Sewing

Halloween, 1958 . . . yes, it goes back a ways! I was madly in love that fall and my ever-lovin' wanted us to dress for the big party as devils. A piece of red fabric became headpieces, pointed down on the foreheads, with pointed, stuffed horns. It tucked into the collars of our red shirts so little skin showed. Around out waists we tied a pieces of rope, with curled red tails tied to them and red tights completed the outfits. The only "glitch" in the evening was when we went to his parents' home to show them how we looked. Whoa . . . . . Mike's wonderful, loving and normally understanding mother did - not - appreciate seeing him in red tights! She never dreamed Mike would come up with such an idea. Looking back, it is quite funny, but for a few minutes there, it was a bit uncomfortable! We won the prize for best costumes and if Mike was not so tall, we might have remained unidentified.

My sewing began at the age of five. Yes, five! My mother went next door to get some decorative items from her friend to complete my gypsy costume. She warned me not to touch the machine while she was gone and you know exactly what I did. I stood in front of the machine, put my little knee next to the control and pressed against it. Where was my left hand? On a little scrap of fabric right in front of the needle. The machine revved up and took off, pulling the fabric under the presser foot and my left index finger with it. How do I know? Because some five decades later, the scar from the required lancing is still there!

When Mother came through the back door, I was standing on a chair at the kitchen sink washing away the blood. She was angry! The needle had gone right through my finger; I had jerked it out of the way breaking the needle. My mother hunted for hours for the only piece she couldn't find - the point (no wonder she was angry).

In the morning, my finger was swollen to twice its normal size. Off to the doctor we went. Well, it didn't stop me from wanting to learn to sew so Mother began teaching me with safety lessons thrown in.

By the time I was in High School I was making most of my clothing. Necessity is the mother of invention and this way I could obtain fashionable clothing at far less expense. I worked part-time in a fabric store after school. When distinguished women came in looking for just the right "hand" I learned that was a quality judgment term regarding the drape of the fabric. You can bet I kept my ears open and learned all I could.

Before our first child was born I exercised my sewing skills again. With less than ten dollars worth of cotton flannel I produced a stack of coordinated outfits. There were shirts, diaper covers, kimonos and sleeping sacques, all finished with contrasting bias trim and snap fasteners. I never had so much fun!

A year later we moved in with Mike's parents while he built our first home. His mother and I shared the love of sewing. I sat in the big dining room with a coal-burning stove and made corduroy overalls and little peter-pan collared blouses out of printed feed sacks. Then, lo and behold, I needed new maternity clothing! I sewed for years for myself and the three children loving every minute of it.

In the 1970's when our youngest was in kindergarten, I took a sewing class working with knit fabrics. It was so easy for me I spoke to the shop owner about becoming a teacher for her. Soon I was teaching classes of 20 - 25 women (and occasionally a token male) the intricacies of making T-shirts, neckline variations, slacks, skirts and dresses. That was the era of "Stretch 'n Sew" for any who remember. Although we weren't a franchised shop, we used many of their books and techniques.

The business grew rapidly; we moved to a much larger store and more teachers were hired. The addition of a closed-circuit TV system allowed the classes to accommodate more students. That was long before the now-common manicure shops and my hands had to be "picture perfect." We gave many fashion shows using our students and any willing instructors' family members as models. Ask our boys if they remember how "itchy" their slacks and shirt collars were in the picture below. They've never forgiven me for that one! (Grin) I was involved with the "Silver Thimble" for about seven years.

CLARK CRAFTSMANSHIP Mrs. Malcolm Clark, with her children, Susan [11], David [9], and Curtis [6], in knits she fashioned. Mrs. Clark is an instructor at the Silver Thimble. The Women's Fellowship of the First United Church of Christ, Congregational, is sponsoring a fashion show Thursday at 8 PM at the Knights of Columbus Hall, showing fashions of the Silver Thimble Shop.
(Citizen photo by J. Shea)

I started my own business when my mother was going through some serious medical challenges. I had tired of teaching the same classes repetitively and although I had developed classes for men's and women's tailored jackets, trousers and slipcovers, I was ready for a change. Mother's premature death confirmed my commitment to my own happiness. Many of my less accomplished students had begged me to do custom work for them so I had a small ready-made customer base.

In less than two years, I had more work than I could manage and was working long hours. Slowly I learned to limit the number of projects and narrowed my customers to those who desired fine, handcrafted garments. I worked on beautiful tartan from Scotland (a tailored man's jacket no less), silks from India. the Orient and other hand woven fabrics brought home as treasures from distant lands.

Many interesting projects passed under my Bernina needle; several wedding gowns, seven pink silk organza bridesmaids dresses, other bridesmaids' gowns, thirteen high school baton squad uniforms (to help my old alma mater ) and a special jacket made for Dr. Rappoport, a surgeon friend in town! His father had been a haberdasher in Brooklyn and supplied his son with gorgeous hand-made silk ties for many years. My friend, the doctor, opened all the ties and removed the linings. He said he had "fileted" them! He then hired me to join the bias "strips" into fabric, cut and assemble an Eisenhower style jacket. 105 ties, painstakingly color-matched produced enough fabric. Some ties had woven initials or designs which by his request "had" to be placed right-side-up! I never charged for all the time I had invested, but it was a thrill knowing MY jacket traveled to golf courses such as Pebble Beach and St. Andrews in Scotland!

One project almost sent me to the "funny farm". In 1977, our church needed new choir collars desperately. So . . . with a generous spirit, I offered to make them. I knew God loved a cheerful giver, but, I didn't know what was ahead for me! We decided upon an appropriate fabric, selected a style and agreed on a very low price for my labor. Mike made two acrylic pattern pieces, the half-circle for the fonts and the deep "V" pattern for the backs. Each collar took four pieces of fabric. Shoulder seams were stitched, pressed open and placed right-sides together. They were joined, turned right-side out, pressed and the opening for the turning closed by hand. Then they were re-pressed.

After completing the last one I rubbed my tired and aching hands, wiped a stray tear from my cheek and "swore" never to mass-produce anything . . . ever again!

One additional note on the subject . . . in January 1997, my uncle sent me a newspaper article on the history of that old Congregational Church in CT. The choir was pictured and they were still wearing "my" collars twenty years later. God knows that was a labor of love! (They have since, purchased new robes and collars.) There in a little history about my "old" church half-way down on the Belief page.

I tackled another labor of love when I made our daughter a quilt, using scraps of fabrics I had used to construct her clothing from the time she was a baby. There were pieces of feedbags from her little blouses, corduroy from overalls, flannel from nightgowns, printed and solid fabrics from play clothes, velveteen from party dresses, etc. It took me a long time and during the process, I dreamt I wouldn't be able to finish it. Well, I made it my business to keep at it until it was complete. When we visit, there is that reminder of years of sewing for her!

After our move to Florida, I sewed only for myself and then, my beautiful little granddaughter! I made her Christening gown out of imported Swiss batiste, with inserted lace and tiny tucking. It had a matching bonnet and little over-vest. I must say it was a work of art! I taught myself to smock and made many smocked dresses, both for Bridget and for gifts.

Bridget was already ten years old and no longer wore dresses too often, however, every once in a while, there was a special request. Over the phone I would hear, "Nana, could you make me ___such 'n such____ ?" You can imagine what this Nana said!
[Bridget is now a teenager!]

My sewing today is minimal. I don't like to continually pad my dress form to match my expanding waistline (frown), however, a threaded needle sits in the arm of my chair. It works it magic with my counted cross-stitching rather than sewing and allows my fingers to "paint" pictures with floss. You might like to look at my stitchery page, however, the computer draws my attention these days more than my needle!

Visit some of my other pages.

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The Nature Coast - West Central Florida