The outfit was made by my mother, as were all our clothes when we were young. Those were the days when there were no clothing chains for everyday wear and your fancy clothes came from Garlicks or Stuttafords or perhaps even Cleghorns! Jerseys were hand-knitted or crocheted, and we often made our own.
We were guaranteed never to appear in the same dress as anyone else and always had a new outfit for Christmas. I remember favourite dresses with a fondness most people assign to their old Teddy.
Being 3 girls separated by 3 years didn't allow much opportunity for hand-me-downs and anyway, we all had our own colour code - my clothes were pink, red or purple and my sisters' were blue and green. I think it made the laundry easy to sort for Mother, although we probably like to think that we had stamped our mark on our colours in a statement of individuality early in life.
She must have been a very talented seamstress, because I don't remember ever having a wardrobe malfunction. These days, you are lucky to get a shirt home from the shop before the first button falls off.
We all learned to sew and received smart Swiss sewing machines for our 21st birthdays, and have turned out our fair share of successes, but it's been many years since they've been used now and I'm ashamed to say I haven't taught either of my children how to use it. It seems a pity that such basic skills are not being passed on.
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