Coming Full Circle

 Grandkids will make you do strange things.  Let me just go on record that I DO NOT sew garments of any kind (or any size) as a rule.  Oh sure, when my daughter was a toddler I made a few cute little jumpers for her.  Of course, I chose patterns that had no zippers or buttons to mess with:)  However, I have never enjoyed sewing garments.  Perhaps my aversion to that type of sewing dates back to years in 4-H with a critical leader and even more critical judges.  Whatever the reason, I have avoided making clothes for most of my adult life.  BUT...now I have a granddaughter :)  She is turning two this week, and in a couple of years she will be ready to play with American Girl type dolls.  Those dolls are going to need lots of outfits!
  This past weekend, I took a class on how to make clothes for 18" dolls using the "flat construction" method.  Wow!  Easy, peasy, pie!  In a few short hours, I had a pair of panties, a pair of leggings, two tops, a pair of capris, and a skirt!  Better yet, I am pretty sure I can make more at home without help!
These are the first doll clothes I have made since I was 12 years old!
  The fun thing about all this is that the very first things I ever sewed were doll clothes.  I drew up my own patterns for very easy little tops and bottoms for a doll I had at the time, and used my mom's trusty old Necchi sewing machine to create them.  As a sophomore in high school looking for an "A" on a world history project, I proposed making Barbie doll outfits to represent clothing styles for women throughout history.  I make a pleated skirt outfit for Cleopatra, a velvet coat with a stand up collar for Queen Elizabeth, and a hoop skirt for the pre-Civil War southern United States.  I designed the outfits, and my mom helped me adapt existing patterns to create them.  My daughter played with those beautiful clothes, and, hopefully, someday my granddaughters will enjoy them as well. 
  P.S.--I got my "A."