Beaumont Reciprocate

The Sketchbook Project is in it's envelope today-  It's a story about how
Ginny Saved My Life in 1952, starting with the 'before' picture of me:

and ending with the polished sophisticated me of 1953:

all because she taught me to sew.  OK, so it's far-fetched, but I remember my childhood sitting in my room and making improvised clothes for Ginny because my mom wouldn't buy the full sets that were available.  First I took apart one of the real outfits and discovered it was pretty simple, a square with a hole in the center made a top, and a rectangle gathered along one edge was a skirt.  We are talking 1952 here, remember, and girls wore skirts.  And also remember that my mom made all our clothes so it was the norm for me-  I thought ALL clothes got made at home.  I spent several years building up Ginny's wardrobe before I started working bigger on my own things, so this book is about how Ginny gave me the power to do that, the skill to sew, and the imagination to try new things.  Funny how here we are 60 years later and I am still sewing happily, still unencumbered by how things *should* be done, and a willing experimenter to get what I'm after!

My mother used to say, 'Leopards Don't Change Their Spots', but I always knew that if they tried hard enough they just might be able to and in the meantime I'll just knit them a little sweater. With stripes.. .