{WW} Outdated

{WW} outdated

I was sorting through some storage boxes in my basement, looking for the elusive sewing home-ec book of mine from bygone days. I’ve promised to teach the grades 7, 8 & 9 girls sewing this year and thus the search for the book.

Four boxes into my stack, I found it, in all its outdated 90’s glory. It was just a paper folder that we each decorated with fabric. Mine was covered with a huge blue and white floral/fruity print. It had a three-inch wide ruffle in a plain coordinating royal blue all the way around and narrow royal ribbons tied on the side. I used the same royal blue cotton to cut out the letters S-E-W in my own girlish curly cursive writing. It was priceless.

I stood there, paging through it, laughing and with a small catch in my throat. Here were all my fabric samples: T-shirt knitting in the funky florals we loved, 100% rayon in rich jewel tones (I’m sure I wore that to church long ago!), 100% cotton (a scrap of the dress I sewed in class!), flannelette, tricot, denim and floral denim (oh, those were the days!) 100% polyester (the piece my sisters and I wore to my folks 25^th anniversary!) (My nose felt plugged and my eyes were wet), more polys and cottons…

I couldn’t resist paging through it all. All those seam practices: a straight seam, a spiral, iron-on interfacing, mending with stitch witchery, a dart, a taped seam, a graded seam, tucks, serging, zippers and stitching in the ditch, collars, necklines and buttonholes. (I snorted out loud. I keenly remembered sewing that neckline and laughing hysterically with Arnie about the shape of it!) Don’t worry, there was more: elastic casing, zigged elastic, blind-hem, top-stitched hem and hand hem and last but not least my measurements!

I sat thinking about my long-ago home-ec dress with its puffy sleeves, big pointed collar and hard belt, its pastel roses in purples, pinks and blues. I didn’t really like that dress, probably because it was from a sewing class. I thought about the dress we’re going to get the girls here to make; not-super-stretchy, invisible zipper, princess seams. They’ll probably feel just the same about their dresses some day and just as thankful for an old outdated book about it all.