Hand Sewn Buttonhole

Fine hand sewn buttonhole made by Norman Norell

Do you see how this buttonhole is made? You cannot find buttonholes made like this in today's ready-to-wear. My Oklahoma City Grandma made them perfectly. She was a seamstress supreme.

Although she made a lot of my clothes, I remember two outfits in particular.

One was made of a soft green linen like fabric with hand sewn buttonholes down the front. They were made somewhat like a men's suit buttonhole but oh so pretty.

The other outfit I remember was a white dress with red polka-dots and a bolero jacket. I felt pretty in it and wore it forever.

Grandma always saved her McCalls magazines for me to cut out the Betsy McCall paper dolls. I think all of the grandchildren played with the wooden thread spools she saved. We often ran across straight pins in the carpet of her bedroom/sewing room.

She always gave us money when we heard the ice cream truck coming down the street. We never had an ice cream truck in Clarksville.

She let me play in her make up too. She used loose face powder. I applied so much of it to my face one time that she said I looked like a geisha girl.