Sewing Part 3: The Fashion of It

Sewing was a part of my life in the 1970s. The struggle with cutting out my patterns was real. I had to use the floor of our living room as my cutting table, and...well...we had this cat named Frisky or Friskie. She was ornery a spirited kitty cat. The minute I would put my fabric on the floor and she heard the pattern rustling, Frisky would pop up out of nowhere and race to the middle of my efforts, to rearrange the fabric and tear the pattern. 

The fabrics I used most, in sewing my clothing then, were double knits, seersucker and dotted swiss.  I also used a pinwale corduroy (only) twice because it was difficult to keep the nap positioned correctly. Too much trouble! 

I made this short sleeve jacket from seersucker fabric and this pattern:

 

I made two corduroy suits (unlined jackets). Shown in the black and white polaroid photo is the tan/gold color suit, my favorite (and my mom's, too). I made it from this pattern:

Just me and my twelve string
posing.



Other patterns in my stash included this dress with butterfly sleeves (not sure what they were actually called). I made the short version and loved how it looked and felt on body. I made a few dresses from dotted swiss fabrics and this pattern. Most of the swiss fabric I used was flocked. The sleeves excited me!!! Is that so wrong?

I also made a few smock tops to wear with my elephant legged jeans, a trend that girls were wearing my senior year in high school. I don't think I have any photos of me wearing one, but one stands out in my head--a blue gingham print.

I also made two prom dresses, but I'm not sure what pattern I used on the first one. I still have the dress.

My final prom dress was a halter style dress. I loved halter tops then. My prom dress that year was not fancy and made out the middle view with a dotted swiss.

Finally, I didn't make this dress, but my Grandma Minnie Powell offered to make my wedding dress. She had made so many of my childhood dresses and my blue carnival dress seen here. Of course, I said YES!

Wedding dress made with love by my Grandma, Minnie Powell. (This was right before I "marched" down the aisle.) She also made the floor length veil and headpiece, as well as, a garter.  

Here's the other half of the photo. I'm with my mom, Joyce Powell, in a dinky room/closet that was chosen for my dressing room at a church. 

The End!

Sewing Part 2: Good and Proper

Sewing as a teenager, and as an adult, allowed me to get more wearables for my money. This skill was demonstrated to me by my mom, grandmother and aunt. My freshman year of high school, I repurposed a couple of other hand-me-downs into garments that I could wear to school. After that, I sewed clothing from patterns and took a home economics course, and it changed my everyday life.

Learning

The wife of our school superintendent, Mrs. Ferrell Mallory taught our home economics classes, similar to the FAC’s class of today, but not really. She taught many life skills for the average girl of that day, which included managing a household and sewing and cooking. There could have been something about child rearing, but I don't remember that part. 

When it came to sewing, Mrs. Mallory was strict. Our sewing had to be good and proper with nothing handed into her for a grade unless it was nearly perfect. Tearing out seams and re-sewing garments again and again was tedious work, but it became the normal and I (eventually) appreciated the outcome. Mrs. Mallory's skills and knowledge base seemed vast to me. During my time in her class, I ate Baked Alaska and caviar for the first and last time. My group tried our hand at a soufflé. We also learned to cook several dishes, including her version of American Asian food. I tried it out on my family, but--um, they didn't like it and said so. Mrs. Mallory taught her students how to identify furniture styles including Duncan Phyfe and Queen Anne. It matters for nothing these days, but I can still identify styles of furniture. She walked our class to her beautiful home, a block away, to see firsthand the styles of furniture she had taught on. I loved it! We also walked downtown to a fabric store. There we viewed and discussed fabric. This aided our class in creating fabric books for class. 

One more note before I move on. Even though she taught us how to dress a table, use our manners and get in and out of a car properly while wearing a dress, Mrs. Mallory never said or implied that we owed our future husbands these skills, or even that we needed husbands. She taught what she believed were important (girl) skills for the day. However, she also encouraged us to be what we wanted to be.

The First

The first garment I sewed for my class was this jumpsuit. I made it from a funky rust color, ribbed double knit in the short version (surprise, surprise). Everything I wore was short: dresses, skirts, halter tops, shorts. This jumpsuit was a perfectly sewn garment. Trust me on that. Eventually, I made another short version, from another double knit, but the color was either purple or blue and white. I wish I had photos of me in one. I didn't like wearing the heavy double knit of the 1970s, but that is what we had to work with and wear. I also made garments from corduroy and cotton.

At that point in time, I would ask my mom for my clothing allowance to purchase fabric and patterns to make my wardrobe for each school year. In the long run, I got more for the bucks. However, I remember the first time the huge Sears (and Roebucks) boxes arrived at our house, a few weeks before school began. I was the only family member who did not have clothing inside, except for underwear. I was sad. My mom was sad for me. Such is life.

Learning how to sew was awesome and changed how "much" clothing I owned and later how I decorated my home. Come back next time and I'll show you patterns (several) of the day, in Sewing Part 3: The Fashion of It