S Is for . . .

"S" is so for many things . . . all four of my names, for starters! S to the fourth power.

S is for sewing (check out this darling little child-sized sewing machine!). My mom is a marvelous seamstress, and she used to make many of my clothes and her own clothes, too--she made herself the most amazing purple (!) lace evening pantsuit (bell bottoms, almost tunic-y top). Wow! The dress below is what has come to be known in my family as The Dress. It's my senior prom dress, and the photo doesn't do it justice: ruffle after ruffle after ruffle. She stayed up night after night just to finish it. (My prom date has been edited out: first of all, privacy and all that, and secondly, he looks decidedly less than thrilled to be there (I asked him, so . . . high school, bah).

Sadly, despite her skills, I never did learn how to sew, and I never took Home Ec. I took lessons a few years ago and I really really liked it (though I struggled with aspects of it), and then I put the machine away and haven't really touched it since. Sigh. But I will, one of these days (really, I will!). Don't know if I'll ever be able to make a ruffledy dress, but a totebag, perhaps? A girl can dream!
I do sew by hand, though, and I really love doing it. This WIP (that stands for "work in progress" for all you non-craft-blog folks) is a little felt Scottie, a baby gift. I'll show it again when it's finished, and I'll link to the pattern, kindly posted on the blog Allsorts, one of my favorites (note to self: add to Links list)--if you start poking around her blog, be warned: much cuteness ahead!