 |
| I told Beatrice about this outfit a couple of weeks ago when the family celebrated my birthday. A few days later, she demanded to wear her new dress with the dogs and moustaches. Sis had no idea what she was talking about, then Bea explained, "Pammy said..." Needless to say, I got busy and finished it. The leggings are rolled up twice at the bottom. She may still be wearing this one in kindergarten. Lucia is modeling her "Dragonfly Prairie Tunic." I put that together on Saturday evening and Sunday morning before Mother's Day lunch, so she would have something new, too. |
When my sister and I were growing up, our Ma-Ma Harris made a lot of our clothes, and I've written here before about her influence on my life and in my love of sewing.
Smithville has never had much of a fabric store - back in the day, a couple of downtown businesses carried a small selection of basic material and notions, but specific projects required a trip to a real fabric store. The Cloth House in McMinnville was the nearest, and bigger fabric stores in other towns were frequent stops when family travels took us there.
I have been fascinated by literally everything in every fabric store I've ever visited - the rows and rows of fabric in every color, print, and texture imaginable; the racks of thread, arranged by color like a giant rainbow; ribbons, buttons, scissors of every shape and size, dressmaker forms, the pattern books and huge drawers of patterns; the "whap, whap, whap" of a bolt being unfurled.
Little has changed since the time I was a child but for the addition of bar code technology to replace pad, pen, and calculator on the cutting table.
Ma-Ma Harris didn't always know what she was shopping for when she hit a fabric store wide-open, and neither do I most of the time, but she taught me that having a general idea of what you want and how many yards you need when you find it goes a long way. She also made me unafraid to take advantage of a good sale and bring home a frighteningly big pile of fabric as long as you have plans for everything in it - well... at least most everything in it.
Last weekend, I hit the mother lode at Hancock's Fabrics and Crafts in Murfreesboro during the Mother's Day Weekend Sale.
I normally shop at the Hancock's in Cookeville, because it's convenient to my work, the people are nice, and I've patronized them enough in the past six months that some of the employees kind of remember me and my purchases:
"Yeah, you were getting stuff to make a poodle skirt."
And every time Jack has been to the store with me, a member of the staff has approached him to say a friendly word and thank him for browsing so patiently while I shop. Maybe there's a section in the employee handbook about being nice to husbands and making them feel comfortable - I don't know, but they're doing it right.
The Murfreesboro Hancock's is a whole different ballgame. Finding it was a trip through Dante's ninth circle of hell, because well... Murfreesboro is just kind of like that on Saturday afternoons over by the mall, but once we got into the store, the shopping experience was worth the close calls with really bad drivers and death-wish pedestrians. Three times the size of the Cookeville Hancock's, the walls and floor are lined with spacious racks of well-organized fabrics, notions, and crafting supplies.
My list was mostly fabric for new outfits for the girls - knit for leggings and colorful summer prints for breezy dresses and separates. The girls loved their last jumpers so much, I knew I wanted to shop for more of the seersucker-like plisse I used to make them.
Here's how it all went down.
Right off the bat, I spotted some wonderfully bright, rainbow-striped cotton jersey, perfect for the soft pants the girls love so much, and a matching floral in the same jersey knit:
Yes - a spot-on match for the rainbow striped knit.
My next stop was the aisle with the batik prints. I'd already decided to make Lucia a "prairie/hippy tunic" in that kind of fabric and wanted something to match a not-quite-finished pair of yellow leggings. The dragonfly fabric said, "Pick me first!" so I did, and another amazing thing happened:
Last weekend, I hit the mother lode at Hancock's Fabrics and Crafts in Murfreesboro during the Mother's Day Weekend Sale.
I normally shop at the Hancock's in Cookeville, because it's convenient to my work, the people are nice, and I've patronized them enough in the past six months that some of the employees kind of remember me and my purchases:
"Yeah, you were getting stuff to make a poodle skirt."
And every time Jack has been to the store with me, a member of the staff has approached him to say a friendly word and thank him for browsing so patiently while I shop. Maybe there's a section in the employee handbook about being nice to husbands and making them feel comfortable - I don't know, but they're doing it right.
The Murfreesboro Hancock's is a whole different ballgame. Finding it was a trip through Dante's ninth circle of hell, because well... Murfreesboro is just kind of like that on Saturday afternoons over by the mall, but once we got into the store, the shopping experience was worth the close calls with really bad drivers and death-wish pedestrians. Three times the size of the Cookeville Hancock's, the walls and floor are lined with spacious racks of well-organized fabrics, notions, and crafting supplies.
My list was mostly fabric for new outfits for the girls - knit for leggings and colorful summer prints for breezy dresses and separates. The girls loved their last jumpers so much, I knew I wanted to shop for more of the seersucker-like plisse I used to make them.
Here's how it all went down.
Right off the bat, I spotted some wonderfully bright, rainbow-striped cotton jersey, perfect for the soft pants the girls love so much, and a matching floral in the same jersey knit:
Jumper fabric was next on the list, so I cruised to that table and found a cool paisley with a coordinating floral for the hem band and casings. At 60% off, I had to throw it in the buggy, and this happened:
Yes - a spot-on match for the rainbow striped knit.
My next stop was the aisle with the batik prints. I'd already decided to make Lucia a "prairie/hippy tunic" in that kind of fabric and wanted something to match a not-quite-finished pair of yellow leggings. The dragonfly fabric said, "Pick me first!" so I did, and another amazing thing happened:
While I was perusing the other beautiful batiks, I thought about a flutter-sleeve summer dress and found a gorgeous, bright-hot print. I pulled it out of the rack to look at it, and BOOM!
Everything was on sale, plus I had a 20% off coupon for my whole purchase, so I got liberal measures of each fabric to make both girls several pieces that match/coordinate, and I AM STOKED!! When I get finished with everything, it's going to look like a real "collection." of clothing.
I don't know where these creative efforts will lead, but one thing is for sure - Lucia and Beatrice are going to have awesome and VERY colorful summer wardrobes!!
Here's a closer look at Bea's "Moustache Dogs" outfit, and another I made using the fabric leftovers from Lucia's last jumper, which looks fabulous with the rainbow leggings.
