The author, in her mother s orange coat, with Mireni Alves Vieina, at Mireni’s Designs and Expert Alterations in Concord, Mass. (Courtesy)
When I was in college, my mother gave me a burnt orange, boiled wool jacket with flowers embroidered on the pockets. The coat had been hers in the ‘60s, but there was no sign of wear on the garment when she passed it on to me decades later.
My mom was impeccable in her care for things and people. I loved that coat right through its lining. Then, when the jacket was less sturdy, I returned it to her, wilting, on a bent hanger. She might have criticized me, but she didn’t. Instead, she gently suggested that coats can be relined.