08/15/2026
The Story Behind the Stitch #2
Sometimes, the hardest part of a project is making the very first cut.
A sweet lady called me with an idea for a surprise for her husband. He had attended a military high school in the early 1960s, and she had his dress uniform from those years.
She wanted me to turn it into a pillow.
The whole thing became a bit of a secret operation. She strategically called when he wouldn’t know she was talking to me, then we switched to texting so we wouldn’t ruin the surprise.
Then I had the uniform in my hands.
More than 60 years old. Irreplaceable.
And I had to cut it.
Before I touched my scissors to it, I knew I didn’t simply want to use the fabric. I wanted the finished pillow to still look like his uniform.
So I preserved as much as possible—the lapels, pockets, buttons, insignia and sleeve patches. Even the lower front of the jacket became the back of the pillow, allowing me to save more of the original.
And then there were the cords.
I didn’t want to arrange them wherever they looked nice. I wanted them displayed the way he had worn them.
So I did some research.
I learned how they were worn over the right shoulder and constructed the pillow to use the original shoulder cord holder in essentially the same place. The cords aren’t sewn on—they’re removable and draped over the “right shoulder,” under the “right arm” and around the back, as close as I could get to how he once wore them…
…on a pillow. 🤣
When I finished, it wasn’t just a pillow made from his uniform.
You could still look at it and see his uniform.
Later, she told me her husband absolutely loved his surprise.
And THAT is why I’m so careful about the first cut. The clothes entrusted to me aren’t simply fabric.
They already have a story before they reach my sewing room. My job is to make sure that story is still there when they leave.
