Dinner at Oma's house.

Hello all! It's been a while since I got a chance to swing by here, huh? My absence has been for a good cause.

I'm deep into several sewing projects of Epic Proportions ™, and I just had to share the adventure I had last night.

Pictured here is my current Epic Project #1, my baby, a replication of Snapdragon, my favorite work by the wonderful Nene Thomas. It is nowhere NEAR complete, as you will see if you click the link above, but she's getting there and I get more proud of her (and by extension, myself) every day. It's a good feeling. :)

Yesterday, one of my co-workers, perhaps sensing my flail or panic over a wedding dress (not pictured) that I'm making, offered me access to someone very special - her Oma. (Read: Her Grandmother)

Oma is from Germany, and she's been a seamstress for over 50 years. She's almost 83, but her sewing room is still full with project upon project, and her European wedding gowns are true works of art.

She was kind enough to cook us dinner and tell us stories, and I was able to get a lot of tips from her about things like bustles, linings, and appliques.

My favorite story she told was that when she made her wedding dress, it was during the war. Everybody had money but there was hardly anything to buy, and materiel was in high demand. She made her wedding dress out of silk from a soldier's parachute. After the wedding she cut it to a mid-length so she could wear it again.

She said after that, she had a new dress every weekend for dancing. One week it was blue, then pink, then green ... we asked her how she did that and she said she dyed it with crepe paper and water. The color stays until you wash the dress again.

How awesome is THAT!?

We both have very similar styles when it comes to our creative process. It was neat to see that I'm not the only crazy person out there who doesn't ever use a pattern. With her advice, I anticipate the current phase of Snapdragon will be done soon. I look forward to bothering coresponding with her more in the future.

Learn something from someone's Oma or Oppa today. You may be glad you did. :)