Home made shirts....

[Bob Wright]

The summer of 1976 I was sent to a job in Decatur, Illinois to do some field engineering at a plant there. We had a rented apartment and, because I had to have the car, Nita was at home alone during the day. So she busied herself making me some shirts. These all of the western style, though they did have buttons instead of snaps.

And the material? Appropriately enough, it was TRIGGER CLOTH.

Bob Wright

 

[eveled]

My mother made my father some western shirts. They had snaps with colored glass in them.

 

[KIR]

My wife liked to visit thrift stores as she liked finding some patterns for various things she made. She had a good sewing machine. My wife made two vests for me as she knew I liked to wear them for work, sort of semi-dressy. One was made out of blue denim and the other of a light tan corduroy. She couldn't sew anymore shortly thereafter as she contracted the 'Big C'. She hung on for eight years. She would not want me to use the word bravely as she felt it was just another disease one has to get through. However, I do think of her as brave, as she had to put up with me!

 

[bedfordboy]

My mom who is 90 and an absolute master seamstress took a bunch of my old shirts of various colors, mostly plaids and made a beautiful quilt that I will inherit someday, but hopefully not any time soon

 

[Mobuck]

Lots of homemade boys shirts and girls dresses when I started school in a 2 room school house. Wasn't a big deal there but when that school closed and we rode a bus 20 miles to the 'consolidated school', home made clothes brought disdain and teasing from the 'townies'.

 

[Busterswoodshop]

When I was a kid just about all our clothes were made by my Mother.
The rest were hand me downs or second hand.
We did get one pair of shoes a year , and they were mail order.
My older sister still makes better shirts than you can find at any store.
She even made my wife's wedding dress.

 

[blume357]

You guys realize that what you are discussing is totally out of the comprehension of 99% of the American population?
We live in a disposable society and clothes are a major part of this.... I had a customer who managed a textile plant in Honduras for a few years... they made something like 150,000 pairs of pants a month to be shipped to Walmarts just in the U.S.

 

[6GUNSONLY]

My wife's maternal grandmother as well as one of her maternal aunts were master seamstresses. Years ago, it was a lot harder to find "tall" shirts. In my prime, i was right at 6' 6" (more like 6' 4" now after knee surgeries and the "settling" that comes with age), so shirts that were long enough were rare and never cheap. They told me to give them an old shirt that fit me well and they would make a pattern out of it. I did, and they made me a number of shirts, perfect fit and beautifully made in the western style, snap buttons and all.

 

[eveled]

My mom who is 90 and an absolute master seamstress took a bunch of my old shirts of various colors, mostly plaids and made a beautiful quilt that I will inherit someday, but hopefully not any time soon

My mom made me a quilt. Log pattern style. It is all flannel. Mostly my PJ’s and Dads shirts. From before I was 10 or so. My favorite piece is from my Deputy Dawg PJ’s.

 

[Johnny-Baseball]

My paternal grandmother (Mamaw) made my shirts when I was 5 or 6 years old (this during the early 1950s). The style was decidedly WW II (large, flat ugly collars) and I'm sure the patterns were from that era. She'd occasionally buy a new dress pattern and make dresses for my sister. [Yes, many companies - JC Penney, for example - sold shirt/dress patterns. Some were already cut to proper dimensions, others had to be cut from sheets of paper.]

Mamaw used an old pedal-operated Singer Sewing Machine for this handiwork. At her death I inherited this sewing machine, and it now belongs to my oldest son and his wife. As I recall, the machine was built around 1915 - 1920.

Same thing for Mamaw's old Edison hand-crank phonograph player - made in the late 1910s. It still works, and plays old 1/4" thick, 78 rpm records. My daughter has that record player and about 15 records.

Both of these items are in original, unrestored condition. My grandkids giggle at them, but they just make me smile.