Blueprint Fabric

I was amazed to learn this interesting piece of family history from my sister on Sunday evening.

We were talking about the May crowning that will take place on Wednesday at my grandchildren's school mass, and about my grandson's his First Holy Communion a week ago, when my sister shared with all of us what kind of fabric our mother used when she made her First Holy Communion dress.

 During the war my father was a draftsman for the United States Navy, while my father was not an enlisted man, my father, mother, sister and brother lived in housing at the Great Lakes naval base. I was not born yet, I am fourteen years younger than my sister, but that is a story for another time.

This is a photo of my father and his co-workers in the draft room.

This is my sweet sister on the day of her First Holy Communion wearing the dress my mother made for her. What type of fabric was used to make this dress? This dress is made from blue print fabric.

My father asked if he could take home the unwanted and unusable blueprints from the draft room, permission was granted. After he brought home the blueprints my mother would submerge/soak the blueprints in water until all of blue color was gone and a thin piece of white fabric remained. 

So my sister's communion dress was made from the blueprint fabric sewn by our beloved mother.

What a fascinating story, I'm so happy she shared the story with us.