, but didn’t get a chance to write about it. And now is the perfect time to do so, with all my current projects laying around, unfinished.

I had been looking for a pattern that had the style of a vest I would actually want to buy. I settled for the 5 out of 4 pattern, the Aspen vest. It even had zippered pockets, which is rare to find in these sewing patterns. My last vest did not have these and it’s tough when I want to anything remotely active.

This vest did call for several types of fabric besides the fleece – there is a knit for the lining, woven fabric for the pocket flap and zipper stop and other fabric for binding the arm holes and bottom. Plus all the zippers. Getting all these things to match was a bit of a challenge, but after a few shopping trips and online orders, I got everything I needed to assemble it.

The result is great, I have a very warm vest great for winter activities or just hanging around the house. It’s great for that extra warmth when the sun doesn’t shine through the windows (like today).

The print style on the fleece is not one I wear too often, but it reminds me of my travels through New Mexico and Arizona. I love using fabric from my trips, because it’s like getting a whole new souvenir, months after the vacation.

One thing I had been trying to do more of in the last year, is make clothes in line with actual fashion trends. I saw that bomber jackets were making a comeback, so I decided to try my hand at it. Especially since I already had a pattern in my inventory, the Seamwork Larkin jacket. It was great because there is a helpful sewalong video on the website, which helped me navigate making my first ever coat. What makes this jacket special was that I was able to attach a patch I received after running the Marine Corp Marathon in 2022.

I got a nice medium-weight woven fabric in green, so it would match the patch. I was able to use some yellow rib knit I already had in my stash for the cuffs, collar and bottom.

I think it all came together well, although I did have trouble finding a good zipper that matched the color. Speaking of the zipper, I also had an issue where the zipper was a bit too long for the jacket. I think partly it was the pattern, but also partly because I did shorten the length of the coat a bit. I’ve run into this issue before and with that garment, I just removed some of the teeth at the top of the zipper. Unfortunately since this was not a plastic zipper, no matter how hard I pulled with the pliers, I could not get any teeth off. And I really tried. I guess it’s good the zipper is strong and sturdy, but I basically had to just fold the zipper back into the seam, which looks a bit odd in that there is no real visible top to the zipper.

It’s still a functional coat however, and the patch on the arm looks really nice. It’s a nice way to commemorate a time where I could actually run a marathon, unlike now where I’m not even sure I can ever take part in a race again.

With my running future in limbo, the year feels a bit uncertain. However, I did decide to go ahead with my trip to Japan. Now that I have the added bonus of not having to worry about running a marathon, I am a bit more relaxed about the trip. I think it will be a good thing in the end – I’ve always wanted to go to Japan and I couldn’t just let that opportunity go by. And the fabric shopping should be fantastic.

With my running future in limbo, the year feels a bit uncertain. However, I did decide to go ahead with my trip to Japan. Now that I have the added bonus of not having to worry about running a marathon, I am a bit more relaxed about it. I think it will be a good trip – I’ve always wanted to go to Japan and I couldn’t just let that opportunity go by. And the fabric shopping should be fantastic.