Handmade Clothes

I miss my mom really all the time but it goes in waves. Recently I bought a second hand pair of  Loft jeans because I liked the fit and style. The only problem is they are too long for me. My mom used to help me out with this issue by cutting a chunk out and attaching the hem/bottom of the pants back on. I don't know how she did it exactly but I was happy with the end result.  I have asked a friend with a sewing machine to help me but I miss having my mom to do this simple task for me. She'd ask me to stand up on a chair with a back so I could hold on and not fall. I treasure the memory of her sewing my clothes or fixing them. 

Of course she was sick for a long time and didn't sew even before that but in my childhood/teens and into my 30's she sewed. I have a few school photos that feature me in handmade Judy dresses and peasant tops. In high school she cut triangles in the sides of a pair of jeans and added in flowery panels to make them flare with flair. She made me a gorgeous velvet dress for Christmas. 

I once saw her bring a dress home from Dillard's and lay that dress down on a bolt of similar fabric and then draw the outline with small ticks of chalk. In this way she made her own pattern and then returned the dress to Dillard's!  Later in life she took on needlepoint and knitting. Her mother/my grandmother was a major knitter throughout her life. That craftiness skill skipped right over me. I've tried to sew and knit and neither comes easy to me. Think big holes and uneven seams. 

I wish my mom was here today to help me with my jeans but also to talk about every day topics. She would be fired up about politics right now. I know my son Tristan misses talking Vikings football with her and she would be just as happy as he is on their fabulous season so far. Somedays I think of something and totally forget she's not on the other end of the phone. In fact my nephew has her phone which always makes me smile. All the above photos show me in handmade clothes. I had to go on a photo hunt to locate these gems.

I hope I can get my jeans hemmed and that I’m asked to stand on a chair to get them at the right angle! 

Photo 1: orange polka dot midi-dress that I wore for my school photo and a play at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre

Photo 2: Floral velvet dress but I know you are just focused on that out-of-control pixie cut! 

Photo 3: high school maybe junior year peasant  top that I loved and often paired with bell bottom jeans of course!

Photo 4: Red Christmas jumper with same pixie cut and my brother Mike smiling behind me. This is in Fairmont, MN with the family room fireplace. Above the fireplace is an oil painting of the three of us done by Jack Bender, a local Cedar Falls painter at the time.