Cut From The Same Cloth

Here I sit again-a pile of clothes in front of me…ideas in my head and scissors in hand…sewing machine at the ready…

When your person dropped your things off, I asked about you. I looked at your clothes. Admired the fur, or wedding dress or suit coats. They told me about you; how you lived your life joyfully and well. They said you loved your children and those grandkids were your everything! They told me funny stories, your occupation and how you made them feel so loved. I love this part. I love moving through the sadness of you being gone into the light that you left everywhere. I give them ideas, suggestions of what all this cloth can be transformed into…quilts, pillows, bears, christening gowns, purses. We make decisions, pick projects for different loved ones and then they leave me.

Separating, cutting and ironing are next. I can smell your laundry detergent, cologne or perfume. I feel such peace gliding the iron across the fabric. I think of the stories your person told me…I think of where you may be now. I hope you can glimpse through the curtain of where you are to the here and now. I hope you know that as I hold your clothes in my hand, I hold you in my heart. I cut, sew and put a little bit of myself into these things. Sometimes I talk to you. A little crazy maybe-but all the best people are.

This one is going to be bears-little bears made of antique fur. Bears made from Grandma’s fur coat. I envision them being given as gifts to babies not yet born, being held and catching tears of grown children. I can see them touch the bear’s silky fur and remember how beautiful you looked wearing it. I can see their smiles and feel their joy as they hold onto a little piece of you. You were so loved.

And this chest full of suits and ties? You were so dapper, sir. All the ties, vests and beautiful wools. Herringbone, pinstripes, houndstooth! Each one is more lovely than the last. Your person showed me pictures of you in this suit on the day your son got married. All of these will be transformed into handbags for your daughters, bears for the little ones, travel bags for the sons and your wife is going to have a quilt. Your wife-who loved you for 50 years, who loves you still, will have the fabric that graced your chest to lay her head upon once again. And the happiness when they receive their keepsakes? Oh my…joy, smiles and love from everyone.

Sometimes people think this must be so sad, but they don’t know the outcome. They don’t know the talking, planning, and sharing that your person did with me. They don’t know the joy of taking things left from a life that has passed and making them into something precious, an heirloom. Your daughters and granddaughters will carry purses made from these gorgeous wools and adorned with pins made from your vintage ties. They don’t know the comfort that all those unworn suits bring your wife as she wraps up in the new quilt.

Will there be tears? Almost always. I have always thought that tears and laughter are sisters. That joy and pain go hand in hand. So we take the sadness, grief and clothing that is unnecessary now and we talk. And we plan. Then I cut and sew. Something quite magical happens. Cut from the same cloth of sadness emerges something new. I will give these things to your person and I will watch their face light up with happiness.