Nelly The Neighborhood Dressmaker

It is not easy to find clothes here in Ecuador. Well let me make that a bit clearer. It is not easy to find clothes for someone my size here in Ecuador. I am not gargantuan but I do not fit in the normal Large sizes either. You can find some items but they are so expensive and the quality is not always that great for what you find. My friend Eva mentioned that Nelly, our across the street neighbor, is a wonderful seamstress.  Several weeks ago Nelly’s daughter Erika came by showing me some of her mother’s hand-made items for the kitchen. She had covers for the microwave, covers for the blender as well as some great looking aprons, kitchen pot holders and gloves.  I asked her about making a dress for me. She said she would make whatever I wanted.

On our next trip to Portoviejo I found several fabric stores that had just what I was looking for so I bought three different pieces of material.

Nelly is on the left and Erika is on my right – their home is behind our heads. What a lovely Mother and Daughter pair! One day last week both Mom and Daughter came over and took my measurements and discussed what I was looking for. By the end of the week they came back to have me try on the dresses, a few alterations were needed but they all looked so good. On Saturday Erika delivered all three dresses and here they are.

Now I am having Nellie make up two hot looking beach dresses for me as well as two other dresses. Nelly will make me blouses or shorts or skirts anything I want. So I am now looking for things I would like her to make and then I need to make another trip into Portoviejo for more fabric. She is also going to recover our one wood beach lounge.

It’s a little life, our life, but it’s a good life. I can remember that it was not so long ago my chores were not so much fun, my choices quite different. Now it seems not a different time so much, but a different world. And viva la difference!