I walked over to Annie's with my ole favorite pants under my arm and in the other hand a bag of fabric to remake them. The week before my ole favorite pants popped a hole in the knee, how dare they!
Annie knows how to make clothes without a pattern, she also knows how to alters clothes, as she says, "I see that the style this year is three quarter length sleeves, so I shorten the sleeves on my blouse…" and "Jackets are fuller, and shorter. So I cut the bottom off of mine and inserted the excess into the sleeves to make them fuller…" or "The shirt was too small so I added a piece of lace into the side seams to widen it…" and "… My blouse needed updating so I took off the cuff, turned it into a ruffle and reattached it."
The best Annie altering is when she took her classic black skirt and cut the hem into points!
Annie amazes me, how she gets it, and does it, and rides with the current movement. Stylish life still matters. She is a woman who cares about how she looks, her feminity didn't end in 1960.
I pulled out my ripper, I was going to take my ole favorite pants apart to use them as a patten. But Annie wouldn't have it. She grabbed my pants along with the bag of fabric, flattening them on her kitchen table.
She calculated, added a few pins and told me to cut.
Now in my defense I do know how to sew… When I was eight years old I took sewing lessons with Mrs. Lanzi …for eight years… What I saw on Annie's kitchen table would have never flied with Mrs. Lanzi.
I doubted, and Annie simply said, "Cut."
I followed Annies' instructions, while hearing Mrs. Lanzi scolding me, "Pattern, pins, base stitch…"
How those pants were going to turned out was beyond me… they looked like four rectangles.
Annie took out two needles and cut two pieces of thread.
"Let's have a contest who can thread a needle the fastest. Are you ready?" She laughed, "I can see the hole but my hand is not steady enough to thread it. And you?" She turned to me and laughed knowing I cannot see with my glasses on!
"Zut alors (in English "zut alors" is similar to "dang", or "heck" or "shot".)," as I jabbed randomly where I thought the hole should be. While Annie aimed.
She won.
The pants turned out. I need to add the waist band. Though they are a bit shorter. Annie says not to worry, "Just wear flats."
I asked her, "Annie did you make your wedding dress?"
"Oh no, never! My Mother had someone make my wedding dress, and a suit."
"Do you still have it?" I asked.
She smiled, "No. I turned it into an altar boy outfit for my son. When my son was older I gave it to the church."
……
Do you sew? With or without patterns
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