When I was a very little girl, my mom helped organize an annual event, that raised money to support a non-profit dental center. I remember my mom planning the table decorations for this event. She had quite a talent for that sort of thing. I also remember her sewing a gown every year, to wear to this ball.
While my mother sewed, my sister and I played together, under the table. My mother would give my sister and I some scraps of fabric from her gown, and the two of us would sew dresses for our Barbie dolls.
I was just 5 years old, so you can imagine my lack of sewing skills. Yet, I was so very proud of my handiwork. My doll dresses followed one basic "pattern", a rectangle, with a hole about 3 inches in diameter, cut in the very middle of the scrap of fabric. I used this as the neck-hole for my doll dress. Upon slipping the "dress" over Midge's head, I proceeded to fashion the rest of it. I hand-stitched side-seams, leaving just enough room for arm holes for Midge. A piece of ribbon for a sash, and my doll was dressed for her own ball.
My parents were like most young couples at the time. My dad worked, my mom stayed home. Consequently, they didn't have a lot of money for extravagances in those early years. My mother sewed quite well. She made most of her own, mine and my sister's clothing. Sewing a ball gown was just another garment to sew, for her. The gown that I remember most was a taffeta gold plaid, with a large sash. It was floor length, and to a little girl, she looked like a princess.
There was a time when sewing was something every young girl learned to do. It was thought that this would be a valuable skill to learn, to be used throughout her lifetime. Today, just a fraction of girls learn to sew. It seems that shopping is the "skill" they learn best. Where will this "skill" get them? When times are good, they may dress very well. But how will they dress themselves when times are lean? Compare this to my mother's generation. Good or lean times, a woman who could sew, could contrive a fashionable wardrobe for herself.
I realize that times change. Our technology continues to propel us further and further away from traditional domesticity. Learning to sew does not have to reside in our past heritage. The ability to do for oneself, is empowering. How empowering it is, to know that you can transform something with a needle and thread, and next to nothing in your wallet. One may not "need" to sew their own wardrobe, but how wonderful it is to know that you can.
