Community Chat

[Twins Mom]

I don't think I had  bought skirt or dress until high school.  Mom learned to sew  as part of her schooling and she said she was not that good at first.  But in looking at pictures she had nice dresses on and so did i.  We combed through pattern books and then found best fabric.  My dresses always were lovely - graduation, Easter, prom, pajamas, robes, etc.  I was always proud of them but during high school I guess I realized that buying clothes was a thing.  

Advice,?  Don't need to be expensive or fancy...

[hopi]

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@haddon9 wrote:

She taught me to only buy on sale.  I didn't listen.

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How many times can we all say we didn't respect their intelligence, insight, integrity and good intentions.   Shamefully there was many times I didn't either.  My mother could sew. She always had us wear clean, ironed cloths.  In terms of washing, small loads, colors, hang clothes immediately, always keep everything clean.  

My Mother-in-law was a seamstress and made beautiful clothes and wedding dress for a company in downtown Chicago.

When shopping  with her and picked out something of high quality and well made she would say buy it if you want it because it probably won't be here when you come back.

[patbz]

I was very lucky to have a beautiful, polished mother who graduated college in the 1930s, as did my father ( they both were raised on farms and worked their way through college). I learned to sew in elementary school and made many of my clothes going forward. My mother went back to full-time teaching in mid 1950s; at that point she let me have special clothes made by a dress maker ( favorite childhood memory). Once I graduated from college I lived overseas for a dozen years and had sew ladies in Okinawa and Korea; I even took 2 huge pattern books from m calls and Vogue with me the 2nd time I lived in Korea. I let soldiers and their spouses come in to my service Club and Xerox designs to take to their sew ladies .

[Jaynah]

@conit What you say is absolutely true! My daughter who lives in Seattle is "earth mama", lol, she hangs everything to dry, nothing goes into the dryer, all her garments look brand new, no fading, wear or shrinkage, colors are still bright, no pilling or fuzzies. 

[sunshine45]

my mother has taught me a lot, but i honestly NEVER remember her chiming in on my clothing choices except for when i was much younger and she was buying the clothing. she is always stylish, even in her 80s, but we have totally different styles!

[shoekitty]

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@Jaynah wrote:

@conit What you say is absolutely true! My daughter who lives in Seattle is "earth mama", lol, she hangs everything to dry, nothing goes into the dryer, all her garments look brand new, no fading, wear or shrinkage, colors are still bright, no pilling or fuzzies. 

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@Jaynah   lol, I was laughing, because I do that as well. I dry some things, like James..but most go in back yard line, or indoor clothes rack. Since I wear a lot of black, and sustainable clothing, I hang dry. Saves color and clothes stay newer longer.  IMO...who really knkws

[shoekitty]

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@Bonkers1 wrote:

@kaydee50 

My mother tried to get me to sew.  The only part I liked was cutting the pattern.  That was a short lived phase of my life.

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@Bonkers1  I sewed we'll, during 6th grade to after I had twins I sewed half of my clothes because I wanted to.  But, oh boy when I tried to teach my twin daughters, it was hopeless.  Last straw came, was they were about 14.  I bought this blue velour material they loved, to make a simple 5 piece top, no buttons,nothing extra. . They were doing okay when I was hawking over them. Took weeks.  Came to last part.  I left them alone for 3-5 mins, gave instructions, showed them,  it was a 6 inch STRAIGHT SEAM.  Came back.  They somehow sewed collar to sleeve.  They BOTH DID.   Sigh. It was velour, we could not get stitches undone with even a seam ripper.  That was it, home Ed class closed. They never sewed again. I had to ditch the ruined cloth. lol lol we still laugh today. They can't even sew a button on. Their husbands do all that stuff

[Tinkrbl44]

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@Jaynah wrote:

@conit What you say is absolutely true! My daughter who lives in Seattle is "earth mama", lol, she hangs everything to dry, nothing goes into the dryer, all her garments look brand new, no fading, wear or shrinkage, colors are still bright, no pilling or fuzzies. 

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@Jaynah 

Well, you can save them from the heat of the dryer, but sometimes they needed the heat of the iron!

It's always something ...

[Jaynah]

@Tinkrbl44 what's ironing? 😀😃😄😁😆😅😂🤣😝😹

[smoochy]

my mom had very good taste. Classy dresser. I learned from observing her. She also sewed beautifully. Made many of my clothes in childhood and my teen years, cute dresses that were in style but not totally faddish. She taught me how to accessorize tastefully. The word tacky was frequently used to steer me away from questionable fashion choices  lol