grandma's mending

i got the best gift on sunday. my mom came home from a visit to my grandma, cherie welling, in reno, with a giant package of mending she had been working on for me. it was like christmas!

now, i've had clothes for years with weird little rips and tears, buttons missing, old elastic falling apart, and shoulders way too big. and the thing is, grandma cherie is a wiz at sewing and anything housewifey, so i had gradually compiled all these problem items and pinned little notes to them about what was wrong with them.

for example, this dress right below here used to be a "dress-up dress" when i was a little girl. addie and i used to parade around in it with it pooled on the ground around us. but the zipper has been broken all along so even though it fits me now i've never been able to wear it. grandma cherie made my dreams come true!

i wish i had before and after pictures of some of these items. the thing is, so many of these things i hadn't even remembered i owned. maybe i picked it up at a thrift store immediately knowing it needed this seam sewn or the hem repaired, whatever. stuck it in the bag and forgot it.

so it was like getting a whole new wardrobe! she made everything fit like a glove! my grandma is a perfectionist and extremely tidy and careful and clean (wish i could be at least a little more like this...) so the clothes came back freshly washed, ironed and folded. sometimes she would write a little note to me, "very fragile, hand wash only," or "i hope you can wear this" or "this one needs a professional." even though, looking back, my weird little notations probably came across as demanding and bossy, "fix this seam," or "button missing here," or "needs a new zipper," grandma's notes to me were gentle and unassuming. she is such a sweet and amazing lady and boy oh boy can she tell a story and she has the prettiest low spunky laugh that comes flowing out frequently.

anyway so i feel like i just scored big-time and i now have lots of breezy summery skirts to live in this summer and a princess dress and a couple of long cotton white slips to layer under things. heaven.

(sorry for my messy room, i just had to promptly start taking pictures so i could send them to grandma to show her my glee)

and one more thing: she also told my mom that "belts are in" and sent me a whole slew of rad 80s belts!

my mom was like, "how does a 79 year old woman know that belts are in?"  well, she is one savvy lady.

here she is herself, back in the 50s with a dress she made herself, queen of fashion!

(ah, to have this one now...)

and with my mom as a youngen in 1952.

wasn't she the prettiest little 50s mama you ever saw?

and here she is with grandpa and i on my wedding day...see?

she's still pretty, girly, tidy, proper and sweet!

also, just another teeny fact. the dress i wore for my wedding ceremony, not the one i have on above which my own momma sewed for me from a vintage pattern (!) to wear as my "party/reception" dress, but the one i actually got married in (below and here), was my GRANDMA CHERIE'S WEDDING DRESS! it was from the 70s when she married grandpa corry and guess what? they got married on june 30, same day we did! and on top of that, it is his birthday. yeah yeah yeah! the world is full of synchronicity, no doubt about it.

that's why i believe in magic.

thanks grandma.