Clothes Made with Care on Mom's Treadle Machine

Mom was an excellent seamstress. She sewed all our clothes when we were little on her White treadle sewing machine. She also made most of Marilyn and Patty’s clothes. Sometimes we all had similar outfits. Virginia would do Mom’s ironing while Mom sewed for her girls. Mom not only made our little dresses, she also made our slips, pajamas, and coats. How she found time for this will always remain a mystery to me. I remember one three-piece dress she made for me when I was in first or second grade. There was a white blouse with puffy sleeves that buttoned onto an orange skirt and a short bolero-type jacket in orange. I just loved it. All the buttonholes were made by hand. Sometimes Mom had Mrs. Vandergeist (Kenny’s mom, down the street from us) make the button holes with her button hole attachment. Daddy was so fascinated with this gadget that he bought Mom one soon after. I don’t remember that Mom ever used flour sacks to make our clothes, although it was often done in the Thirties and Forties. Mom also sewed for Iris’ daughters when they were small and made them many cute outfits. I remember her making them each a blue velvet dress. She also crocheted a baby dress for Linda. We wore many hand-me-downs and occasionally received boxes of used clothing from friends. I was never too sure if these clothes were “in style” but Mom always assured me they were fine, and so I wore them.