Mother’s Day, Thank You for passing on the skills and talents

Where would I be without the knowledge, skills and artistic encouragement passed down from my mother and grandmother. As mentioned in my profile, both were responsible for teaching me to sew. Even though most women of their era were taught to sew, many did not take to it or enjoy it as they did.

My grandmother did quite a lot of hand sewing, embroidery and crochet. Here are some of the wonderful vintage linens of hers I still have. She used to embroider lots of pillowcases for us, and our doll beds too. She started me hand sewing doll clothes, possibly as young as five years old. She made lots of things without patterns at all.

My mother inherited quite a lot of skills from her mom and was a talented seamstress. She used to design her own clothes by modifying and combining patterns. She passed those skills on to me. She made quite a lot of clothes for all 5 of us kids. She also made curtains, toys and other stuff too. I can still remember the day she taught my sister & I how to use the sewing machine, helping us make curtains for our bedroom. Boy did we have a hard time mastering that foot pedal. I also remember some adorable pastel flannel polka dot PJ’s with reversible robes that she made my sister and I. We modeled them in a fashion show for what I believe was a sorority sisters event when I was maybe 3 and my sis 5. I may still have a scrap of that fabric. Here’s a lovely linen dress she made in the 50’s.

So a big THANKS to mom and grandma, and don’t forget to pass on your crafts to the next generation.