The Dress by Phone

There is some debate whether it was really dancing, but my mother won't let me tell you about that.  She says there are enough stories out there about her.  You will have to be satisfied with the short boring version - Mom was very happy with the navy/white polka dot dress I made her this fall.

 Mom was pretty frustrated with dress shopping  and was tired of always settling for separates.  She wanted a dress! and she knew exactly what she wanted it to look like.  And it had to be navy with white polka dots! When she came to me with the request, I of course  said yes - she's my Mom.

When I make a dress for someone I do an initial measuring session followed by 2 or 3 fittings.  With Mom's dress we did not have this luxury since Mom lives in Utah and I live in Oregon.  

In a phone conversation Mom explained what she wanted, I sketched it and emailed her the sketch to get her approval.  She was so tickled by the sketch that she began calling it "the dress by phone".  A  local sister-in-law took measurements for me.  I made the pattern then the muslin.  A muslin is a preliminary garment to test fit and design.  When I was in Utah for a visit we fit the muslin on Mom and discussed design options to make sure the dress just didn't look good, but was also easy to put on and wear. 
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I took the muslin home, made the necessary adjustments and constructed the polka dot version out of a lovely rayon fabric.  Mom got the dress in the mail, immediately put it on and excitedly called me to tell me how much she liked the finished dress.  Hearing the excitement in her voice was the best pay.  You never get too old to feel great about making your mom happy.

You’ll note in the little picture that Mom added some great pizazz to the dress with the flower and her jewelry.  I have always loved sewing for my Mom because she is a beautiful woman who knows how to class up an outfit.  Hopefully, she will let me do it again.

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