Gram’s hands.

I’ve signed up for an internet swap. Have you heard of these? I’ve only recently learned about this trend, but there are all sorts of interest groups to be found on the internet and many of them offer swaps. One I’m currently participating in is a tote swap. Basically, a few dozen women have signed up on a particular blog we all read, and we have agreed to purchase totes for each other. It’s a pretty simple concept. Mail a tote, receive a tote.

Tonight while perusing etsy for a bag to purchase for my swap buddy, I ran across a vintage pattern for Barbie clothes. And, suddenly and without warning, I was transported back 35 years to a house just a couple of blocks from mine where my grandmother Marie spent hour upon hour making hand-sewn clothes for every single one of my Barbie dolls.

Gram was an expert seamstress and no where was her skill more on display than in the dozens of Barbie outfits she created. She made my Ken doll a red tuxedo, with real satin lapels, and she made Malibu Barbie a matching red evening gown. Bathing suits, house robes, leisure wear, Easter dresses -- she made it all. I had the best-dressed Barbie dolls in Mayberry. (I’m not kidding. This was a real point of pride for me.)

I have so many memories of my Gram sitting in her rocking chair hand-stitching Barbie dresses while I sat a few feet away on her dining room floor playing with Barbie. My cousin, Beth, joined me many times there and, as I recall, her dolls were also the lucky recipients of Gram’s skill. Looking back, I can’t begin to imagine how many hours Gram invested in making doll clothes for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

When Mr. Mom and I moved last year, I was in such a hurry to get the awful task over with that I didn’t notice what happened to the few Barbie items I had saved over the years. We might have left them behind, or they might be stashed in one of the several boxes still stored in my mother-in-law’s garage. I’m sad, now, realizing that I’ve lost these miniature works of art created by Gram’s hands. Perhaps my cousin still has a few examples to cherish.

Here’s a photo of my Gram taken when I was in high school:

Gram’s hands.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

By the time this photo was taken, Gram had retired from making Barbie clothes in favor of quilts. She and several other of Mayberry’s elderly ladies gathered each day for a quilting bee in the community building of the apartment complex my mother managed. (Read about it here.) I have three quilts made by Gram -- one made for me in junior high, one in high school, and one in college. Needless to say, I did not lose these cherished gifts from Gram and they are neatly folded and stored in my linen closet.

Gram died in 1993 at the age of 95. I miss her. I miss her hands. I can only hope mine work as much good for my family as hers did.