Getting my Scarlet O'Hara On

I loved Gone with the Wind.  And since I first saw it I thought Scarlet was just about the coolest girl for making a dress out of curtains.  'Cause that's how I learned to sew.  My mother refused to spend money on fabric when I wouldn't listen to instructions and refused to use patterns.

But I LOVED big, detailed historic costumes.  So what was a 14-year-old aspiring costume designer to do?  Take the canopy off the top of the bed and cut it into pieces, of course!

I was damned proud of my first creation.  I even wore it to the first Sulpher Springs Festival in Clifton Springs- back when they had a Victorian costume contest and parade.

After that I don't think I was allowed to cut up any more bedding.  So off to Salvation Army I went to buy curtains!

I bought them by the box full.  I think my mother had to buy new sewing machine needles by the box full too- sewing machines don't like thick rubber-backed curtains.  Especially when you have several layers on top of each other.

And then I hit pay dirt.  When my aunt redecorated my grandmother's guest bedroom she took down the awful green curtains.  Awful?  I think not.  They were PERFECT.

Unfortunately, my sewing skills were not.  So I kept the curtains in a tub for use when I was a better seamstress.  I kept them for over 15 years.  They moved houses.  Four times.

And then this week, I found the tub in the basement and decided it was time to break them out.  It wasn't necessarily that I am a better seamstress today than I was fifteen years ago.  No.  Instead, I ran into the same problem my mother had with me all those years ago.

Buying 15 yards of fabric is EXPENSIVE!

And I needed a Halloween costume.  Ok, maybe I don't.  Maybe it's an excuse.  So what.  I haven't finished a costume since before the kids were born.  And the silky green fabric with it's over-the-top-gold fringe was calling to me.

So off we went. I actually DO use patterns now.  Kind of.  They're really more like guidelines.  Which is fine by me. 

Truly Victorian has a great collection of authentic patterns converted into current sizes.  You better believe we've gotten bigger in 150 years.  Not just wider, but taller.  The woman who has made this her business is awesome.  She's also making a ton of money.  Since that pesky little issue of money keeps coming up I picked out a pattern I already owned.

 So... how did my inner Scarlet O'Hara turn out?  You'll have to wait and see.  Because a tub full of curtains turned out to be a LOT of work.