Box of Mom’s Old Clothes

My mom was doing some cleaning and offered me a box of her old clothes (she thought I could use the material to sew with) and I readily accepted. There was a range of clothing sizes (some that fit but most that didn’t). They were her work clothes (from years ago)—much of it wool jackets and skirts.

There were a couple of items that I liked as-is and would wear: a long white pleated skirt (that’s very light and perfect for summer) and a wool red A-line skirt (although it’s a bit big). I actually liked a couple of other skirts as well, but as I looked closer at the garments, they had moth holes. [Pause.] Super disappointing.

I’m pretty excited about having this box of clothes that I can (hopefully) reuse. Because every so often when I’m at a thrift store I consider buying something and altering it but I never do, because I can’t justify spending much on a garment that I’ll be experimenting on. However, the garments my mom gave me are free (and also some are damaged with stains and moth holes), so they’re the ideal items to experiment with. I have about 12 items that all need to be cleaned and most that I’ll have to tear apart in order to use the undamaged material sections.

I have no idea what I could make (and hopefully I’ll actually get around to doing something with the fabric), but I think it would be cool to make something with my mom’s old clothes. It’s funny, as a teenager I wouldn’t be caught dead in something my mom would wear, and here I am, years later, trying to find a way to wear my mom’s old clothes.