Clothes from Yesteryear 8

 The majority of these photos are from 1984.

This little outfit was revamped from one of my own sweater-skirt sets that I wore in high school.  The sweater was originally store-bought; I cut it down and made the front pocket with the excess fabric.  When I made the skirt for myself, it was an A-line.  Cutting it down to a size four created enough fabric for a ruffle.  It sure would have been nice to have a serger for the sweater!  Lacking that, I used the overlock stitch on my Bernina Record 830.

Christmas dress, made from leftover fabric from a Christmas dress of my own from years before.  I was sewing Hannah's and Dorcas' dresses late the night before the Christmas program.  Got them done... went to the ironing board to press the black chiffon sleeves -- and the instant I set the iron down, the hungry thing devoured that sleeve!  Made a big hole, the exact size and shape of the iron's soleplate.  

I had barely enough black chiffon to make one more sleeve.  I got it sewed on and pressed -- this time, I hit the steam button before I set the iron down, and had the temperature turned waaaay down -- a little after 4:00 a.m.

I sewed the boys' matching black suits, too.  Keith wore size 5, Teddy size 18 months.

I sewed black lace on  the socks.  Dorcas had some, too; I can't remember why she didn't have them on in this picture.

Here's a better picture than the one in a previous post of the vest and skirt I made for Hannah from a sweater Larry had grown out of.  She could hardly wait for her father to come home from work that evening, so she could go running to greet him, with, "Daddy!!!  I'm wearing your sweater!" and lots of giggles.

All these knits... I look at them and think, What I wouldn't have given, back then, to have the serger I have now!

Her necklace is a little pig, with a real, honest-to-goodness penny stuck into his back.

This is another of the little peasant dresses that I made for the girls for everyday wear.  Each dress took about 30 minutes to make.

The only thing I sewed in this picture was Hannah's dress.  It was made from some single knit someone gave me, because their machine wouldn't sew it without skipping stitches.  Thank goodness for Bernina and ballpoint needles!  Oh, I think those red pants Teddy is wearing are the ones I made from an old skirt of mine, come to think of it.

Hannah always loved to pose.  😊

Dorcas, age 5, Kindergarten.  1987

I made the nightgown... the quilt (maybe better called a 'comforter', since I merely sewed wide ruffled lace onto giant petals, sewed them onto the quilt top, sandwiched it with ruffles around the edges, turned it, and tied it with yarn)... and the curtains.  Yep, I loved ruffles and shirring and lace and bows.  Still do, for that matter.

The suit I made for Dorcas to wear to Kenny and Annette's wedding, constructed from leftovers from my own suit.