Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Great-Grandma's smocking

Both of Smudge's Great-Grandmothers smocked. The little while dress was made by AC's mom and the orange dress was made by my mom for Thesha, their first grand-daughter.

Smudge was here for a sleepover the other night, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to get a few pictures of her in the dresses that her mom wore. She sat still for the first two pictures and then it was a free-for-all.





What an IMP! She would NOT sit still and pose for us.
History of the dresses.
In the picture below we see Smudge's mother, Thesha, in the dress her maternal Grandma made for her. Can you see Smudge in her mommy? I sure can, but Thesha would sit still and pose not like her impy daughter.
Here is Thesha again, this time in a little red and white smocked dress that my mom made.
AC took these pictures and developed them himself and in homemade darkroom.
A few years later daughter number 2, Althegal, wore the same dress for a family portrait. Yes, that is my natural haircolour!!! It changed drastically a few years later when D2 set off on her back-packing trip in England and Australia - ALL BY HERSELF! Yikes! When she got on the plane to go to who-knows-where, and I had no way of contacting her until she touched base with me from an internet cafe to let me know she was alive and well, I could feel the gray hairs growing! I made an emergency call to my hairdresser and asked her to order in some haircolour in bulk. I have been blond ever since.
The white dress below is one that AC's mom made for Thesha.
A close-up of the intricate design. Beautiful work huh?
My mom's smocking was totally different from AC's mom's, but each had their own beauty and detail.

Treasures, each one!

5 comments:

MARY G said...

Yes indeed. One of my daughers went hiking in the Namibian desert by herself. White hairs fell like rain.

I love the smocking and have similar photos. And your children and granddaughter are smashingly beautiful!

I love the one of Nikki Dee dancing.

Ruth said...

The dresses are beautifully done, a real work of art. How nice that you have kept them in such perfect condition. The family resemblances are very strong indeed.

Lorna said...

These photos are so so charming!

Bernie said...

I cannot get over how much smudge looks like her mother....unbelievable, so sweet cuppa and you dressed your girls so cute. Love, love the dresses, aren't you glad you kept them. I think you and AC look great and your hair is just as lovely today.....:-) Hugs

Cuppa said...

Mary G - these kids do put us through our paces don't they? When I look back at her back-packing adventure I am amazed. Not at the fact that she survived, but that I did!

Ruth - I am glad I kept these two dresses safe, but am also sad that a few cute outfits got lost in the hand-me-down shuffle with family and friends.

Lorna - thanks.

Bernie - I am shocked when I see myself with brown hair now. I never thought I would be a blond, but it is so much easier to cover the grey as a blond. I think if I tried to keep my hair the natural dark brown colour, as I got older, it would look like I was wearing a hat! And not a very nice one at that.