Life & Style | Sewing for sport: Handmade workout clothes make strides

If necessity is the mother of invention, then pending motherhood may have given Sarah Vander Neut a creative boost.

The Aurora, Colorado, seamstress was pregnant with her first daughter eight years ago and running in her husband’s heavy hoodie when she decided to sew a jacket to fit her growing form.

“I was running every day until I had her, and it was winter,” said Vander Neut, now the mother of two little girls. “A husband’s hoodie does not make you feel fast. This jacket solved my running problems.”

Already selling handmade skirts and dresses at Denver- area craft markets, Vander Neut began sewing athletic jackets in spectacular color combinations. The handmade sportswear features extra-long arms for covering hands or cuffing back, a large hole at one wrist for checking the giant sports watch, deep pockets for holding gear, and reflective accents for nighttime runs. Her jackets are made from double-knit polyester — fabric designed to last.

Spanish town hosts annual wine battle

Getting drenched with red wine might not be everyone’s idea of fun, but it is the idea behind one of Spain’s most popular — and unusual — fiestas.

The town of Haro staged the annual Wine Battle in Spain’s Rioja wine-growing region over the weekend.

Organizers say the aim is to “cover your neighbor in wine as quickly and completely as you can.”

After an early morning Mass is held, participants throw wine over each other while music plays until the 70,000 liters of free wine run out.

Among the rules for those taking part: they must wear white, with a red sash; they may use wine-filled water pistols, garden sprayers or buckets; and at no point during the battle can they stop laughing and singing.

Thousands of people come away from Haro’s vineyards and woodland soaked from head to toe.

The event is held to celebrate St. Peter and the region’s plentiful wine output. It ends with a big lunch.

The festival draws mostly young visitors, from as far away as Australia.

New Whitney Houston remix by DJ-producer Kygo released

You can dance to a new-ish Whitney Houston song this weekend.

Houston originally released a cover of Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love” as a Japan-only bonus track on her 1990 album “I’m Your Baby Tonight,” but the song has been given an upbeat, dance remix by Norwegian DJ-producer Kygo.

The new version of “Higher Love” was released digitally on Friday. Winwood’s original version was released in 1986 and hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Kygo, best known for his Top 10 hit “It Ain’t Me” with Selena Gomez, will perform the new “Higher Love” at the PrideFestival Utopia on Sunday in New York City.

Houston died at the age of 48 in 2012.