Sew-Sew

I enjoy sewing, when I’m in the mood to sew. That doesn’t happen a lot, but I find late September/early October seems to bring on an urge to be creative, what with Halloween and Christmas coming. For years I made my own costumes for parties or just answering the door for Tricks and Treaters at Halloween. For the occasional Christmas party I’d make something simple to wear. This year I hit the jackpot; I’m making an outfit to wear in the library murder mystery dinner which takes place near Halloween, but is set at a Christmas Party. Two for the price on one this time around.

I’m what I call a “slap-dash” sewer. I can make clothes with flat-fell seams and all that fancy stuff, but I prefer to just throw something together quick and dirty, taking all the shortcuts I can. After all, who sees the inside seams or knows that I’ve gathered a waistline instead of pinning dozens of pleats? If it looks good on the outside and doesn’t have to last all that long, why take the time is my motto.

My sister is probably flinching in dismay. She-of-the-large-family makes most of the dresses for her girls and some of the shirts for her boys. She probably does more, but I’m not sure so I didn’t want to mislead you. She fashions clothes from by-gone eras where woman’s clothing was not only functional, but also full of detail and grace.

Most of the dress patterns she uses come from the 1820s through the 1860s. Terms like ruching, armscye, and gigot sleeves pepper her blogs about sewing. Personally I don’t know what those terms mean, but someday I’d like to learn. Her husband says she’d get more sewing done if she didn’t make things so intricate, but she claims it may be some sort of mental disorder that she keeps in check by the addition of growth tucks, shirring and embellishments. She’s joking of course, but the cloths she makes are wonderful examples of a more feminine age.

In her family the girls are required to be competent with hand sewing before they are allowed to use the sewing machine. Many of you may remember mothers, grandmothers or perhaps even yourselves doing samplers. During Sewing Hour, the littlest girls, ages four and six, begin by stitching on plastic canvas with yarn and a blunt tip needle. From there they progress to learning running stitches. The older ones work on tea towels, learn to use the knitting loom and then progress to trim work on bonnets or dresses with cording or quilting.

For their birthdays, each girl is given at least one new dress and it’s a matter of great discussion and debate about what will be found on their birthday morning. “That’s generally how we do it. You awake to find your special frock made just for you to spend your special day in,” my sister wrote. One of the recent birthday dresses was a “wrapper” from the Children’s Fashions section of Godey’s Lady’s Book from February 1863. It definitely caught my interest. A wrapper was worn for breakfast or other times when one might not want to be fully attired in the many layers required for the 1860s. Since a wrapper is designed to show off petticoats, it only fastens part way down the front. I LIKE this style of dressing. Wouldn’t it be lovely to wander around the house in a pretty, full skirted wrapper with layers of tucked petticoats made of cotton sateen? Lucille Ball wore a form of wrapper remake in the I Love Lucy series of the 1950s. Hers were worn with trousers underneath, but the idea was the same – casual elegance.

I miss femininity. I miss dresses with full skirts. I miss hats; not that I ever wore a hat outside of Easter morning, and then only as a child. Suffice it to say, I miss fashions that flatter the wearer, left a lot to the imagination, were pretty and made a statement about a woman’s ability to appear soft and delicate.

But then again, I like my jeans and t-shirts. Life’s full of tough choices, i’dnit?