Mothers teach daughters to sew, and daughters teach their daughters, and so the Art of Sewing is passed from generation to generation.
My Mother learned to sew on my Grandmother Minnie's treadle sewing machine in the 1930's when a woman's sewing basket, mending and sewing clothes was a part of everyday life. Girls were first taught to stitch with needle and thread making doll clothes then perhaps an apron and as smaller stitches were taken and sewing skills were learned...the sewing machine was the next step.I'm not so sure my Mama was all that interested in sewing as a young girl. She was the youngest of five with one older sister and three older brothers, and was raised on an Iowa farm. She was a Tomboy! However, by the time she was in her teens, she was sewing.
By the time she married in 1946, she was an accomplished enough seamstress to treadle out kitchen curtains and aprons. Then it happened...she became the Mother of a baby girl. Sewing took on a new perspective...Rounds of Ruffles, Piqued Pinafores, Peter Pan collars, Lace and RickRack...how fun...and challenging! Little did she know that history has a way of repeating itself....I was a Tomboy, too!
I was fascinated with 'Sewing'....well, maybe not so much with the outcome of clothes, but with the process, the tools and the fabric. I would sit beside Mama and watch as the needle went up and down and the fabric flowed through the feed dogs...what a weird thing to call such a magical mechanism...with precise stitches that held two pieces of material together.I was bored with the needle and thread...wanted neater stitches and faster feed dogs! The fear of stitching my finger kept Mama from letting me sew on her 'Electrified Singer', so as soon as my legs were long enough to reach the treadle, I was off to the 'FeedDog Races'.
I was hooked! Sewing was my life...well, at least it played a big part in my advancement from doll clothes to dresses for myself and my sisters. My poor Mama, who also loved to sew, seldom could get a stitch in edgewise. I hogged her Electrified Singer for all those years until my 18th Birthday.
The only thing that has changed over the years of being 'Hooked on Sewing' has been
The Sewing Spaces and The Sewing Machines.
From 2014 - Present
Click on Gold Spool to View ALL Posts Labeled SEWING
From 2014 - Present
Click on Gold Spool to View ALL Posts Labeled SEWING
From 2013 - 2009
Click on the Linked Title to View SINGLE Titled Sewing Post
One Stitch At A Time
First Sewing Post ~Pink Saturday 9-12-2009
HA I just marked your blog to favorites because when i post about sewing I have posts titled "mis-adventures in sewing" so I think your blog will be good for me :)
ReplyDeleteHoly cow, Sue...was surfing on the 'net and there you were. Calvin and I have wondered several times where you were, since leaving Ft. Stockton. See that you haven't gotten very far away from the quilting world. I'm still doing a limited amount of customer quilting as well as the work for Creations of Kerrville. Been at it for almost 15 years. Eeeek! Cal is still servicing machines but mostly Brother's for Creations. Not too much longarm stuff anymore.
ReplyDeleteI still have a Kenmore cam machine in storage in Phoenix. The cams are gray, though. I love your high school picture. The hairstyle seems quite familiar. =)
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