Tuesday, May 18, 2010

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.

8 comments:

Christian - Modobject@Home said...

I think Mrs. R must be a very lovely person! What a blessing!

Rebecca said...

Hey! And speaking of striped fabric....I saw a dress in a 40's movie that had vertical stripes on the bodice, chevroned stripes on the skirt and horizontal stripes on the sleeves. Fantastic. I could do that in red for Sunday and really give the Pentecost worshipers something to think about.

sylvia said...

And I know you'd be just stunning!

Margo said...

Reb, your sewing skills are UH-MAZE-ZING. Please make that dress.

Deanna Beth said...

Reb told me about your Mrs. R friendship. That story just makes me smile. And to think her own daughters couldn't be bothered!

Anonymous said...

Is that a vintage sheet covering your ironing board? Love it!

Robin

Margo said...

Robin, it's my friend Rebecca's ironing board (and hand and dress!) and she made that cover herself. It would not surprise me at all if it's a sheet and I agree, it's very sweet.

Sew Blessed Maw [Judy] said...

Margo,
I accidently hit this post, and so enjoyed it.. How amazing . I think that is such a wonderful thing. Mrs.R was a very special lady and so are you to befriend an older lady..Most young folks have no time for any one older.. Such a happy story..
Hugs.