“As to matters of dress, I would recommend one never to be first in the fashion nor the last out of it”
Throughout my life as a female, I have struggled over how much emphasis (time, money and energy) to put into my clothing. After all, scripture tells us not to worry about clothes (Matthew 6:28), and there are specific admonishments against women putting too much emphasis on their outer appearance (1 Peter 3:3-4). Still, we all know women who have "given up" on their appearance altogether, which doesn't seem right to me, either.
Recently, I've been captivated by the elegant beauty of simplicity. Jason and I have been trying to buy less "stuff", and really use well the things that we have. We are trying to share more, give generously and consume less as an effort to be better stewards of the blessings God has entrusted to us.
Now, to bring together all of these ideas, along with the fact that I "inherited" my mother's sewing machine, I have begun making my own clothes. Behold the quirky creations that happen in my living room:
This dress was an un-cut pattern of my Nana's (from back in the day when you could send away to the Philadelphia Inquirer for sewing patterns). I made it out of fabric I bought at Goodwill for $1.53.Here's a swatch:
Here is a dress I made from a pattern I won off eBay. It was one of a lot of patterns from prairie women in the 1940's:
I made it from fabric called "Pennsylvania Plain and Fancy" I bought at a discount in Boston:
The last is a dress I made to wear to my friend's wedding in August:
The fabric was more expensive than for the other dresses, but I am pretty happy with how it turned out.
I am finding that my new wearable hobby does wonders at keeping me from "lusting after" new clothes. Even if my homemade dresses are not going to make the cover of Vogue, I feel such a sense of accomplishment when I finish a project.
Still to come this fall: a jumper for Zoe, a dress for me, and (hopefully) a sweatshirt for me. I'll post pictures when the dream becomes reality!
10 comments:
Really, really beautiful creations! Nice work! You are very talented.
I think that I like the prairie woman dress best (probably just because of the origin of the pattern), but I think they all look great.
At one point my darling wife made matching dresses for herself and our daughter. It was so adorable! I think she sized the girl's a little large so that she could wear it a while (and so that it wouldn't be too small the first day she wore it). I look forward to see how you clothe your cute little girl.
I have to confess that in a couple of the pictures, I looked at your feet. Well, not atyour feet really - at what was behind your feet. Namely, the baseboard. Sigh Having spent several months now working on baseboards at our house, I am just so much more aware of them. Your baseboards are nice, by the way.
Color me impressed, Susan! I am not at all handy with a needle and thread. I can sew on a button (unless it is a shank button), but that is the extent of my abilities. I do not have the patience for it, either. I do congratulate you on your creations, what lovely additions to your wardrobe! I especially love the shirt! Since you are seated, I cannot get a good look at the second dress, but I really like the pattern and the color (what is it about redheads and green?!).
Thanks everyone- you're so encouraging!
I have been anticipating this post so i was so happy to see that you had gotten your pictures up! Really, I am impressed as well...they are all beautiful. I really like the shirt and can't believe you made all those dresses. I especially like the one I saw you in with the tie around the waist. Oh yeah...the one with the zipper in the front is cool...you could start your own maternity line with that idea : )
WOW! talk about walking the walk, and you look awesome. Not only is your talent with the clothes making great, but I can't believe you were able to do it with little ones around. And speaking of that, for someone who just had two little ones recently, you really look super. I haven't seen you since the last Harvest Party at church, but you look just as good as you did then in these pix, I can't believe you recently gave birth. And scripturally, I always tell other people not to feel guilty about looking good when we think we should have other priorities, even God took the time to make flowers beautiful as well as functional.
are you going to be at the harvest party this year semi anonymous?
Wow, Susan. Not only are the clothes fantastic (I especially like the one you made for the wedding), but I'm impressed by what you and Jason are trying to do. We are not very big consumers, but I know we could consume less and re-use more. It's something I often think about but should strive to do more. I think there's a chapter on Simplicity in Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline. Sometimes when I'm making coffee in the morning I think of it because he advocates not being addicted to caffeine as another way to live more simply. Oh well. I try -- but obviously I could do better!
Susan, I am so impressed by your handiwork! What a great ability that you are crafting--please keep posting the lovely pieces that you make!
Wow... I can cook; turn a wrench; remodel a house; but have serious problems trying to sew a button on a shirt. This is one of things I've been meaning to learn.
Your skills are amazing.
I sew way better! My nickname is Betsy Ross.
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