Plaid Jacket

By Mary Lynn Fisher

In 1972, I made this plaid jacket at the age of 20 years old.  I still treasure it to this day because I was so proud of it.  Why?  Because my Mom taught me to "match the plaid" and as anyone who has tried it can tell you, it isn't easy to do.  And then I also made the buttonholes with only a zig-zag stitch on a $69 Singer sewing machine that my boyfriend bought me for Christmas.  The only thing is, since it was going on sale after the holidays, he actually gave me a box of Almond Roca for a Christmas gift and I thought it was all over between us! 

I don't know what became of the skirt I made to go with the jacket.  It was a gored style with no waistband in the same type of fabric in the heather lavender.

It was very timely when I read about your contest.  My Mom passed away in January this year and I had just run across the jacket in going through some old memorabilia.  I can still see and hear her instructing me on matching that plaid but she never took over.  Quite frankly, that wasn't like my Mom to stand back.  Like everything else, the jacket wouldn't be the same and I wouldn't be the same person without a Mom who cared enough to spend her time passing along her knowledge and still giving me the ability to take that pride and say "I did it myself."