little girl and mom at the fabric store

I'm going to try to write each Sunday something about past family adventures ~~

     I have always loved to visit fabric shops - ever since I can remember.  When I was just a very young mother, I would take trips to a fabric store just to get out of the house and Deeanna my oldest daughter would "happily" come with me.  The fabric shop nearest our home in Upland, California was the one I most often visited.  Deeanna and I would go to the pattern table and she would perch herself on her knees in the chair next to me.  I was searching for patterns to make clothes for her and/or me.  She would look quickly through the pictures where the children's clothes were and the craft section. 
     Then, she would be down off the chair to investigate other areas of the store.  I'd have to get up and bring her back.  This would happen maybe 3-4 times until I would give her my big purse to go thru.  She would sit on the carpeted floor by me and dump out my whole purse.  I don't remember all the things that I might have had in my purse back all those years (34 to be exact) ago.  But, I do remember I would keep a few small toys and things in there just for an occasion such as this.  There is one thing that stand out in my memory, tho.  It was a photo wallet.  Now a days we just take out our phones and show people family pictures.  Back then, no such thing existed.  This mini photo album kept her busy the longest.  She would sometimes get back into the chair next to me and tell me all about the pictures as she turned from one to the other in the album.  This would give me at least another thirty minutes of viewing pattern catalogs.



What I carried in my purse was similar to the small wallet size in the middle of this photo.

I would change the pictures every so often and they would include pictures

of  Deeanna, other relatives and sometimes I would cut out of magazines

things that she might think fun to look at. 

After choosing the pattern, Deeanna was great at helping me to decide what color/design to use for the pattern.  Even at 2 years, she loved to be the one to decide what fabric was going to be used - either for her outfit or mine.