Once Upon a Time....

...there was a girl who loved sewing and old stuff.  That was me; still is.  My first attempt at sewing was inspired by The Grinch sewing in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".

It seemed easy enough.  I laid my Jem doll down on my baby cousin's shirt (she had outgrown it- I had permission!) and cut around her shape in the rudimentary form of a t-shirt.  My mom threaded a needle for me, and I went to work on the seams as best I could.  Unfortunately, my 6-year-old mind's spatial skills didn't tell me to accommodate for the sides of Jem's body, and watching The Grinch's demonstration hadn't taught me any different.
Still, if some mice could manage, so could I.  I kept with it, sewing by hand, learning to embroider from diagrams, fixing and learning to use my mom's 60s Kenmore machine, eyeballing existing clothes to make more, teaching myself to do basic crochet, and then teaching myself to use patterns.  I eventually quit my practical career and put myself through school for fashion design with the money I had been able to save.  Logical people might have put a down payment on a house, but hindsight is always interesting.
So, as it pours down rain on Houston all afternoon, and there's not enough good light for eBay or Etsy photos, I'm starting on custom orders.  I also ordered my labels that will be sewn into my designs.
And so, I leave you with this, just 'cause I love it.  I have some pattern modifications to attend to.