. . .something borrowed, something blue; and a sixpence in her shoe.
This famous wedding day rhyme is said to have started in the mid-1800’s, after Queen Victoria broke with the tradition of wearing blue on one’s wedding day. Once white became fashionable, brides continued to find ways to incorporate something blue – which symbolized purity and fidelity – into their ensembles. There are all sorts of stories about which bride fulfilled the rhyme’s requirements in which way. Sometimes the something old was a family heirloom, or a piece of lace from a mother’s or grandmother’s veil or wedding gown. The blue might be a single flower in the bouquet, or a ribbon tucked into the waistband.
Today I was reminded, once again, that the antique fabrics we use have precious stories attached to them as well. I was trying different shades of ribbon with the piece in the photo above, when I noticed an odd shadow at the lower edge.
Something was sewn into the hem, and more than one hundred years later, it was still in there.
I’m sorry to say I immediately ran for my seam ripper and set to work on the very tiny stitches holding the hem in place.
Sad because, maybe the secret should have stayed right where it was.
Nevertheless, when I finally created an opening large enough to wiggle it out, this is what I found:
“HOLY CATS!” I screamed to no one in particular, “IT’S BLUE!”
Had this been a bridal gown?
Where did that tiny scrap of fabric come from? It’s certainly very, very old!
Was it once a part of some other bride’s dress? Her mother’s? Her sister’s? A grandmother’s?
It was a lot of excitement for one small bit of cotton.
I mean.
Seamstresses don’t have a lot of contact with other humans. And even if this “contact” between myself and the long ago owner of this dress was separated by a span of 100+ years, it still counts. Because it did everything contact with another human should do for a person.
It made me think.
It made me smile.
It reminded me that I’m not the center of the universe.
It made me feel less alone.
I’ll never know if this was an accident, or if that bit of fabric in the dress’s hem was a beautiful young bride’s “something blue”. All I can do is wonder.
And perhaps, that’s as it should be.
I’m off to work now, and will not be blogging for a bit. I’m spending all my time throwing fabric and trims on my workroom floor. It’s a MAJOR mess in here (the cat could get lost if she’s not careful). But the mess has a purpose.
I’m plotting and planning.
So many scrumptious things are about to happen. . .