The Sapphire Sewist, and thoughts

 

I see great work  as I cruise around the web, so very much of it but last week I was truly amazed by the efforts of one Mother of the Groom and her dress for her son's wedding. It was so impressive and she was so very beautiful in her dress. First let me tell you about Mom. She clearly knows her way around a needle but she said she hadn't sewn much in a long time. She looked healthy and happy and carried the posture and build typical of a women who had climbed the fence to the other side of menopause. Her hair was natural, a short and lovely blend of gray and light brown, done up in small curls. If I would compare her appearance to anyone, maybe Madeline Albright Now the dress she made --- it was stunning, Alencon lace in Sapphire blue, a color that lit up her skin and eyes. The style was so lovely on her and so refreshing to see. She confidently clothed herself in a skimming sheath with a defined waistline that ended at the perfect spot on her still lovely legs. She was neither thin nor athletic but she refused to layer her feminine post meno curves in the  long layers of a chiffon duster or cardi to cover up a dissatisfaction with what time had done to her body. Her biceps were soft looking, full, and no doubt strong from years of hard work and lifting up others yet she let  lined sapphire lace, using the smallest bit of ease, show off their strength. The fully lined  lace barely skimmed her arms and fit beautifully, no diagonal wrinkles anywhere. The sleeves ended  at the crease of her armpit horizontally where they met a stretch illusion mesh that perfectly matched her skin tone. If not for the style I never would have known it was there. The motifs of the lace floated unevenly from her sleeves and onto the illusion of skin. That mesh camouflaged her choice of an exposed neckline but without the starkness of a strapless bodice. This was because from the bodice upward and from her shoulders as well, were exquisitely placed appliques of the sapphire blue lace motifs. She did all this work herself and she said it was her design. Her waistline, probably wider than her hips, was bravely indicated with a belt of the same lace, about an inch wide, and a small, but lovely covered buckle., all in perfect proportion and very flattering.  It looked beautiful. Her sheath dress, while not on a slim woman, was pegged at the bottom hem. In her sewing wisdom she knew this tiny bit of shaping at the bottom of her dress would be oh so flattering and her design would have said "matronly" so loudly if it fell directly straight down from the widest part of her hips. Wow, did she know how to make her design work and flatter her mature body! I stared at her picture the longest time and could not get her image out of my head. This woman was the Mother of the Groom. She was a Sewist but admittedly, not often.  Her skills, both technical and design, were incredible. She was confident. She dressed her beautiful mature body FEARLESSLY. She was Stunning and no couturier in Paris could have done a better job of dressing her for her son's big day. She looked like a lovely and kind soul as well. She is one of the most beautifully dressed women I have ever seen and I celebrate her. When I see a sewist do work like this it just takes my breath away. This is why we try to do better. This is why we try all sorts of methods to find the best that works for the garment. This is why we sample, over and over, why we press, why we follow fashion, why we have those full length mirrors and try our clothes off and on again, over and over, why we care. I know there are many of you Sapphire Blue Sewists out there. Let's be confident about ourselves, our skills, our look, like our MOG. Let's put our knowledge to work for ourselves and hopefully by doing that we can inspire others. The Sapphire Blue Sewist  certainly inspired me and I won't forget her.

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"I 'm 64 and have been sewing over fifty years. I look in the pattern books and can't find anything to make. Everything looks too young." Exact quote here from a forum I visit.  

Well, I am older than you, madam,  and I shop out of those same pattern books all the time as do many women our age  and we find plenty to sew.  You are looking at the models with their exquisitely perfect faces and figures for which they are well paid to be photographed in those pattern versions. They are young.  They are models. You and I are not. The clothing you are looking at is totally wearable with the right fabric, good fit and a positive attitude. Stop looking at the models and comparing your 64 year old self and wishing for other.  Start looking at the line drawings of the designs. They will tell you more about the pattern than anything else. Scroll thru this blog and that of the many sewists in the blog roll on the right or those of the posters who comment here. Your comment that the garments are too young for you to wear is just wrong.  Accept who you  are, where you are, and get sewing. I bet you are a wonderful, attractive 64 year old.  Excuses, excuses, excuses...........

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Overheard recently on the Seamwork Podcast, which I really enjoy, BTW. It seems Sarai Mitnick, the owner of Colette patterns, has left Instagram. It is " too much of a time sucker" and just not where she is any more (paraphrase). Congratulations, Sarai! That's the best news I've heard all day. She voiced how unreal it all is and how she really didn't want to partake in that sort of artificiality, my word.  If ever I heard a millennial come of age, this was it and it was great news. You see young women like Gabby Petito get caught up in this stream of fake happiness and love  so much on social media. Sewists see perfect fit, perfect hair, makeup, even bodies,  just like the 64 year old previously mentioned. I know there are those who are not perfect but so many work so hard at being just that. It is sad. All to what? for what? My guess is it is just easier to click and post and be fake than to write anything in depth about what is important and really happening to you. Blogs take work and thought and if faked, don't last that long. IG? I can't do it either, Sarai. 

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The Saphhire Sewist inspired me so. She was not a great beauty yet she was stunning. She was not young or thin. She had the body of most grandmothers, yet the confidence of a winning beauty queen. I can't help but think that what brought her to this special place were her sewing skills. She said she designed her dress and made it all her self. . She knew her body, her skills and with that knowledge was able to make one of the most beautiful clothing presentations I've ever seen. Today we are bombarded by so many unrealistic images of beauty. It is disheartening to see it. It is even more disheartening to see it presented to my granddaughters and other young women I know. We need to do better and teach our  young women what real beauty is, that the flubby, full arms that have rocked them to sleep are the most beautiful in the world and that a talented use of a needle can make them the most stunning woman in a room no matter what their shape is. We need to fight those digital images attacking them day and night and teach them beauty of being a real woman, of being a Sapphire Sewist. Let's do that, for ourselves and them........Bunny