"This wasn't my first sewing project, but it was one that I was proud of. My first sewing projects were clothes for my Barbie dolls - that's when I decided I wanted to be a fashion designer. I would hand sew all sorts of trim and color the trim with a marker if it wasn't the right color. I had an old straight stitch, forward only, Singer machine. I would sew the doll clothes together on the machine and then decorate them by hand. I didn't like to put the snaps on and many of my Barbie clothes went without snaps. To this day I don't like finishing by hand that is sometimes necessary for garments.

The picture is my second year 4-H project and I was so very proud of it for two reasons. First of all, it wasn't the elastic-banded, gathered skirt that we made for our first project. This was a for-real sewn on waistband and the skirt had a zipper. I felt so accomplished when I successfully sewed the zipper into the skirt! I then completed a shell and a matching sash and entered the garments in the county fair. The second reason this project brings back fond memories is that at the fair I was chosen to go to the Illinois State Fair to model my garment!"

I was around 11 years old, still in 4-H, and still remember going fabric shopping for "kettle cloth." I'm still not sure where "kettle" comes from, but it's a woven cotton fabric that's easy to work with and presses well. I made this on the sewing my parents bought in 1965 - a Riccar that came free with the purchase of a $79 sewing cabinet. It went forward and backward - straight stitch only - no zigzag - and it's what I sewed on until I was 12 or 13. All of my seam allowances are straight stitched 1/4" from the raw edge, then hand-overcast - miles and miles of hand-sewing, that took forever! Now I zip right along on my BERNINA and Overlock Foot #2, or - better yet - use my serger to trim and overcast at the same time. But I did a good job, even with so much hand-sewing, and won a purple ribbon at the county fair :)

What was your first project? I've been asking some of my friends, and will be posting some of their stories over the next few weeks.