Published: October 10, 2008 04:05 pm            

Local girl sews colonial style dresses

By Tiffany Green

TGREEN@CULLMANTIMES.COM



When Taylor Hancock began sewing dresses for her dolls at age four, she never thought her talent would grow to the point where she would be mistaking for a colonial lady.

Hancock, a 14 year old from Bremen, has recently been perfecting her talent as a seamstress.

Since a young age, Taylor has been sewing with her grandmother, Madelle Hancock.

“I have sewn all my life and Taylor enjoyed watching me and wanted to learn,” said her grandmother. “It is a tradition for our family.”

Taylor started with simple things.

“I started sewing doll clothes,” said Taylor.

Her grandmother held classes for girls in the neighborhood. They would sew outfits for their dolls.

Taylor is home-schooled by her mother, Mary. Being at home most of the day, they wanted to find something to tie into school work that they could also have fun with. The answer was sewing.

“I enjoy home-schooling because you can cater to your child as far as their strengths and weaknesses,” said Mary.

“When I studied the Revolutionary War around 11 years old, I made my first dress,” said Taylor.

Since she enjoyed sewing so much, she began making dresses to fit the time period she was studying. She could easily do a passion of hers, while also focusing on her studies.

“When I studied the Little House on the Prairie time period, I made a dress for that,” said Taylor.

She made three dresses, one for her mother, one for a friend and one for herself.

“We went to Colonial Williamsburg and got to wear the dresses,” said Taylor. “People thought we worked there since we were dressed in the time period dresses.”

Her latest project is the completion of the “Gone with the Wind” time period dress. She read the book and wanted to study more about the Civil War.

“I can’t put my finger on my favorite thing about sewing,” said Taylor.

“It has taken me a long time to finish this dress. I worked really hard on it and did most of the work myself,” said Taylor.

It took her working about three hours per weekend for three months to complete the dress. She has stayed at her grandparents house every Friday night since she was a young child, so every Saturday morning Taylor and Madelle would began their day sewing.

“Some days we would spend all day on it and other days we might just work on it for a few hours,” said Taylor.

Taylor did all the measurements herself. She picked an authentic and complicated pattern, her grandmother said.

“I was there to supervise her, but she did most all the work herself,” said Madelle.

She received the material as a birthday gift a few years back. It is no longer made, so she had no room for error when completing the dress, said her grandmother.

Taylor Hancock hopes to wear the dress to the Margaret Mitchell House in Atlanta or to a Civil War reenactment and ball.

It is a very constrictive dress so it must be worn soon. There is no room for letting it out, said Madelle.

“It’s just exciting to buy fabric and a few months later see a dress on the hanger,” said Taylor.

Taylor and her grandmother also make preemie and burial gowns for local hospitals.

Since she was young, Madelle has made all of Taylor’s Easter dresses. The past few years Taylor has begun helping her.

“I enjoy going and picking out the fabric and putting the dress together,” said Taylor.

Taylor also enjoys raising horses, riding dirt bikes and playing tennis. She has a five-month-old colt, and his mom is expecting another in a few months.

She attends Sacred Heart Church. They are members of a home-school group out of Birmingham, Our Lady of Council.

“I feel she is just a well-rounded child,” said her mom.

        

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