Once a seamstress...

Seamstress : a woman whose occupation is sewing. Alright, so my occupation is not sewing, but I do enjoy it as a hobby, pasttime, obsession, passion, whatever you might choose to call it. Before I was a quilter, I did sew a few garments. In high school, my favorite class, after English, was Home Ec. I remember starting out with an apron. By the time I graduated, I'd made dresses and a suit made out of double knit. It was so comfortable! lol Stretched every which way. I even made my first wedding dress. Uh, my only wedding dress because Jim and I had a very casual ceremony at the courthouse. But, I digress.

See the pattern picture above? Notice the one on the left. In the upper right hand corner, you can see a price of 85 cents! I bought this pattern back in 1975 to make the pantsuit for Joe. The one on the right I bought yesterday and was somewhere in the vicinity of two or three dollars but there are others to be had out there for fifteen to eighteen dollars!! I was shocked. I knew pattern prices had gone up, but, seriously, from 85 cents to nearly $20??

But, I had to try my hand at making Kerrington a little something. The bubble dress in the bottom picture is made from the "old" pattern and is too big right now. It's a size 3. I figure maybe she can wear it next year. The little pink and green suit is made with the "new" pattern and may fit her right now. I still need to add a "snap tape" (didn't even know there was such a thing, lol) to the bottom so we can change her diaper easily. I bought three other patterns to try and they have sunbonnets, or hats, that coordinate with the outfit.


You might ask, "Why would you go to the trouble of MAKING a cute little outfit like this when you can hop on over to WalMart and pick one up for a mere $5? Good question. I agree. But, where's the fun in that? I thoroughly enjoyed crafting these little sunsuits and they are definitely one-of-a-kind. They may only last one season (lets face it, I'm a better quilter than clothes-maker lol) but it makes me happy.

Before I get back to working with the cute fabric and patterns I found yesterday, I've got to finish the bullseye blocks. Deadline to send them in is rapidly approaching.

I'm still coughing but feel better. My blood pressure and heart rate are the lowest they've been, well, ever, that I can remember. I've got to get back in to see Dr. Hassan to get an echocardiogram (he thinks I should get that done) and then get my meds regulated for good. I'm thinking that maybe the dosage he's got me on for now might be a tad too much since the cold medicines are no longer playing havoc with my electrolytes. I still want an allergy shot!

I didn't go to Dad's this morning. I told Joe that I just need to slow down for a bit. I was hoping to sleep late, but habits die hard. I was up by 7:30. I didn't even get to sleep until after one a.m. since I was watching a movie. Okay, maybe I didn't watch it all, but I was trying.

So now I'll either nap, shower or work on the bullseye blocks. We'll see what happens first..