Sewing

This was the first try at sewing for Cindy.

My first outfit to make for Tony. He was only 6 weeks old and couldn't protest. .....grin

This was a little blue and white outfit I made for him. Bought clothes were not as easy to find and not as inexpensive then as they are now.

I made their Easter outfits each year. Cindy's was white and Tony's navy & white that year. (1961)

This was Byron's first Easter and Mom was still busy at the sewing machine.

Cindy's first day at school and Mom had made her dress.

The boys didn't get left out.

I made all their shirts. Most of the time I dressed them alike.

I even made their PJs. These were yellow.

I made something for them almost every night. I worked in a sewing room in the daytime and believe it or not, home sewing relaxed me.

Sewing for Cheryl was like sewing doll clothes.

Double knit was the big thing back then.

I made many costumes for different occasions.

Cheryl was the Jr. High cheerleader mascot for 3 years.

She rode her horse, Sugar, in a lot of parades and I always made riding outfits for her. She was about 2 here.

This was a pretty black & white dress & bloomers. She wore it to church and in modeling contests.

This was a cute knickers outfit. It was white lace & red velvet.

This was another black & white. She still looks good in these colors.

I made Cindy & Cheryl a lot of matching outfits. This was Cindy's first day as a high school senior and Cheryl's first day in kindergarten.

Cheryl wore this costume as a little "salt girl" in 1975.

This was a Padgett dress I made Cheryl. It was hot pink velvet combined with sheer white tiny permanent pleats, and yards and yards of ribbon.

"Singing in the Rain". I made this outfit and decorated the umbrella with raindrops cut out of the raincoat plastic.

She looked so saucy in this sportswear outfit.

This was her costume for singing "Pistol Packin' Mama".

I made most of the patterns for her clothes.

This was a short little dress with bloomers underneath.

I was still making their clothes. I made Tony's 3 piece blue suit, entered it in the fair and won a blue ribbon and a "best of fair" in the whole sewing competition with it.

Special occasions sent me running to the sewing machine.

Cindy had many such occasions.

I loved sewing for Tony & Lisa's little girl, and my first grandchild, Amber. Sometimes I would find buttons I liked and design a whole outfit around them.

This is Amber & Ashley, Cindy's daughter & Tony's daughter. I loved dressing them alike.

Then I really had reason to make matching outfits. These are Tony & Lisa's twins, Melanie & Megan.

Costumes were a regular task to make. This is me as "The Great Pumpkin", adding a little joy to the lives of the nursing home residents.

I worked for several years as the activity director at Anderson nursing home. Part of my job was to make a winning float for the 2 annual parades. I always had to make the costumes.

I made about 8 of these reindeer costumes. I never had any patterns except the ones I made.

The "mermaid", Our nursing home administrator, wore a costume I had made.

I was "Charlie" in the famous tuna ad. Our residents were the people fishing from the boat. My part was to run and try to be caught by them. The mermaid said "Sorry Charlie".

During the 1980's & 90s, I had a booth at the first Monday grounds in Canton. (15 years) One of the items I sold was handmade clothing. During those years the "Country" look was very popular.

The last ten years of those days, I was located in the original Henry Lewis pavilion. The name of my little business was "Three Generations". This was myself, my mother and my daughter. I also sold clothing for all those age groups...baby size 1 to 2x for grandmas like me.

I sold clothing with wooden cutouts on many of them.

The clothing I sold was plain jumper dresses and designer collars that were detachable to mix and match. I also made & sold matching hair bows.

During the years of first Monday days, I employed about a dozen part time helpers. They worked in their homes by piece work. I did all parts of the production with their help.

I designed one to three new collars each month. Some were good sellers, some not. When I finished a design and hung it up to look at it, if it made me smile, it would be a good seller. They had their own personalities.