Seamstress Memories

Paula Gaikowski, contributing to Femulate, talks about how her mother's sewing skills aided her early cross-dressing:

The sewing room was a tornado of gowns, dresses, piles of materiel and closets filled with previous creations. I wasn’t athletic and happily gave up my baseball glove to play fashion model in front of the three-sided mirror.

Often losing track of time, when shortly after five my Dad would rumbled through the back door. I could change out of a full-length gown complete with foundation garments, hose and heels, into jeans and t-shirt in about 60 seconds. If that had been a track and field event, I surely would have been All-American!

I could sew zippers, buttons, buttonholes and hems. My Mom would put me to work during the spring season when she would make dresses for bridesmaids and proms. At 25 cents per button and buttonhole and $1 for zippers and hems, I was happy in more way than one way.

It didn’t take me long to put my new skills to work for myself. All the girls in my 8th grade class were wearing these above the knee mini dresses with either black or white fishnet stockings. I decided to make my own and went to work after school in the basement, cutting the pattern, sewing the facing and darts, then the zipper and finally the hem. A simple black shift, I wore it with pride and spent hours after school wearing it around the empty house.