The true value of handmade

I went op-shopping yesterday, just to one store that had been recommended to me, the Anglicare Shop in Summer Hill. This is basically the depot where all clothing donations get taken before being sorted and distributed to other shops. As such it is literally just bins of clothes that you need to dig through, so it is really cheap, $6 for a kg of clothes. There is also a store there, but this seems a little pricy to me. I found a few bits and pieces, a couple of simple dresses, scarves and a shirt (which is ugly but I liked the fabric so will see what I can make of it). But then I found this.

Now, I do not have children, and I am not even sure if I will ever have children but this caught my eye. For one this is one of my favourite colours, and secondly the styling of it is adorable. So, I hmm'd and haa'd and eventually put it back thinking I should leave it for someone who has a daughter. Then I thought about it some more, because I am pretty sure that this little dress was handmade. Beautifully handmade I might add, but the lack of even a hint of a label, and just how much work has gone into it leds me to believe that someone put a lot of time and effort into this dress. And that made me unspeakably sad. That this beautiful dress was made for someone, someone poured love into every seam, pictured a little girl wearing it, and now it is at the bottom of a bin of clothes, most of which came from Target anyway. Then, I felt like a hypocrite, as I am lucky enough to have friends and family who all make things, and when I think of all the things I have got rid of, that someone made especially for me, I feel sick to the pit of my stomach. So, I brought the dress, for about 50c, and decided that I will show it the care no one else deemed it worthy of. Who knows, maybe one day I will have a little girl to wear it, or it will make a lovely gift for someone who will appreciate it. I don't know what I will do with it, but it will not be sitting at the bottom of a bin. I have the feeling that whoever made it had hoped that it might become a family heirloom, so I hope that I will do the best by this dress, and maybe make up a little for the lack of care I have shown all the beautiful things others have made me. Because, now that I am making my own things again, I know that something handmade is so much more valuable then simply the fabric it was made from.