Travel Tips

The first dress I made for myself when I was 12. It was what we call a jumper in plaid wool and hung straight from the shoulders, so there was no waistline to worry with. But other than matching the plaid, the other tricky part was the scalloped neckline.

I'm wearing what were called saddle oxfords (with the middle darker section somewhat in the shape of a saddle) and 'bobby sox'. The belt was one of my favorites - it had a lock large hook and eye closure.

I'm probably about 14 in this picture and am evidently at a dog show. My dog was named Halo because she had a black circle on her head.

Dress I made for myself 14+ years after the first one. Actually is a sheath and a jacket. The jacket was a designer pattern from Spadea. The fabric is a three dimensional one with roses. I think it makes me look fatter than I am. There's another picture of me in this time frame at the top of my home page wearing a 'Chanel' type knit suit which is more flattering. I sold this dress on eBay recently.

I didn't make the dresses for the children who are 4 and 2 years old in this picture.

I made dresses for my oldest daughter and her Penny Brite doll. This was a remnant which was very cheap

At Disneyland in 1965- daughter #2 in a dress that my mom made for me when I was small. This one was made during WW II and is white with red and blue smocking.

My mom gave me the pattern to cut out these smocked dresses 'freehand'. They had either puffed or loose raglan sleeves. All the seams were French seams - completely enclosed.

I usually did them on checked or dotted swiss material and I used the pattern of the material to align the smocking.

A picture of the girls wearing these dresses is at the top of my home page.

For Christmas 1965 while we were living near Monterey California, I did a lot of original design hand embroidered presents. This is one of them - a baby fox taken from a child's book of baby animals. I used my needle to 'paint' the picture onto the sweater. This was not a kit. I bought the sweater and then embroidered the design onto it.

I gave this sweater to my sister whose married name is Fox. I also did a Monterey Cypress on a green sweater for myself.

My mom bred these black and white mice for my dad's research colony. So for Christmas I embroidered a mouse on a tie for him. I also did two macrame pillow tops for my mom. She still has the pillow. This side is red - the other top is on the other side in a different pattern and is aqua/turquoise. I did the pillow tops from the directions in a book or magazine just to see if I could. The mouse was my own design.

Later, I painted a toilet set for my mom and dad with a mouse going down into a hole (and on the other side coming out of the hole).

1969 just before we moved to Philadelphia- taken at my mom's house - I now have three daughters.

The dresses are washable blue velvet. The lace on the collars was antique lace, so the collars could be removed to wash the dresses. My mom and I did a lot of sewing together - I had a dress to match.