Colorways by Vicki Welsh

I mentioned yesterday that I’m in the middle of a brutal purge throughout the house. I love seeing some empty drawers, shelves and closet floor space. I have finally let go of some things I’ve held onto for decades. The first to go were my high school yearbooks. I NEVER look at them, don’t remember most of the people in them and I don’t have children to pass them on to. Yesterday I finally let go of some things I made well over 20 years ago. I was just keeping them because I was proud of the work. I decided to take photos and let them all go on to someone else. I don’t expect anyone will wear these items but the fabrics might be reborn in some other project for someone else.

Long before I was a quilter, I was a garment maker. I made most of my work suits and I loved making evening wear. I was fortunate to work at Peat Marwick (now KPMG) in Washington DC in the late 1980’s, then I worked for them in Norfolk and in the late 90’s I started working (for 12 years) at an insurance company (Markel) in Richmond, Virginia. All of those companies had very fancy Christmas parties. I loved making my dresses for those events and I saved my favorites.

I wore this one to a Markel event, I think. I don’t exactly remember but my Mom has a photo of me and Chris and I’m wearing this dress. I loved the bodice fabric. I remember that it was quite expensive but I didn’t need more than a yard of it. I made a velvet-lined satin wrap with gold tassels to go with this dress.

I definitely wore this one to a KPMG party in DC and I know the fabrics came from GStreet. I think I may have worn the blue dress alone once too but I wore the black lace over dress to the party. It had a belt of the blue satin too. It was a lot more flattering on than it is on hangers.

This outfit is my second favorite of all time. I wore this one to a KPMG party in DC and may have worn it again in Norfolk to a Navy party. I fell in love with this furry fabric at GStreet Fabrics. The front is high cut and this is the drapey back. The fabric was the start so it only needed a simple black skirt.

I like this dress even more than my wedding dress. I made this for my first Markel party in Richmond in 1998. The back is a low V cut and the front neckline is drapey. I looked good in this dress. The silk fabric is sheer with cut velvet and sparkles. I think it was called burnout velvet. It was seriously expensive and worth every penny. The dress is fully lined in nude silk. I don’t remember the shoes by you can be sure that they were very high heeled and they killed my feet. that holds true for all of the dresses.

I don’t have digital photos of my wedding dress. It was a periwinkle sheath dress with an embroidered white sheer overlay. The overlay was off the shoulders with long sleeves. I loved it. I gave it to a niece a long time ago to use for dress up. She’s in her 30’s now. There was no need to keep it. There was no one to pass it on to. I remember that it only cost $115 to make.

Here’s a little side story about my engagement. When we got engaged Chris wanted me to go with him to pick out my engagement ring. I convinced him (with a lot of difficulty) that I didn’t want an engagement ring. I wanted the new Pfaff 1451 sewing machine that was about $1200 in 1987. He was quite upset with me over it but finally relented. I made my wedding dress, and the dress my Mom wore to my wedding, on that machine. I’ve never missed having an engagement ring. Once someone told me to tell people that my ring was too big to wear!

A few years after we got married, Chris lost his wedding band in a fishing pond. I never got him another. We’re rolling up on 38 years, so I don’t think the rings actually matter all that much.

The last thing I held onto is this faux fur coat. Those of you who have been around long enough will remember Fabulous Furs, a company that sold really nice faux fur fabric. “Everyone” was making fur coats. This is mine. I know someone will find something fun to do with this fabric. It’s still in great condition.