Visiting Luther College in Iowa

My high school boyfriend attended Luther College for one year, and invited me to Homecoming--can't remember if there was a dance--but Mother made me a new outfit. To get to Decorah, Iowa from my home town I had to take the train from Oregon, IL to Prairie du Chien Wisconsin, and then he had to borrow a car to pick me up there, about 100 miles round trip. Even by the late 1950s train travel was becoming less convenient, and that may have been my first trip on a train.

I don't have the pattern, and I'm not sure she used one, but it looked like this (copied from the internet). The top, which I wore without a blouse, was a navy and sky blue plaid with a silver thread and the skirt a plain darker blue in the same fabric which appears to be an orlon or acrylic:


When I unpacked the bin of baby clothes I found the doll clothes my mother made for my daughter, and this little hooded cape was the fabric of the vest. I probably only wore this outfit for a year or so because I put on weight in college. But what a pleasant surprise to find the fabric.