Kerstin's Designs

I always knew my mother’s sister had a passion for cats, horses, and riding. I was also well-aware that she and my mother have always been excellent at crafting and sewing clothes and accessories. In fact, I vaguely recall hearing that my aunt had received some form of education in it. I had no idea, however, that she had such a fun stash of designs and patterns!

My favorite was this: a ladybird miniskirt design. She included a little swatch of the cloths involved, and then made a detailed and colorful illustration of the proposed clothing.

Most of the drawings were made in the 70’s, which I think is pretty apparent in the flares and hippy-style of some of the clothes. Perhaps a clue also lies in the rather enigmatic but innocent faces of the models themselves.

There was a binder full of practical examples on how to make this or that stitch, how to sew edges and corners, knit tips and rounded curves, as well as how to sew holes. Sew holes? What a weird concept – in my imagination, sewing generally patches holes instead of forming them!

What shocks me is that probably at least half of the things included in her education were bits of knowledge that every girl was required to know.

My aunt gave me some presents. I got a lovely shirt with flared sleeves, hand-printed with a stenciled pattern. It is made from an old bedsheet. She also gave me two of her hand-sewn bags. One is a patchwork of various bits of leather, and the other is a very roomy green shoulder-bag with a pattern of black diamonds.