Old Fashioned Sewing

I'm old, and sometimes old fashioned.  But that's just my upbringing.  My mom grew up having to sew most of her own clothes, and so growing up she made all my clothes as well as my sister's.  In fact there were a few times where she sewed the entire family a get-up.

The first one I remember seeing is this really ugly brown plaid.  The dime store must have had a deal on it, because she sewed Dad a shirt, herself a maternity dress, and dresses for me and my sister.  Ugh!  I wasn't much into fashion, and Mom was always very practical.  In fact, after we grew out of our clothes, Mom would cut squares out of the usable portions and sew them into a quilt for each of us.  Growing up, I had a quilt full of squares that I could "name" :  that was my fav yellow dress, or my fav purple skirt .... you get the idea. I had that quilt until I moved out and moved into a bigger bed!

I didn't mind the home sewn clothing -- at least not most of the time.  I had one of a kind pieces that fit every curve; I didn't wear off the rack, and no one else had what I had.  And Mom wanted to make sure that I knew how to sew; I took a sewing class in school, and then when I was a high school senior, I decided to sew my own prom dress.  It was a rusty orange, and looked great on me! Again, a custom fit, custom length.  I was very pleased with myself! 

I can't remember when I got this old Kenmore, the folks gifted me with it.  Boy has it seen some major sewing projects!  Quilts, like the one I had, for my kids.  One summer when three step kids were visiting, I sewed matching shorts for all five of them.  They were sort of like Mom's brown plaid deal: there was only so much material to go around, so the pockets were a different fabric, and they were quite colorful!  But the kids loved wearing them.

Barbie outfits, Cabbage Patch clothing, curtains and matching valance, one year I made everyone a quilted bag for Christmas. 

After the move from Ohio to Arizona, I haven't pulled out the old sewing machine ... until last week. With all this COVID stuff, and folks wearing masks, I'm making my own cloth ones.  And after sitting in storage for 15 years, it fired right up and sewed just fine.  

You just can't beat an old Kenmore! 

So I thought it deserved a tribute of it's own. :)