"Mom, I love your dress!" my daughter Claire said today. To my delight, she moved to back to Wenatchee six weeks ago ago. "Thanks, I made it four years ago," I replied.

Will you make that dress for me?" she asked. Today I ordered a larger size uncut McCall's pattern from Ebay for her dress. The pattern is discontinued and still popular. This gives me options to tailor the dress to fit her perfectly and skim her body.

Claire is long-waisted like her dad and me. Once the pattern arrives, I will measure her, including from armpit to waist. And will drop the armpit like I do with all my clothes. Nobody likes clothes that pinch your armpit.

With olive skin like her Spanish father, Claire is bigger boned and more curvy than me. So she wants green-toned material. My dress is 90% polyester and 10% Lycra. Claire and I will go together to pick out the fabric. Heartwarming.

I sewed Claire's clothes from age three to 11. I let her pick out the material for her clothes and Halloween costumes. At first Claire wanted fabric with huge flowers. One flower would cover her little chest! So I steered her toward little flowers.

We have a long, rich history of me repairing Claire's clothes. It's a fun problem-solving project. And I get the satisfaction of restoring her favorite clothes.