A Finish by My Mom

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.' –Erma Bombeck

My mom texted me this morning with a photo of this costume for a Junior High School play. She said she wanted to join the February Finishes Linky party. I was really excited for her. I told her if she couldn't get it to work, I would post it for her. I talked with her really quickly and she told me a few things about her finish.

The next-door neighbor came over to her house on Sunday night wondering about borrowing a sewing machine. Since her machine is kind of expensive, she doesn't lend it {who can blame her, right?}. So she offered to put the costume together. The girl said she needed it by Monday for dress-rehearsal, but there was no way to finish the costume in that amount of time, even though it was already cut out. The top is a v-neck peasant blouse. The skirt has 16 panels and about 8 yards of ruffle. She said it took forever to hem and because of the bulk in the ruffle, she zig-zagged over a piece of dental floss to create the gathers, because the thread broke pulling in basting stitches. She finished the costume last night and dropped it off at 5:30 am, on her way to work this morning.

Because this is my blog, I'm going to editorialize. My mom is a wonderful seamstress. She does absolutely beautiful work and does not have an "I do not upick" policy. She taught me to sew, supported my habit, did my zippers, taught me how to do my own zippers and encouraged me to do something I love. Thanks, Mom. I love you. You did a beautiful job with the costume and I'm glad you could link up with us this month.

Here's a photo of her neighbor after the performance. She was one of Miss Adelaide's Hot Box Dancers in Guys and Dolls.

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