The sewing machine whirred and hummed. I stood outside the door, listening to the buzzing of the machine, and the puff of the steam iron as Mum worked to turn that fabric into my skirt. Not long now.
"It's all done. Why don't you try it on?"
I flew to my room, skirt clutched to my chest. Done at last! Now I would ear it. I slid it on, and reached for the zipper. And then stopped. Where was the zipper tab for me to pull it up by? I groped around. Where was it? The zipper was there, but the tab wasn't
No, wait. There it was. On the inside of the skirt! The zipper was inside out. It was a perfect zipper, the best zipper in a homemade skirt I'd ever had, but it was inside out. Whoops!
Not that it mattered to me. I didn't mind sliding my fingers down the inside of my skirt to undo the zip. It was one of my favourite skirts, and I loved wearing it, inside out zipper and all. It was a sad day when I handed it down the line to the next sister to wear.
A few weeks ago, the time came to sort out the winter clothes. Large storage boxes sat in the hallway and clothing strewed the house. And then, out of the piles of clothes, came the skirt with the inside out zipper.
My second youngest sister, Sophie, pounced on it with a cry of delight. "I remember this skirt. Do you think I'd fit it this year?" Much to her delight, it did fit. She put it on, and danced around the room in her new, hand-me-down skirt with the inside out zipper. It didn't matter to her about the mistake. She just loved the skirt.
So really, it doesn't matter about little mistakes like those. Because a skirt with an inside zipper can be just as well loved as any other skirt, especially when it's made by your mother with love.
That little mistake gave it personality.
ReplyDeleteIt really did. It's a very special skirtnto us all still, and I have no doubt that my youngst sister will one day wear and love it too.
DeleteDid it make the zipper somewhat invisible to the outside? Nothing like that piece of clothing with special memories.
ReplyDeleteLee
A Faraway View
An A to Z Co-host blog
It did make it somewhat invisible from the outside. I think that of all the skirts my Mum ever made me, it was the most perfect zipper, even if it was inside out. I agree, nothing like a piece of clothing with special memories. Thanks for visiting Arlee
DeleteSome mistakes turn into treasures :)
ReplyDeleteThey really do. We treasure all our handmade clothes, and this skirt especially. They're all treasures when they're made with love.
DeleteOh, I thought I already left a comment on this post... It may have gone to spam :(
ReplyDeleteAnything made with love has staying power!
Thankfully your other lovely comment didn't go to spam. It just got caught in a nasty case of lazy Imogen. It's taken me forever to get over A-Z and even think about blogging again. I was too lazy even to moderate comments.
DeleteDefinitely. And I'm sure that this was made with a great ndeal of love.