Posted on 14 Comments

Wrapped up

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Thank you, if you commented on my last post, emailed me, or posted on Facebook.  It meant a lot to me.

In flipping through the (many) skirts hanging in my closet this weekend, I realized that they were all in happy floral quilting cottons, funky thrifted bedsheets, or silly novelty fabrics.  Nothing really struck me as funeral-appropriate.

While I could have gone out and bought myself a black skirt, I thought that maybe my first stop should be the fabric shop.  So many of the conversations I had with my grandmother over the last few years were centered around needlework – crafts that I’d picked up relatively recently but that she had been doing for a lifetime.  I like to think she’d have been amused that I made my own skirt for this.

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At the fabric shop I found this plaid cotton/polyester blend.  Every time I see a fabric like this, it reminds me of one of my grandfather’s suits.  (I don’t know for a fact that he had a suit like this – my search for photographic evidence came up empty, but my memory says it’s true and that’s good enough for me.)  So of course my mind was easily made up and I brought a few yards of it home.

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I’m very pleased with the results.  It’s good to have a dressier skirt at my disposal.  And one of the coolest things about it is that I used my wrap skirt pattern (the one that’s available in the download shop) and didn’t have to fiddle with zippers or anything fancy like that.

My usual method of wearing a wrap is to have the flap in front.  That didn’t look right to me this time, so I put it on with the flap in back, and from many angles you can’t even tell that it’s not a traditional fitted skirt with a zipper.

It’s nice to know that my pattern works on fabrics other than designer quilting cottons and old sheets.

I was pretty lucky in the grandparent department, I must say.  I had all four of them until I was twenty years old, and here it is twenty years after that, when I say goodbye to the last one.  I don’t know many people who reach (almost) 40 years old and still have grandparents in their lives.

I hope that my own kids are that lucky!

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Posted on 14 Comments

14 thoughts on “Wrapped up

  1. It’s a beautiful skirt, and perfectly appropriate, both for how it looks and how it was made. I’m sorry for your loss; my grandmother passed just a few years ago, and I agree, we’re lucky women to have them in our lives so long.

    1. Thanks, Penny. I remember you going through the same thing recently.

  2. Im so sorry for your loss! yes you are lucky you had as much time as you did! Im nearly 30. lost one grandpa when I was 11. that grandma is 75 now. my other side they are both in their 60’s. I pray each and everyday to have as much time with them as possible! to cherish what they have to say and teach me and to listen to their stories whenever possible!

    1. That’s a great attitude to have! I never understood people who didn’t enjoy their grandparents’ stories – to me, that was one of the best parts of having grandparents! I hope yours enjoy the same kind of longevity that mine did.

  3. Beautiful skirt, and a lovely thought as you made it..I’m sure your Grandmother would feel it is perfect in every way 🙂 I lost my Gran when my oldest was just 10 months old….so 7 years ago now. She was 92, and she was the last ‘Grand’ I had with us here. I treasure every little moment and memory of her, she’s the inspiration for my needlecrafting as well. Blessings to you and your family during this time…

    1. Thank you. It’s too bad your kids didn’t get to know your grandmother. Even with an 80-year age difference my kids managed to bond with mine, which was really nice for me to see.

  4. Sorry for your loss. But you have the right attitude about it. Being thankful for the years you had, and with all 4, when so many people never knew any of their grandparents.

    I too am lucky. I had 3 of my 4 great grandmothers until my teens. The last one passed away in 1995, so my kids got to know their great, great grandmother a bit.

    Now I have a grandson, and although he is only 2, he is enjoying every minute with his great, great grandparents. We will make sure he remembers them and knows how lucky he is.

    1. That’s incredible! Either they marry young in your family, or everyone lives into their nineties 😉 I never knew any of my great-grandparents. That must be so interesting to have so many generations around.

      1. Yes to both! We marry young and live into our 80s and 90s in my family. The women mostly. It is interesting with all the generations around. Especially with 13 years between my mom and her sister, and only 3 years difference between my mom and her dad’s sister!

  5. This is interesting but also sad for you, Lisa. I love the skirt you made, not only the fabric but the wraparound. Somehow just having something to wraparound sounds consoling and loving! You (and your kids) are very lucky to have had a grandmother for as long as you did. My two grandmas died 2 weeks to the day apart when I was 8. Their husbands preceded them. So I have very little memory of grandparents at all. My daughter had one grandparent live into her 80s and she was very close to her but my parents died early, too, so now I’m the grandparent. My husband & I (clearly the favorite!!) are planning on being around as long as we can. We treasure each moment with the grands!!

    1. Oh, you must have had such a hard time losing both of your grandmothers so close together and at such a young age! Happy grandparenting – I hope you have many more years of it ahead!

    2. Oh, and I also meant to say that I love your interpretation of the “wrap.” I’m going to think of that every time I wear it 🙂

  6. Dear Lisa,

    Welcome back. The skirt is just beautiful. I love the simplicity of it,the classical lines.
    So I sat down this morning and made up my mind to make a wrap skirt today. A friend of mine gave me one piece of paper a LONG TIME AGO, that was to be my pattern she said cut three of these and sew them together and hem everything . So far no prolems, but I just wonder if you made any darts in yours .I usually don’t tuck my shirts in lately, so maybe I won’t need them. I do need to fasten the fabric around me,could you tell me how do that. Any help will be soo appreciated. I will send you a picture when it’s
    finished. Thanks Lisa, Rita

    1. No, I don’t use darts. As far as fastening the skirt, I make the waistband extra long and use the excess as ties. I go into a lot of detail (including illustrative photos) in the pattern/tutorial I sell, if you get too stuck. Hope this helped somewhat, though!

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