So, my mom is on Facebook…yeah. She recently posted a bunch of pics from her high school days, growing up in Key West, and my comments to many of her photos were, “I love this dress” and “Why’d you get rid of all your clothes?” and “This dress is my favorite!” Last night at my uncle’s superbowl party, I discovered that my mom actually sewed most of the dresses herself!
Have a look:
Here’s a little informal Q&A with my mom, the sewer:
Q: How did you learn how to sew?
A: My mom taught me how to sew, and I also took Home Economics in high school, and they taught us how to sew in that class.
Q: What got you interested in sewing your own clothes?
A: My parents didn’t have a lot of money, so if I wanted new clothes, I had to make/sew my own.
Q: Did you use patterns?
A: Yes, I always used patterns.
Q: What are some things you sewed?
A: I went on a cruise, and I made almost everything I took on that cruise when I was sixteen years old.
Q: What was your favorite thing that you made?
A: I had a lot of favorites, but the strapless dress was one of them. (see first and second photo above)
Q: Do you still have any of the clothes you made?
A: They didn’t fit any longer, so I got rid of them.
(And she apparently never thought about handing them down to her daughter, who happens to be about the same size as she was back then! Yeah, yeah, I didn’t exist at that point, so I guess you can’t blame her.)
I always knew my mom could sew, but I thought it was something she picked up in her “older age.” She made matching dresses for me and her on Christmas and Easter, and she made several Halloween costumes for me as a kid, including this one:
Now she makes double-sided aprons, which I keep telling her she should sell on Etsy.
You don’t have to be the next Project Runway contestant to sew your own clothes. There are patterns for just about everything: wedding dresses, pants, gowns, suits, shorts… If this post has sparked some creativity in you and you don’t know anyone who can teach you the tricks of the trade, just Google sewing classes in your area. This one, for my South Florida readers, looks really fun: Learn 2 Sew, Inc.
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this is adorable! You should commission her to make you a couple new ones!
I love the wrap tie on the first dress! Too cute. Isn’t it fun to see old pictures of our moms? My mom has photos of her wearing super-short skirts (which her daughters, of course, were never allowed to wear). :)
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