People going to a play at Muskogee High School or Muskogee Little Theatre in the past couple of decades likely has seen Marie Weaver’s work.

They saw it in a a twirl of yellow gingham during in 2007’s “Oklahoma” or the rainbow of shirts and dresses in the MHS production of “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.” They might also have seen her work in the bodice of an Elizabethan robe at Muskogee’s Renaissance Festival or the white sleeves of a friend’s wedding gown.

In those garments, people saw the hours Weaver spent measuring waistlines, cutting fabric or guiding material through the bobbing needle of her sewing machine. They are hours Weaver savors in her sunlit sewing room.

“My mother sewed, and also my grandmother,” said Weaver, 77. “When I got married, I had three little girls, so I sewed for them.”

Weaver said she began sewing for other people about 30 years ago.

“People just started calling me, asking me if I could make them something,” she said.

Last fall, Weaver decided to sew for even more people and put up a white “Sewing” sign on her front lawn.

From the basic to the best



Marie Weaver recalls being behind one sewing machine or another since she took a sewing class at Alice Robertson Junior High School.

She said her first sewing machine was “probably an old Singer.”

“They were so much cheaper then. I bought it when I married at 17, and we had no money,” Weaver said. “All it did was straight stitching, and then I just had different machines over the years.”

The one she uses the most is a white Esante machine she’s had for eight years.

“This one is the best machine I ever had,” she said. “It’s made in France, and it does embroidery. It’s so easy anyone can do it. It has a touch-screen you can program.”

The machine makes embroidery from patterns on a disc. Here’s a wreath. Here’s a rabbit. A guide tells what color of thread to use, Weaver said.

However, the machine doesn’t have every pattern, she said.

“A lot of people asked if I can do OU for them,” she said. “Then a lady came over to my house and had a scanner. She put the OU logo on a disc.”

Weaver said she can embroider Oklahoma State University patterns as well.

Along with her expensive do-it-all Esante, Weaver also has a Singer Quick Fix mending machine, a compact, portable machine that weighs less than five pounds.

“This one cost $11.88 at Walls, and they only had 50 of them. It does a few things, but I really haven’t used it yet,” she said.

 

Sewing costumes offers connection, creative outlet



She started doing costumes for Muskogee High School productions in the 1980s.

“The most fun of anything is to do a costume,” she said. “Everyone is so excited. People come over and try things out.”

One of the plays she has costumed include the 2001 MHS production of “Guys and Dolls.” She costumed her granddaughter in that play.

Weaver did 20 to 25 costumes for the 2007 Muskogee Little Theatre production of “Oklahoma.”

She said she’d work seven or eight hours a day for three weeks on these productions, coordinating with Chrissie Wagner, who directed the performances.

“I have all the patterns, so all they have to do is bring the materials,” Weaver said. “Usually Chrissie decides on the material and we meet at the fabric store.”

Weaver also has done costumes for the annual Muskogee Renaissance Festival.

Weaver said she’ll “do just about anything people want done.”

“The other day I did a dog coat,” she said.

Weaver said she likes being creative when she sews. She said she looks in magazines for ideas.

She said sewing also helped her get over a stroke three years ago.

“I had to learn to read and write again, I didn’t know my name or address, but I could sew almost immediately,” she said. “Sewing kept me busy and not worrying about myself.”



Company welcome in sewing room



Weaver isn’t always alone when she works.

A TV is within arm’s reach of the sewing machine so Weaver can watch her soaps. She said her favorite is “All My Children.”

“I’ve been watching that since the 1970s,” she said.

She also gets occasional visitors who hop onto her measuring table, lie in the sun and purr.

Weaver got her cat Noel, now 7, one Christmas. She described the Christmas cat as “kind of stand-offish,” but eventually will come.

The other cat, Cruiser, was found as a kitten under the hood of Weaver’s car.

“She was all greasy and dirty,” Weaver recalled. “Now, she’s solid white and just beautiful.”

Cruiser doesn’t come out too often, she said. The cat once got into the sewing room and swallowed two needles.

“At night we lock her out of the sewing room,” Weaver said.

Weaver likely will get plenty more visitors. She put a plain white “Sewing” sign on her front lawn last fall. She lives right next to the Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center.

“I had someone come in at 6:30 in the morning with an armload of clothes,” she said. “I get a lot of customers from the VA, a lot of surgical nurses.”

Q&A

HOW DID YOU COME TO BE AN OKIE FROM MUSKOGEE?

“I was born in Tulsa, but I moved here from Tulsa when I was 3 years old because of my daddy’s job.”

WHAT OKIE FROM MUSKOGEE HAD THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR LIFE?

“My daddy, Ludy Harman. He was in charge of the YMCA for so many years, 40 years. He was a great example for the kids of Muskogee.”

WHAT IS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE IN MUSKOGEE?

“I coached swim teams for several years. And I never had any problems with the kids for all those years. They’re all grown up now, with kids of their own.”

WHAT DO YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT MUSKOGEE?

“All the people and all the activities you can do. We have parks and we have theater. That’s what I like best about a small town.”

WHAT WOULD MAKE MUSKOGEE A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE?

“More things for the kids to do. The best example of something for the kids to do is the new skatepark.”

HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP MUSKOGEE IN 25 WORDS OR LESS?

“Not too big and not too small.”

Meet Marie Weaver

AGE: 77

HOMETOWN: Muskogee.

EDUCATION: Attended Muskogee Central High School.

CAREER: Currently runs sewing business. Did bookkeeping and secretarial work. Managed movie theater.

RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: Episcopal.

FAMILY: Two grown daughters, Coni Wetz and Pam Meier.

HOBBIES: Going to movies, baking, sewing.

Hey Okies!

Are you proud to be an Okie from Muskogee? Tell us why. Do you know someone who is a proud Okie? We’d like to know that, too.

You don’t have to be a native of Muskogee, just a proud resident of Muskogee today.

E-mail news@muskogeephoenix.com, fax 684-2865 or mail the information to:

Proud Okie, Muskogee Phoenix, P.O. Box 1968, Muskogee 74402-1968.