I also remember my mother making dresses for my sisters and I. One year she made Easter dresses for us out of organza as I remember. She did not bind the seams and those dresses were a torture to wear. The organza was stiff and the unbound seams were like a row of fine needles sticking into our skin. I began sewing at about 8 years old on a treadle then graduated to a Featherweight at about 10 years. I made almost all of my dresses and skirts until my late teens when I went to work.