Using a Pattern for More Than One Size; The Story of Mrs. R.

Have a sewing pattern (especially children's patterns) with oh, about ten sizes? Well, instead of cutting it out to one size and losing the other nine, here's a trick my friend Rebecca and I discovered recently:



After making these cuts every few inches, you can just fold to the correct size line that you want. Does that make sense?

This pattern, with its clever cuts, came to me by way of a golden serendipitous moment: one day when Ben was a baby, I was shopping at the fabric store and an older woman who was shopping too ventured to ask me if I like to sew. Oh yes! But I'm not very experienced and, as you can see, I don't have much time (indicating the yammering, dancing children). Well, Mrs. R had an enormous stash of sewing things from her years as a home ec teacher and sewing for grandkids who were getting into school uniforms now, and would I be interested in having some of her stash?

I think my jaw dropped. I gave Mrs. R my phone number, she called me up, and I have been her guest twice now, each time going away with boxes of sewing goodies and feeling warm and blessed from her kindness. We even discovered that we have a mutual friend - her former coworker, and a current member of my church.

This nightie was made entirely from Mrs. R's supplies. Striped fabric here. I got some beautiful plaid, some of which went into Kim's journey bag, and some here. I've passed along a few junior patterns for Rebecca's daughter (as illustrated above - Clara needs a new Sunday dress!).



Meeting Mrs. R feels like something out of a book to me, a wonderful opportunity that drops into your lap. . . a blessing from God to recount when the days are dreary.