This post first appeared as a guest post on Sew Together for their My Best Friend series.
When Caroline and Maryanne first contacted me about this post, I knew instantly what I’d write about.
Mother’s Day 2012 |
My mom. She’s the reason I know how to sew, she taught me everything she knew and sewed me countless outfits while I was growing up.
My mom and dad had me while he was still finishing his engineering degree, and they didn’t have a lot of money, so my mom sewed some of my clothes. And made Mickey Mouse curtains for my nursery, and then later when I moved on to Strawberry Shortcake, she let me cut them up for sewing projects. Even once they did have more money, she still sewed for me and my brothers.
Ready for a trip through the late 1970s/80s and 90s? Here are some of the outfits:
I have two cousins born the same year I was, so of course we needed matching outfits. I’m about a year old here, and the youngest of us on the right is about 7 months.
The first of many Halloween costumes Mom made me (and my brothers). I’m about 2 here.
I think we took this photo with the self-timer for my dad for father’s day. Also, my brothers are rocking that matching gingham. I wish mom still had this pattern (I’ve stolen inherited a lot of her old sewing patterns, but not this one. The shirts have a super cool western yoke that you can see if you look closely.
Of course I had to have a completely unique prom dress, so Mom obliged.
And I shared this in this post, but Mom made my wedding dress. As well as a bridesmaid dress (I made the other 3) her dress and the flower girl dress. I think that wedding was her best sewn creation.
And now it’s funny, because Mom says I’ve gone past her skill level -she never drafted her own patterns, for example; never really even modified them (except for fit) and at my requests, like, “Can I have this top but with this sleeve from this other pattern and a skirt like this?” That was how I began to learn to design, and now I teach her what I know that she doesn’t.
We have a similar obsession with collecting garage sale sewing machines (last tally – 11 sewing machines between the two of us) and both still sew for ourselves because we like what we can make better than what we can buy most of the time. And that is why my best friend in sewing is my mom.
Love you, Mom.
Thanks for having me, Maryanne and Caroline!
Alice
I heart this post.
Karly Nelson
What adorable pictures! Such a great post too. That is amazing that your mother made you so many things. I adore your wedding dress!!
Dara
Melly, I just read this . I thank Mom for having you,too! You both are BEAUTIFUL!