A Perfect Fit: In Her Grandmother's Footsteps

"Grandma, nothing ever fits me right!" said Natalie, who was in grade nine. Huge, salty tears streamed down her cheeks. "I feel so embarrassed about my clothes when I am at school."

"I understand, my dear," Grandma replied and hugged her warmly.

Natalie was of medium height and heavy-set, which made wearing her older sister Peggy's clothes frustrating. Her older sister was taller and slimmer. Thus, Natalie wound up giving many of the hand-me-down outfits that she could not wear to other girls at school.

"My wardrobe is so limited!" she said.

"I have an idea, dear. Let's take your measurements and we will start from there."

Natalie was a bit embarrassed about her physique, as well as self-conscious about being measured, but agreed to it. Natalie knew that her grandmother could sew just about anything including elegant dresses, hats, gloves and even winter coats. She had even made wedding dresses for some of her relatives and the daughters of close friends.

Natalie's grandmother always had a huge box of used clothing stored in her bedroom closet. She decided to let Natalie explore it with her on a Saturday afternoon. While Natalie did not see anything that fit her, she found a suit made of beautiful, soft, white wool fabric that was large enough for them both to fit into at the same time.

"This is big enough for an elephant!" exclaimed Natalie, as they laughed aloud together.

"It certainly is!"

Natalie's grandmother was excited about having a new challenge. She handed her granddaughter a sharp razor blade and a pair of small scissors.

"What we need to do is to take this apart very carefully. Then, we can see how much fabric we will have to work with."

When they had taken the suit apart, saving the lining, trim, a short zipper and all of the buttons, they washed all of the wool fabric pieces carefully, by hand.

"Wool tends to shrink so we can only use warm water, not hot," her grandmother advised her.

"This is a lot of work for you, Grandma," said Natalie. "But, I really do appreciate it!"

"Thank you, my dear. It is work, but it's fun to do it together!"

Next, they pressed all of the pieces that they had dried on the clothesline, with a damp, white cotton cloth.

"The high cost of good fabric like this is why clothing is so expensive," said her grandmother. "Now we need to use your measurements, not your sister's, in order to create a suit pattern that is perfect for you."

She handed Natalie a Simpson Sears catalog opened to the women's clothing section. "Which suit would you prefer?" her grandmother asked. "Let's find a style that suits your body type."

Now Natalie began to get excited, as she could see that there were many possible styles for her to choose from. Some seemed more appropriate than others.

"The first thing we will do is design a pattern."

Her grandmother proved to be a gifted seamstress, now designing a beautiful suit for Natalie that proved to be a perfect fit for her, too.

Learning how to sew became Natalie's new challenge, and she enrolled in a home economics course that taught sewing skills to high-school girls. Much to the amazement of her elderly teacher, Natalie's first project was a beautiful, red suit that she was able to wear to the Valentine's Day dance.

Natalie aced the sewing course. Her grandmother was thrilled to see that Natalie had begun to follow her footsteps. 

Natalie never felt like a misfit because of her clothes, ever again. Soon she was working on sewing projects for some of her best friends, too. In time, she became a well-known, successful clothing designer.