mrr design

My first job as a young girl was at E.A. Davis in Wellesley, Massachusetts, an old-fashioned dry goods store, established in 1904 by Emma A Davis.  Miss Davis had a wonderful entrepreneurial spirit for a lady of her time; not many ladies worked outside the home, let alone owned a commercial establishment.  The ladies who worked at E. A. Davis stayed for years - we young girls thought they were so old... and their names:  Eunice, Doris, Ruth, Lucille, Elsie, Clara - from another century, but it was a great place to learn about the gentle home arts. My favorite place to work was the ribbon counter.  So the thread of ribbon began to wind its way through my life.  I still have some of the ribbons that I had as a young girl - Isabel uses them from time to time.  

My sisters and I started making all sorts of things from ribbon:  watchbands, belts, ribbon pillows (my father still has one of the ribbon pillows on his couch).  Here is one of the belts I made - I remember the fabric: Marblehead Handprints - a wonderful line of fabric, bags, clothing.  Can you believe that I still have these treasures from my young girlhood?  I am really not a pack rat!