Sew - What Now?

I used to sew - a lot. My mother always sewed, so I did too. I even sewed dresses by hand in the '50s. In 1976 I took a Stretch & Sew class and made my husband all kinds of clothes, including a blue - baby blue - Leisure Suit. I even won first prize for an outfit I designed for myself. AND, does anyone else remember the "Infinite Dress"? Mine was white and it was gorgeous. There were umpteen gajillion ways to wear it and this was one of them....... yes, I was a lot younger in 1976... I probably should have photoshopped my head off.

My daughter was born in 1975 and it goes without saying that I made most of her clothes. I knit, or crocheted little jackets and caps for her and she had the cutest little dresses to wear. This one was really easy to make with its matching mop hat, so she had one in every color.......

I also sewed shorts, T-Shirts, nightdresses, the whole nine yards, until one day when I walked into K-Mart and found shorts and T-Shirts for $4.99 - $4.99!!!! I had to pay more than that for just the fabric. And, long story short, that realization pretty much ended my sewing days. I still sewed dresses for both of us for special occasions. I made her prom dresses years later, and just a few weeks ago I was altering the bridesmaid dress she wore at my son's wedding. And, yes, I still use the same sewing machine.

Sew - what made me think of this you may be wondering..... well, I was looking at toddler girl dresses for my granddaughter and found a summer dress, with a hat, just like the ones I used to make her mommy. Why don't I just make her one, I asked myself. Because it's cheaper to buy one than it is to buy the fabric and all the other stuff you'd want to put on it, replied the "turn every penny over twice Yorkshire person" who inhabits my body. There's only one thing wrong with that reasoning. There must have been at least 20 of that same dress in every size, but if Nana made her one, it would be totally unique - a Designer Dress no less and definitely one of a kind. Of course she could always wear the one I made for her mommy, 34 years ago!

Yours truly,
Julie :)