One of the great things my mom did for me

 I had a complicated relationship with my mother. I will leave it at that. There was one thing she made me do that I am forever grateful for. She made me go to sewing classes for a week in downtown Pittsburgh at a department store. I certainly did not really learn to sew that week, but it set me on the path to where I am now. I did learn to sew clothing over the years by actually making things. I pretty much made all of my clothing. Of course that was back when patterns were less than $1 and fabric was not that expensive. There were lots of fabric stores including an entire floor devoted to sewing in all of the department stores. Over the years we have seen all of them go away. The big fat books showing patterns from companies like McCalls or Simplicity are now just skinny books. Patterns now cost a fortune. We’ve seen Joann fabrics fold. So things have changed a lot. Now we have cheap disposable clothing to buy so we don’t have to sew clothing anymore. 

I even made my wedding dress and made lots of dresses and costumes for our daughter.

All that clothing making eventually led to quilting and where I am today. I wonder if I ever would have found quilting if my mom had not sent me for sewing classes. 

Did you sew clothing before you started quilting? Do you still make clothing?

Thanks for reading.

Chris