The “Sewing with Grandma” Dress

Name & Location: Jenn Torres; Stockton, Calif.

Blog: Mi Mamá Me Mima (It’s not a sewing blog, though)

How long have you been sewing: I learned to sew as a teen, but only in the past year or two have I approached it with any patience, discipline or consistency.

Why did you want to commit to The Sew Weekly Challenge: I really admire the community that’s been created at The Sew Weekly, and the connections – across cultures, across generations – that sewing makes possible. That shift in my picture is from a 1968 pattern I borrowed from my grandma over the summer. Because she was my grandma, I guess, I took for granted that she sewed out of necessity. But when I looked at the pattern envelope, I saw that she had purchased it at J.C. Penney. Of course she didn’t have to make her dresses; She probably sewed for some of the same reasons I do. A little quick math further revealed that she was right around my age when she made up her version of the dress – how amazing to share that experience more than 40 years later.

What do you love most about sewing garments: The potential in each piece at the very beginning. And I love being part of a tradition that so many women for so long have used as a vehicle for self-expression.

What do you hate most about sewing garments: Facings.

What do you want to accomplish this year with regard to the challenge: I want to start building a more cohesive wardrobe that reflects my style and my everyday life. I want to finally master some of the fundamentals I tended to breeze through when I was first learning to sew. It’s a stretch, but it’d also be nice to make good on a years-old promise to sew a pair of trousers for my husband.

Your biggest non-sewing goal of 2012: Until recently, I wrote for a living. Although it’s no longer my day job, it’s still important to me, and I want to keep doing it.

What are your favorite sewing/fashion blogs: This is one of my daily reads. So are: Say Yes to Hoboken, Elegant Musings, Grosgrain, Tilly and the Buttons.