My sisters and I grew
up with Mom making our clothes and hers as well. It made money sense to do so and
back then, my parents were all about stretching every penny. There were huge
fabric stores like Cloth World and Hancock’s. Sometimes, we would go with Mom
to those stores and go through the pattern books, like Simplicity, McCalls, and
Butterick, but never Vogue because those were more complicated and she had
little time for that.
Patterns allowed people
to create their own clothing. The books we thumbed through were our version of
stylish fashion magazines and offered a glimpse of glamor. We could imagine
ourselves garbed in gorgeous outfits. Mom often made us matching dresses for
Easter, like these:
We would help my mom
lay the printed tissue on the fabric and learned how to pin it into place. If
we could cut straight (not me, Mom said), we cut along the lines. Mom pinned
the pieces together and then sewed them. One time, I did try to make a dress
with her help. She was a tough teacher, and mostly, I learned how to rip and
sew again. And again. Since ripping was not fun, my creativity did not go into
sewing.
After I graduated from
college, I worked for a local department store. I desperately needed new work clothes. Who did I turn to? Mom! She
made me several Chanel-styled suits in various fabrics, sometimes, dresses, and
special evening wear. I loved them!
In 2018 while shopping
in my favorite Joann’s, I ran across several Simplicity collectibles. Memories
crowded my head and of course, I purchased a few items, like these:
Are you into sewing
clothes?
And here’s more
creative fun—Just Desserts…and other stories, eleven romantic comedy short
stories sure to make you feel good.
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