About Celia

Celia, my dressmaking dummy, is named after my Nanna.

Celia, my Nanna, was an amazing dressmaker. By the time she taught my cousin and I to sew, she was one of those people who could lay out the fabric, look you up and down and just cut and sew up an unstructured garment like a loose dress or dress-gown. A few minor adjustments and it would fit perfectly. Fitted garments didn't take that much longer. She made all the clothes for her family, and our family photo archives are full of her creations. She taught her daughter and sons to sew, and the grandchildren who were interested. She was also pretty handy on the piano.

She grew up in the 1920's, and loved to tell me about the very first dress she made. I suspect so that I wouldn't get too uppity. When she was about 5, Her Nanna gave her a worn out old sheet to do whatever she liked with. This would have been about 1923, give or take. Now, creativity kind of ran in her family, and she'd been nagging her Nanna to let her make her very own dress for the small child equivalent of an eternity. So she made her own dress. "It had a drop waist, and pleats, with a little bow just here." <She'd move her hands to her right hip, just so.>

For some reason all those hours of sewing and then being made to unpick it and do it again didn't turn my 8 year old self off sewing. I was hooked! My relationship with sewing ebbs and flows, depending on what's happening in my life. I can't decide just how bad my fabric and pattern hoarding is, but they fit in my little home with all my books, my cooking stuff and my dog, so it can't be too bad.

Please feel free to leave comments. It's so delightful to have a kind-a-conversation with other people who love sewing too.

Oh, and the photos, and their © are mine. Mine! All Mine! MwaHuHaHuHah!

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