There is a magic in handmade clothing that transcends
There is magic in your hands when you create clothing for your baby, the magic of a mother's love that is never, ever completely forgotten. It's as if every stitch and every knot was imbued with the love of the hands that crafted them. Except: My 19 year old son, fully grown and living on his own, still owns the knit baby blanket that wrapped him on his trip home from the hospital. Over the years, I have sewn, knit and crocheted sweaters, sunsuits, dresses, short sets, blankets, quilts, hats and pants for all five of my children.
My 15 year old has tucked away the first party dress I made for her - when she was six months old. I can recall precisely the colors and patterns of the nightgowns my grandmother sewed for me. When I was eight, my mother spent all of her precious off-work night-time hours making me a spring wardrobe that I can still describe in minute detail, right down to the rick-rack that trimmed the red kerchief that matched the tulip sprigged sleeveless dress. I even remember the weight of the stocking cap my mother knit to match the checkerboard cardigan - that matched the blue one she knit for my brother. Making clothing for babies is more than a way to save money or create unique clothing styles.
Beginning with their homecoming outfit, each of them had special clothes that I'd designed and created just for them. He creates and makes his own clothes - imaginative and unusual - and in the patches on his jeans and his jackets, I find bits and pieces of shirts and shorts and sweaters I made for him over the years. The same sweater now clothes the teddy bear sitting on her dresser. And so it was only right that when I was carrying my first child, I picked up crochet hook and thread and started making the clothing she'd wear home from the hospital.
There is a magic in handmade clothing that transcends the colors, the styles, even the quality of the handiwork. It's a way to surround them with love, to weave your wishes into the fabric as you shape and create each piece. She never said a word to me about - I found it in her 'treasure memory box'. And the two youngest boys? At 10 and 12, they each have their favorite blanket - ones that I knit for them when they were born.My grandmother taught me to crochet the moment my clumsy, chubby fingers could hold a Curtain Fabrics Suppliers crochet hook.