\u201cPenelope\u2019s Party Waist\u201d by L.M. Montgomery<\/p>\n
Originally published in The Designer, March 1904<\/p>\n
\u201cPenelope\u2019s Party Waist\u201d is a sweet story of two sisters, Penelope and Doris Hunter, who are orphaned and making their way in the world alone. They own the tiny cottage that they live in, but\u00a0 otherwise, their poverty keeps them from pursuing their wishes: music lessons for Penelope and being able to stay home and \u201ckeep house\u201d for Doris. Penelope is seventeen and works hard at her studies. Doris supports them both with a small income from her job as a \u201ctypewriter\u201d in an uptown office.<\/p>\n
![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.lavendersgreen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Two-women-and-man-rowing-by-Marsden-A.-Kemp.jpg\")
<\/a>Two Canadian women, taken about 1904 by an amateur photographer, Marsden A. Kemp. Our two sisters might have looked something like these girls.<\/p><\/div>\n
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When Penelope gets an invitation to a friend\u2019s party, she thinks she can\u2019t go because she doesn\u2019t have \u201ca suitable dress to wear\u201d. Doris suggest that \u201cIf your black skirt were sponged and pressed and re-hung, it would do very well.\u201d However, there is still the problem of a blouse (a \u201cwaist\u201d) to wear with it. They have no money for even a small bit of silk fabric to make a new waist. So, they sigh and make the best of it, giving up the idea of the party.<\/p>\n
The very next day a package arrives! (I love how these coincidences occur just in time to advance the story line.) A letter has arrived, too, explaining what is in the package. Sadly, it is not a party dress, but an old quilt from Aunt Adella. She has closed up her household to move West, where she will live with her son. She is disposing of the quilt that Grandmother Hunter had made long ago. Doris recognizes the pattern; she thinks it is called \u201cLittle Thousands\u201d. Neither girl is especially impressed by the quilt\u2019s appearance; it is faded and old-fashioned.<\/p>\n
Note: A brief internet search didn\u2019t turn up a \u201cLittle Thousands\u201d quilt pattern, but here is an example of a quilt called Thousand Pyramids, made about 1890.\u00a0 It\u2019s from this blog: http:\/\/quiltstudy.blogspot.com\/2016\/01\/10000-pyramids-of-past-and-present.html<\/a>. This gives us an idea of what the family heirloom may have looked like.<\/p>\n ‘\u201cWhy, the wrong side is ever so much prettier than the right!\u201d exclaimed Penelope. \u201cWhat lovely, old-timey stuff! And not a bit faded.\u201d<\/p>\n The lining was certainly very pretty. It was a soft, creamy yellow silk, with a design of brocaded pink rosebuds all over it.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was a dress Grandmother Hunter had when she was a girl,\u201d said Doris absently. \u201cI remember hearing Aunt Adella speak of it. When it became old-fashioned, Grandmother used it to line her quilt. I declare, it is as good as new.\u201d<\/p>\n Doris\u2019s thoughts start to work on how to use that pretty fabric to help her sister go to the party.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would make the loveliest party waist,\u201d she said under her breath.\u201d Creamy yellow is Penelope\u2019s colour and I could use that bit of old black lace and those knots of velvet ribbon that I have to trim it. I wonder if Grandmother Hunter\u2019s reproachful spirit will forever haunt me if I do it.\u201d’<\/p>\n English cotton print, circa 1872, from Textile Designs, Susan Meller and Joost Elffers<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a>However, the back of the quilt is beautiful!<\/p>\n<\/a>