Made By My Grandmother's Hands

Time is fleeting.  Time allowed very few days to spend with my Grandma Rodgers.  On this one of a kind particular day my mother and brother were attending a function and I was excited to be staying with Grandma for the day.  The dress making, the time together, the bonding, and the feeling of love is a precious cherished memory that lasts a lifetime.     

When I learned I was going to my Grandma’s house, I arose to gather my Barbie Doll and her clothes.  I carefully packed them in my black Barbie suitcase.  I grabbed my coloring book and box of crayons.  As my mother drove me to Grandma’s house she instructed, “Don’t make a mess for Grandma.  Help her prepare lunch for the guys and you can help her wash the dishes.” 

“Okay, I will.” I assured my mother. 

I couldn’t wait to arrive at the white farm house with the white milk barn in the back.  Robin, the English shepherd dog, greeted us in the backyard barking loudly and wagging her tail from side to side.  My Grandma opened the back door for us to enter.  “How are you?” she asked.

After my mother left I sat at the kitchen table coloring while, my grandmother did some dinner preparations.  Remembering that my mother told me to help Grandma I asked, “What can I do to help?”

“Nothing.” She replied.  “Why don’t you color a pretty picture for your Grandfather, while I fry this chicken up?  Do you want to eat a leg?”

“Sure would!  A chicken leg would be yummy with mashed potatoes and gravy, too?”  My grandmother made the best!!!

“Can’t have chicken without the trimmings!” agreed my Grandma.

The guys, my grandfather, my dad, and my uncle, arrived for dinner.  I listened to their conversation, as I ate.  I soon grew bored with their conversation; I went to play with my Barbie Dolls in the living room.

After the guys left I helped my grandmother clean up.  Suddenly she suggested, “Let’s make a Barbie Doll dress for your doll.”  I was so excited.  I ran to get my doll out of the case.  I had an assortment of clothes for my dolls, but not a handmade dress.

At the table I watched my Grandmother design a unique Barbie dress.  She had no pattern.  She laid my doll on a piece of newspaper drawing a pattern around the doll.  The pattern was a long sleeved, collarless, a-lined dress.  She made the pattern bigger to allow for the seams.  Grandma went to the sewing cupboard to pull down a box of material scraps she used to make handmade quilts.  “What material would you like for the dress?”  she asked. 

I saw beautiful greens, reds, and purple prints.  “I remember my cousin has a dress made out of this material.  Look here is the material I have a short set made out of.”  I said.  My mother, aunt, and grandmother sewed my clothes.  I found a pretty pink poke-a-dot scrap for my Barbie doll dress. 

My grandmother pinned the newspaper pattern onto the material and began cutting out the pattern.  I watched her sew the front and back sections together.  I loved the dress.  I thought grandma was finished, but not yet.  She handed me the button jar.  “Find a couple of buttons for the dress.”  I poured the buttons out on the table.  There were all sorts of fancy buttons of different shapes and colors; some of the buttons sparkled, some were in flower shapes, others were plain flat buttons.  I found two pink rose shaped buttons. 

“I like these two buttons, Grandma.  What do you think?” I asked.

“I think they will be perfect!” she agreed. 

I watched grandma thread a needle with pink thread and sew the two buttons onto the top of the dress.  Grandma clipped the thread on the dress and handed it to me.  “What do you think?”

“It is beautiful.  I love it.  Look there are pockets, too!  I didn’t see them!”  Grandma had sewed the pockets on while I was choosing the buttons for the dress.

I tried the dress on my Barbie doll.  It was a perfect fit!  My Barbie doll looked beautiful!  “Thank you, Grandma!” I said.

The pink poke-a-dot dress did not have the appearance of a professionally made dress.  However, it stands out among the assortment of dresses I owned.  It was special, because my Grandmother prepared it just for me.  I played many hours with that dress.  Always, I would tell my friends that my grandmother made this dress.  It is grand!

Forty some odd years later I still have the Barbie doll dress made by my Grandmother’s hands.  Every time I see the dress I am reminded of my special day with my Grandmother, just my grandma and I.  I remember the gentleness, the kindness, the love I felt on that day.  It was just an ordinary day, yet we were creating extraordinary memories lasting a lifetime.