Reflections

My sewing reflects my life. When I was younger (a lot younger) my Mom would buy me fabric so that I could make my own clothes that fit in the style of the day, but fit me and my gangliness. As I took classes in high school and college, I sewed things that fit into the assignments and time alotted for sewing during the years of cramming of information into my brain. When I got married, I tried to sew for my husband... boys are so hard to sew for! And when the kids came, thus ended the era of sewing anything for myself! As the mirror shows, my life is not all about me right now, it's about my kids. Keeping them bright, shiny and happy is my life's goal. :D When I have time to sew, I sew for them. Like I said, my sewing reflects my life.

So, when I gave myself the challenge of sewing myself a 50s inpsired dress, I got really excited. It's been a coon's age since I've sewn anything for myself. Do you know how long a coon lives? Me neither! :D But I know that in order to be concious to put the oxygen mask onto my children, I need to put my own mask on first. Knowaddimean? So in small and meaningful ways, I'm trying not to forget myself.

As in times of yore when life was all about ME and my Mom was the one with the check book at the fabric store, one of the reasons I have chosen to sew me a dress rather than to buy one is fit. Store bought dresses of this variety hit me in that weird place that looks too long to be short and too short to be long. It's called the 'awkward length' and I excel at it! :D

So, I fell in love with this pattern:



I actually really love the featured pink dress, but I'm not too crazy about the colloar, so I think I'll end up going for the yellow one. Cute, no? To me, this is what my Grandmothers would have worn as more of a work dress... the kind you change into after Church on Sunday to shell peas in or something. The dress that stays under an apron much of the day as she whirls from task to task. I see myself wearing this dress on a hot day instead of shorts, on a date with my hubby, to a meeting at the school... somewhere between dressy and casual.

I have yet to find the perfect fabric for this project, but I'm having an awful lot of fun looking! Tell me what you think of the pattern and I would LOVE to hear your fabric suggestions, but remember that if you're reading this on Facebook, to click the link and leave the comment on my blog, pretty please! ;D

Nifty 50s Style

Remember the 50s? The 1950s? During WWII, women's style skimped on everything because everything was going to the war effort. Skirts were pencil thin with no extra fullness and little detail. Then came the 50s! After scrimping for so long, skirts got really, really full. Often full circles in fact. Fun details. Bright fabrics. I love it! Love it! Love it!

Donna Reed, June Cleaver, Mrs. Cunningham... they knew where it was at. They were always there for their kids, teaching them what was right. Always cooking and baking and looking fabulous doing it! Now, I fully realize that my perception of this era truly does come primarily from these TV shows. I did not actually live during the 1950s. In fact, even my parents were babies during this era. But right now, I am really digging that full skirted, pearls and an apron style. :) Where's the rule book that says that just because I'm a Mom with young kids, I MUST wear jeans and a t-shirt every day?

Donna Reed
(Don't you just LOVE this picture? I'm going to start doing this every time I serve my family dinner... "TaaDaa!")

Barbara Billingsley

Marion Ross

My next experiment in fashion will be to make myself a "50s Housewife dress." Stay tuned!