Do you ever think about Mother's Day when you were a child? Did you make some precious Mother's Day memories? I wanted to share a special memory I have with my own Mother and something special that happened almost 50 years ago for Mother's Day.
My Mom didn't sew. She knew how to sew but it just was not something she enjoyed. She said it was because her own Mom (my Grandmother whom I called NANNY) sewed all her clothes as a kid growing up. By the time she was in her teens, Mom just wanted store-bought clothes. Can you imagine that? I suppose the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
I don't remember the exact year. During the early spring of either 1964 or 1965 Mom decided that she and I should have matching dresses for Mother's Day. Fabric and patterns in hand, she took me to a local dressmaker. The dressmaker got our measurements and made us some lovely, matching dresses in spring pastel colors. That is what we wore to church for Mother's Day that year. I remember that I really loved wearing a dress that matched my Mom.
How does all that fit into this post? Well, when I was sewing the Nursery Rhyme Dress for my granddaughter TINKERBELL, her brother GERONIMO wanted me to make him something too. After all, his birthday was approaching. I found some cute guitar print fabric and some light beige twill and decided to make him a shirt and shorts set. I had plenty of patterns at home already. The patterns also had smaller sizes for infants, so I made his little brother a matching set. The post is here: Free Pattern for Baby Shorts and Pants - Matching Sets for Brothers.
After I finished the boy's matching outfits, I ran across the CUTEST fabric. For those of you that sew, you know the feeling. I looked at it. The wheels started turning. I thought to myself, "Hey, that kinda sorta has some of the same colors in TINKERBELL's Nursery Rhyme Dress and in GERONIMO's Guitar Print Shirt and twill shorts." Then I thought to myself, "No way, it won't match." Then I showed HUBBY. He has a very good sense of color and style. He verified that it actually didn't clash and he thought it would coordinate well.
Some old memories are buried deep in the back of your mind. You don't actually dwell on them, yet they are there. Some are even more present in your mind than you realize, right? Well, that is the evolution of the San Antonio Stroll Skirt Tutorial.
I don't think I realized it until I started trying to coordinate the fabrics. Maybe it was even after I bought the bright pink, marigold, off-white, red, spring green, turquoise, and black print that it happened. Somewhere, somehow, that sweet and precious memory of Mom and I wearing our matching dresses to church on Mother's Day surfaced. I knew then I had to include elements of all the fabrics used on the kids clothes to finish the San Antonio Stroll Skirt so that my daughter and her children would have matching outfits for Mother's Day just like my own Mom and I had so many years ago.
In a perfect world, I'd show you all of them in their matching outfits together. In the real world, the boys wore their outfits to the zoo on Saturday when we celebrated GERONIMO's birthday. TINKERBELL didn't want to wear her dress till Sunday when she saw her Mommy put on her own new skirt.
Hence, the photos on Saturday have the boys together in matching outfits. The photos on Sunday have Mommy and daughter together in matching outfits. I had so much fun making these clothes for my family and taking the photographs.
Dressing to match Mom for Mother's Day was a wonderful memory for me. Why not make your own matching outfits? It is a lot of fun!
FYI: My kids were all in band from sixth grade until high school graduation. When PEPSI was drum major, I was band booster president. The waistband and top tier of the skirt is made from my old band booster shirt.
The balloons in the photos are GERONIMO's Happy Birthday balloons.
Your constant commitment to our effort has been such a blessing. Your ceaseless efforts and painstaking attention to detail have not gone unnoticed; in fact, they have had a major influence. I'm constantly in awe of your innovative ideas and inventive solutions. Your unwavering dedication to our team is invaluable, and I want to sincerely thank you for everything that you do. There's an online Mother's Day sale going on that you might find interesting!
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