New Costume!

My friend Cindy, whom I met when she showed up at a Laura Ingalls Wilder show I did in Wellesley last year, is an amazing seamstress. She came to the show with her daughter and her daughter's friend, both of whom were wearing beautiful period costumes - which, as it turned out, she had made. We got to talking and she volunteered to make me a costume (I was using a blouse and skirt, but really wanted a dress or jacket, instead.)
We looked through books and old Sears Roebuck catalogues, and finally settled on a jacket from "Patterns of Time;" an original pattern from 1912. I ordered the pattern in what we thought was the right size, we drove an hour away to a great fabric store for supplies, and I figured I'd have a new costume in three or four weeks.
That was a year ago. It turns out that sizing has changed since 1912. The size 10 we ordered didn't fit. Good thing she had made a mock-up out of cheap material. We ordered a larger size and began again. But women's bodies have changed, too - the narrow waists of the early 1900s, aided of course by corsets, are no more. So she had to do more measurements and more fittings. Finally the mock-up was ready, and this time it fit. Meanwhile, lots of life events: holidays, birthdays, gardening days - got in the way.
Last week she called me. "It's almost ready. I just have to put in the lining. But I really want to put braid on the cuffs, first. You'll love it. It just makes the arms."
This afternoon I went to pick it up. The braid (on front, back and cuffs) looks terrific. It fits perfectly - if I stand up straight and hold my shoulders back. It makes me feel very in character.

Thanks, Cindy!