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Sewing memories--favorite items made for you Grandma, mother, aunt --loved you enough to make...
LuceLu   Advanced Beginner NY USA Member since 8/4/06 Posts: 1386	Login to reply to this post 1 member likes this. Date: 4/16/12 10:39 AM I thought it would be nice to reminisce about projects our mothers, grandmothers, aunts (or even male family members if they sewed) made for us. I bet there are some great stories and maybe even pictures. These items may have inspired us to learn to sew. Share!
wendyrb   Advanced CA Member since 12/30/11 Posts: 1263	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 4/16/12 12:13 PM Oh lovely, lovely. This resonates with me especially as yesterday I went through a cigar box of sewing notions my mom gave me. In it I found the best treasure of all- my bubby Roses's silver thimble. The kind with the open tip. That thing was so worn with hours of hand work. I can see her hands, gnarled knuckles from arthritis, but she kept on creating. In her mid-eighties, the last thing she made for herself was a black velvet smoking jacket with antique jet buttons. She wore it on NY's Eve. No granny shoes for her; she was one chic woman. More later, off to tackle my dress in a tricky fabric and fit. Probably wouldn't have the inner fortitude and enthusiasm to take it on without my bubby. ------ Sometimes she didn't always follow the recipe. Pfonzie- my honey Pfaff Creative Performance, Bernina 930 and 830, Evolution serger.
ryan's mom PA USA Member since 11/30/04 Posts: 4370	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 4/16/12 1:40 PM Believe it or not...nothing! Absolutely nothing. My paternal grandmother was an awesome seamstress, but we moved away when I was 4 or 5, before she could teach me. I don't recall her making anything for us either. My mom could sew, but she had zero interest in it. She sewed what she had to, like draperies or placemats. She made an occasional top for herself, but my skills surpassed hers when I was a high school freshman lol. I had to drag her along so I could take an Adult Ed night class in sewing at the local Vo-tech school when I was a sophomore. We had to share a machine in the class, but she was more than willing to let me use it to work on my projects before hers. Like I said, she had zero interest, no passion for sewing. My oldest sister and I were the ones born with the sewing gene coming from my father's side. We were born to sit in front of a sewing machine. If there were any sewing projects being given to anyone in our family, it was made by my oldest sister or me given to our mother. ------ Big 4 Pattern size 12, RTW bottom: 6, RTW jacket 8, RTW top (no size fits me well!) Measurements: 34 HB/36 FB (34C bra)/27.5/36 (and working hard to keep it that way.) Machines: Sewing (Janome Memory Craft 3000 and Kenmore 158 Series machine), Serger (Babylock Imagine), Embroidery (Janome 300E) If you think your sewing is better than everyone else's around here, get out of my way b****. I hate sewing snobs. My blog: www.phatchickdesigns.blogspot.com
SewBusy63 Advanced IA USA Member since 12/10/07 Posts: 3172	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 4/16/12 1:57 PM My favorite item was a yellow floral sunbonnet made by my paternal grandmother. I wore it when I watched "Little House on the Prairie". I was probably 10 at the time. I still have that sunbonnet! ------ ~Diana~ ♥ Bernina 830E ♥ Bernina 1150MDA serger ✝The Lord is my Light and my Salvation: whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1✝
tgm and Kittys   Advanced Beginner WI USA Member since 3/8/10 Posts: 6940	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 4/16/12 3:11 PM My Dad worked 2 jobs ... 3 jobs if you count working his vacation every year too. ... Dad made some doll clothes for me & also took the time to mend jeans sometimes. Dad was by no means a seamstress but him taking the time to do what he could when I was small meant allot to me. One Christmas my Grandma made Chatty Cathy a night gown & robe for me for a gift. She was a very good sewer. Even color blind she could really pick out nice fabrics & such. She made some of my school clothes & made summer tops for all us girls... cousins & I. -- Edited on 4/16/12 5:14 PM -- ------ I am a gal from Kalamazoo.... oh what a gal... smile.... It is in Michigan... la la la ...love that Glen Miller classic! Home of Abigail The Babykins & Lil Mittee kitty >^,,^ Be Still, & Know That I am, God + Please say a prayer for my poor feet. ... + ..one month down .. 6 weeks more to go.. They are healing. Thanks everyone for your prayers. 5/8/13 smile
RMJ   Intermediate CA USA Member since 12/14/06 Posts: 422	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 4/16/12 3:16 PM My maternal grandmother didn't do much sewing when I knew her, but she made a dress for my Kewpie doll from scraps that she had. I still have the doll and dress. It is silk with puffed sleeves, a velvet ribbon around the waist, and a petticoat underneath with a lace edge. A lot of it was sewn by hand.
Larisa Intermediate VA USA Member since 7/15/05 Posts: 4333	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 4/16/12 9:19 PM I still have a blanket/quilt that my Nanny made for me....she used another quilt as the "batting" and it's lasted "forever"....I also had a little blanket made of 1 layer of the same fabric and hemmed....it's white with little blue duckies in raincoats holding umbrellas...too cute! My daughter now has them, and has been told to be very careful with them as they are as old as her momma...lol ------ research associate in the field of child development, married to an engineer I am woman, I am invincible, I...am...TIRED!!
Maia B   Advanced Beginner IL USA Member since 10/27/10 Posts: 3391	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 4/17/12 0:57 AM SewBusy, that bonnet sounds like a treasure! I loved Little House. My grandmother was a master knitter, especially cables. I have three of her very complex afgans: burgundy, blue, white. She also taught me to sew, and I've inherited her knitting and sewing things. Those things are so precious to me. She helped me encase my pink comforter that was worn through and stained with Triaminic, in a prequilted fabric of bright pastel bunnies on a yellow field. She helped me make outfits for my stuffed animals out of scraps. She also knit a moss green baby blanket for my first child, which was clearly difficult for her. I think it's the last thing she made. She knitted for the war effort, and my baby :D. My has only made me a few things, but she provided me with a designated sewing space, machine, and iron, even when we had very little. She made her own maternity clothes, and she quilts some now. I hope my sons and (God willing) future grandchildren carry on. ------ 🌸 Plenty of machines, mostly Berninas 🌸
petro   Intermediate FRANCE Member since 6/24/07 Posts: 2204	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 4/17/12 2:24 AM This patchwork has many pieces from the dresses my mother made us, the red and pale green gingham is one. This pattern is one she used a few times to make them. My favourite one, pieces in the patchwork I wrote about here http://sewing.patternreview.com/review/pattern/73866 had small sweet pea flower print and the all important twirly circle skirt. My grandmother who sewed the patchwork, made us lots of knitted garments. When mini skirts came in fashion, first time round, She knitted me lace stockings in black wool. The physiotherapist I had as a small child made me a green silk dress when I was cured. I think being given scraps to make dolls clothes with and being praised out of proportion to the results, and being bought a toy machine and later allowed to use a hand crank machine was a big help though. As was being allowed to raid the small collection of old furnishings and fabric oddments. ------ so many patterns, clamouring to be sewn http://patternpandemonium.wordpress.com/
LuceLu   Advanced Beginner NY USA Member since 8/4/06 Posts: 1386	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 4/17/12 8:58 AM My grandmother made me a set of yellow print pjs out of bed sheets and crocheted a skating outfit for my Barbie. My mother hand smocked a dress for me (firstborn), and made little outfits when I was a toddler. I also remember halter tops in the 1970s. She could crochet too and made an afghan although that is long gone but she stopped as she had to work 2 jobs after my parents divorced. My grandma on her side... I remember her clothes she made. I think she also made some maternity clothes when she was pregnant with my sister in the early seventies. She said she learned how to sew from her mother who was an amazing seamstress (she would just cut a coat out of a wool blanket for my mother) but she said she could never get it to look right and would get frustrated. I know my stepsisters both made dresses for themselves for prom.

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