Good Morning Friends.
My sister, Leisa, insisted that, even though we lived 600 miles apart, my personal touches and creative talents just had to be included in her wedding day. It would’ve been difficult for me to make the fresh-flower bouquets and decorations that she wanted, so we decided that I’d sew the bridesmaids’ dresses — one for myself and one for our sister, Dori.
Leisa bought, and mailed to me, a small bolt of gorgeous royal blue satin brocade, along with the patterns she chose. Talk about nervous — I’d never worked with such silky and expensive fabric before! And to make matters worse, Dori is hard to fit for clothes — plus she lived in yet another state, 1500 miles in the opposite direction! What to do? My plan was to have Dori send me her pertinent measurements and I’d make a copy-dress out of cheap cotton. I’d mail the copy-dress to her so that she could mark adjustments, and then I could cut into the brocade, hopefully, without ruining it. It worked!
A few years after her wedding, Leisa called on me again to help outfit the nursery for her newborn son. This time she bought blue-on-white cotton calico. Calico is much easier to work with and nursery furniture is pretty standard so this time sewing and fitting was easy. I used the brocade fabric from the dress I’d worn in her wedding to make the heart appliqués and the corded edge of the crib quilt and bumper.
Then a couple of years later when Leisa’s daughter was born, I wanted to make something special for her too. I had a remnant of the blue calico and a few pieces of brocade stashed away. I made a feminine crib quilt for her that coordinated with the crib bumper and skirt. And since 2-year-olds don’t understand why baby sister gets a present and he gets nothing, I used a Thomas Tank Engine sheet set to make a twin size quilt just for him.
What happened to that copy-dress, you ask? It was yellow — none of us Griffith girls like yellow — so it was eventually cut up and its fabric used to make letter pillows for my grandkids.
Oh by the way, the title of this piece originated some time ago. While surveying Leisa’s home décor — blue carpet, blue furniture, blue counter tops, blue drapes — her sister-in-law exclaimed, “You can sure tell who lives here! It’s all Conway Blue.” Guess I should’ve figured that out years ago with Leisa’s fabric choices.
It’s been nice chatting with you all for a few minutes, and I look forward to hearing from you soon—Over the Back Fence. Tell me your ideas about turning your memories into keepsakes. I’d love to help!
Love the stories! Keep them coming..
Needless to say that my favorite color is BLUE!! 🙂
LOL
I loved that blue dress! Not the yellow one, though I can’t honestly remember it at all. Must have blocked it out of my mind because I HATE yellow that much.
Not only did you make the bridesmaid dresses, you made the baskets that held the candles and the centerpieces, I think. Leisa’s wedding was gloriously beautiful.
For my 1983? wedding, you made all of my silk floral arrangements and center pieces. They too were beautiful.
For my 1992? wedding, you made the mens’ shirts, at the last minute, on a minute’s notice.
Aren’t you glad there won’t be any more weddings for me? LOL
hehehe!
I’d forgotten about the shirts. I do recall using your sewing machine before the wedding, but couldn’t remember why. The remnants and ric-rac were then used to cover the photo album shown in my slide-show here. Thanks for the memory nudge, Sis! 🙂