Not only were you cursed to choose from a smaller (no pun intended) array of boys that MIGHT be taller than you in Middle and High School to go to the dance with, but trying to be fashionable AND tall was nearly impossible...
Warmer weather was easier, because shorts, skirts, and t-shirts fit reasonably well. But I grew up in Ohio, where cold weather rules. I can still remember having to buy men's jeans because you could buy different lengths- "tall" pants and jeans were rarer than panda bears in the wild. And don't get me started on shoes...size 10 or 11 were almost impossible to find, and the Internet was not around yet. I remember driving an hour and a half with my mom to a shoe store that "specialized" in large women's shoes- geesh. Talk about feeling like an amazon!
Dresses were (and still are to some effect) my worst enemy. They were either way to short, but fit me in the waist- or long enough but ridiculously big in the chest. So when it came time for one of the school dances, instead of heading with my mom to the mall- we went to JoAnn Fabrics.
My mom is a master seamstress. She is about 5'10" also, and grew up having to make a lot of her own clothes, since she couldn't find them in her size in the stores. That transcended into her professional life as an adult- business suits either didn't fit right or were outrageously expensive. So my mom always had a project going on- a formal dress for me or my sisters, a suit for her, or curtains for the living room. She even made my older step-sister's wedding dress. From scratch. Talk about an heirloom.
I can still remember having to make sure the dining room table was wiped down after dinner, and mom getting out her sewing machine and iron out as I dried the table off. She would lay fabric out with those paper-thin patterns, securing them with butter knives and safety pins that had the colored balls on the end. I would do my homework with the sound of the sewing machine in the backround, or the hiss of the iron as she pressed the next piece of fabric.
I wish I had paid more attention to what she was doing. I made a few skirts here and there- I even made my own "Jams" shorts (yes, I was an 80's child...). But as the fashion industry responded to the increasing amount of tall females, I preferred to spend my time at the mall instead of with JoAnn.
Last weekend I decided to make my own dog bed for our mastiff. The poor dog suffers from many of the same troubles as I did in my younger years- they just don't make things big enough for him. I bought fabric on Sunday, and searched the Internet for patterns and YouTube videos on "How to make a dog bed"- another advantage that wasn't available when I was younger.
So, after dinner, I wiped down the dining room table, and for the first time as an adult got out my own bag of fabric. And as I laid out my pattern with butter knives and colored-ball pins, I smiled to myself. Maybe if this dog bed thing works out I will try my hand at something for Baby G...
Today's pic represents taking matters into your own hands when the mercantile communty fails you, and a woman's wish she had spent more time with her mother at the sewing machine. Luckily, she only lives 2 streets away- I've already texted her to see if she will help me sew it together....
No comments:
Post a Comment