...Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall... -Proverbs 16:18
For the last couple of weeks my daughter-in-law has been dropping by one evening a week to work on "onesie" dresses for little Lynnleigh. Here's a completed one with her monogram added for panache! They're really cute and clever dresses; using a minimal amount of fabric the onesie remains functional underneath, keeping the dress pulled down and the diaper covered at that same time. While sewing we were chatting about making little girl clothes and somehow the conversation turned back to a long ago memory of my own: I had made a jumper and blouse for my own daughter thirty four years ago, when she was just three years old. I had been
so proud of this ensemble back then; a pinwale corduroy jumper with a set-in zipper and a strawberry print blouse with eyelet lace trimming the rounded collar and gathered cuffs. I remember how adorable she looked dressed in them! The premier wearing had been to Sunday School, the teacher commented on how cute she looked when I dropped her off. I was beaming, did I mention how
proud I was? That was short-lived. When I stopped back by her classroom to pick her up for "big" church, forty-five minutes later, her sleeves were flapping loose down around her hands; those little gathered cuffs had quickly become things of the past. "I had to cut that elastic" her Sunday school teacher reported "those little hands were turning purple because the cuffs were so tight!" I was crushed;
and embarrassed. We laughed about it at the time but I learned a valuable lesson about pride right then and there. Over the next few days I replaced that elastic, adjusting the length, and my daughter wore that jumper and blouse until she outgrew it. Not another word was ever spoken about the "incident" by the teacher, she and I have remained good friends all of these years; now in her 80's she is a dear and loyal member of our Quilt Ministry group. I wondered out loud to my daughter-in-law, in the recounting of the tale, if the teacher remembered cutting that elastic. The very next morning at church I found myself mentioning to my longtime friend about the little onesie dresses that Leigh Anna was working on at our house; without missing a beat she looked me in square in the eye and said "you're not putting any elastic in those sleeves are you?"
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Christmas 1979, the jumper and blouse with sleeves "adjusted" to proper size.
With that she winked... and gave me a hug. I am blessed to have faith models like her in my life;
those who know me, who've walked beside me through the years, and love me anyway!
Life is Good! |
7 comments:
Hi there, Firstly have to say your granddaughter is adorable and I love the onesie-dress-so perfect! I also have vivid memories of a dear friend from church(who is still a dear friend some 34 yrs later). There are such precious bonds that tie us together. Thanks for sharing.
Hugs, Noreen
I love this story! Both little dresses are very cute, and the memories that go with them are what we value most.
This onsie dress is very cute. Such a good idea! My daughter is having a baby in April. if it is a girl, she might get a few of these. I did a search and found a link to similar looking tutorial.
What a great story! And what a great lady . . . . both of you. xx
What a great story! And what a great lady . . . . both of you. xx
I can just hear her saying that and then laughing one of her laughs! (:>)
Whenever I read your blog, I realize just how much our lives have paralleled, even as they have also taken different paths.
I also recall back in 1980 making my daughter, Laura a turquoise corduroy jumper and calico blouse w/ long sleeves. It was one of the first projects I made on my new Viking 6500 SL sewing machine. She was 4 at the time. Just last year I used the last bit of the blouse fabric in a quilt project.
Gail :)
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