Many many years ago when I was the age of (probably) 10, my late Tita would be sitting in her garage, stamping her foot on the pedal to her partner's sewing machine. It was big, it was loud and it was old but to me, it was shiny and I definitely wanted to touch it and try it and press the pedal myself. To my dismay, my Tita was too careful with me and wouldn't allow me to go near the loud chugging of the machine. It was dangerous. Too many sharp objects surrounded her and I was just too small according to her. When she would finish her big shirt for herself, we'd walk out together and she'd lock the garage door behind us with her only key. I was too short anyway, to reach from the top of the bench to the pedal on the floor. But years did go by and my Tita had conveniently moved her machine into the spare room where there was no lock and she would be in there more often. I grew a fair bit by the time I was 13 and when she would finish her big dresses, she'd nap, and I would begin to prowl around the spare room. Hard cover on the machine, tools tucked under a sheet. I would gently remove everything but it was inevitable that I would be making noise since I was no agent ninety-nine. Luckily, she's a heavy sleeper. Every Rivera knows her for her roaring during the night. It used to scare me actually, all that snoring. Anyway, years went by and she was allowing me to sew lines on random pieces she no longer needed. I would work hard to make those lines straight every day after school and though I wasn't making anything but crooked lines (still do) and wasting all my time on too much fabric and cotton when I could have been doing my homework, I had no idea I would take such interest in it when I grew up.
I remember the first dress I made myself. It had a bib and it was much too short for me. My friend dropped chocolate on it and it stained a little. I had that machine until only recently when I decided I'd need one that I would love and had a variety of options for me. These days, I'm always making a dress when I seem to have accumulated too many fabrics over time which I haven't used. Or I'd think I have nothing to wear for a particular occasion and I'd dig through my patterns and find a nice cotton fabric with pretty prints and patterns on it. Just like this dress, I made it to wear at my friend's 21st. It's a rather simple dress but I think it's now one of my favourites. Sized up and custom made by yours truly.
Dress: Made it myself//Cardigan: Cocolatte//Shoes: Novo//Necklace: Colette Hayman//Watch: Big W
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