WORKING ON CREATING THINGS
My Grandma Louise’s Singer
sewing machine. My Mom taught me to sew
on this machine when I was around 13 years old and from then on – more when I
was older – I made many of my own clothes.
I made big-skirted dresses
in the mid-to-late ‘50s, and short sheath dresses in the ‘60s along with
Bermuda shorts and peddle-pushers and two-piece sets to match.
By then my Mom had a new
machine, and not long after I bought my own machine. When I was married I continued to make some
of my own clothes as well as clothing for my children.
I also made most of my
costumes when I was active in the Golden Chain Theatre. This gown of satin taffeta for dancing the
Can-Can was one of the hardest things I’ve ever made. Part of the bodice was cut diagonally on
striped material, the skirt with its variegated gores lined with rows &
rows of white ruffles underneath was a bear to put together!
The gowns were beautiful, but heavy as the dickens! In fact, because of the weight of the skirt with all those ruffles, plus the type of material the gowns were made of, and the dance being so energetic, we were all having trouble keeping our bodices and skirts sewn together! I finally solved the problem by reinforcing the seams on the inside with duct tape. ;) I’m on the left, by the way.
Then there was this project. I had to come up with a ridiculous gown for a part in a play. I was supposed to be a rich man’s pampered daughter whom the villain was attempting to marry for her family’s money. I think I succeeded fairly well. The audience laughed aloud when I came onstage for the first time in this getup. And then I started to speak - in a high baby voice with a lisp and the audience practically rolled out of their seats. It was great. J
I sewed more than dresses,
Bermuda shorts, and horrible gowns of course.
I made this quilt for my youngest daughter’s first-born and succeeding
siblings cuddled in it as well. I
believe it’s in storage now, awaiting the appearance of my daughter's first grandchild - whenever that might occur. J
This quilt is a work in
progress. The squares were made 48 years
ago when my husband was working for the U.S. Forest Service in Gasquet,
CA. We Forest Service wives got together
& formed a quilting group. There
were 15 of us and each of us created a pattern for a square to represent our
families, then made 15 of them which we exchanged with each other. I made a few too many squares, so ours are at
each corner and one in the middle. The
one in the middle is more elaborate.
After I finished that one I decided I had to simplify the design a bit. It was based on the fact we lived in four
different places over the 7 ½ years we lived there. Gasquet was a resort area and people close to
retirement age would buy places, then rent them out until they retired. We lived in the first place – a log cabin –
for 4 years; the second place – another cabin – for 2 years; a remodeled
schoolhouse for 6 months; and a cute little 2-bdrm bungalow for 8 months. The red, white, & blue color scheme came
from it’s being 1976 and the country’s bicentennial.
A friend made this lovely
tree quilt for us for Christmas one year.
There are other ways,
besides sewing, to create lovely things.
Another friend does beautiful cross-stitch work.
. . . or caps. These, in particular, represent different fruits. L-R back row: strawberry, grapes, apple, & pineapple. Front row: kiwi, orange, and watermelon. J
A baked potato
with butter.
I was planning to make an all vegetable throw/lap blanket but I never got beyond the baked potato square. Maybe one of these days I’ll finish the idea. Takes 35 squares to make the blanket, however. Are there that many knitable veggies?
My mother’s knitting was a ‘bit’ more intricate! She made these beautiful sweaters for my 3 siblings. She made a boat-neck sweater for me with a cable stitch down the center in a lovely shade of coral, but unfortunately I don’t have a picture of me wearing it.
She made this one for my Dad. I wish I had a better picture of it, but this
at least gives an idea of all the work Mom put into it. She had so much patience to knit things like
this with so many patterns to keep track of – counting rows and stitches &
crossing yarns over and back. Whew. In the picture Mom, with Dad’s guidance, was
pumping up an inner-tube for sliding on the snow.
My Grandma Louise (my Mom’s Mom) also knit, but preferred to crochet and did beautiful work as evidenced by this gorgeous fringed bedspread with white daisies. It must have taken her a hundred hours plus, but what a beauty!
In closing, I’m remembering, for a moment, the first thing I ever sewed for myself. I was 11 or 12. I did it by hand. It was a summer bra-like top in blue cotton. Mom helped me cut the pattern out and I was so proud of it. Only problem – I forgot to double knot my thread. I wore it one day to shop at the local dime store (remember those?). I was looking around at things in the store when the shoulder strap on one side come loose, closely followed by the other one. Thank goodness the button in the back held, but I was so embarrassed and had to walk home holding the straps up. After that I triple knotted my thread! J
:->
La Nightingail
Wow! When do you have time to blog with all the crafting going on? I loved your first-sewing-project story. Mine wasn't as embarrassing, except to me. I made a 1960s Granny Dress as my first project (sheath body, long fitted sleeves and a sewn ruffle at collar and cuffs). To save fabric, I moved the sleeve pattern around and cut it from separated pieces. Turns out I cut two left sleeves! Luckily it was paisley fabric, so I just toughed it out by attaching the left sleeve to the right armhole. Only I noticed the sleeve dart was inside, not outside, the elbow! Like you, I never did that again :-)
ReplyDeleteYour 'first' story made me laugh and shake my head remembering a mistake I'd made and I'd been sewing for a while when I did it, too. Like you, I was trying to save space so turned a back bodice piece of a dress pattern around so it would fit, forgetting the fabric had a distinct pattern so of course when the pieces were cut and laid out I realized my mistake - the pattern on the back piece I'd turned around was upside-down! Luckily the store where I'd bought the fabric wasn't far away & still had some of it in stock! Actually, the sleeveless dress I was making came with a pattern for a little bolero jacket if desired. I hadn't thought about making the jacket before, but since I was having to buy more fabric, I went ahead and bought enough to make the jacket too. Who knows - Maybe it was destiny? :)
DeleteLoved learning to sew, first just cutting to patterns for my mother's quilt pieces. Then finally sewing machines in Home Ec at 7th Grade. Lots of aprons and gathered skirts. The hardest things were a couple of sport coats for my sons just before Christmas, and I was still hemming them when they needed to go catch a plane to visit their grandmother. I wonder if they ever wore them again.
ReplyDeleteWell gosh, I HOPE they wore those sport coats again after all that work! I can imagine they took a little doing! I never attempted anything like that. I'm too lazy. My youngest sister, however, took sewing lessons in high school "Home Ec" class & I always kidded her because she could wear whatever she made inside-out and no one would notice because she was taught to finish off all her interior seams. Good grief. Who really does that? I figure if it can't be seen, why would you have to finish it off?
DeleteBeautiful work! Your fruit theme for the hats made me laugh. One of my first memories of both my grandmothers was watching them knit or sew. I inherited several if their rag rugs, quilts, embroidery, shirts, scarfs, doilies, dolls, and even several incomplete projects. My maternal grandmother was a very talented quilter and not long ago I donated a stack of her squares to one of the better thrift shops in the hope they might inspire someone. But my favorite garment is an army-green wool scarf that my mom knitted for my dad when shortly after their marriage he shipped out to Korea. Every winter it makes me think of both of them.
ReplyDeleteThat's neat about the army-green wool scarf & the memories it evokes of your mom & dad. My Grandma Louise sewed beautifully as well knitting & crocheting. She used to make me and my sisters beautiful dresses for Easter especially and every time I see the black & white pictures of us wearing them I remember exactly what color they were and what the patterns in the material were. She made them identical so my youngest sis got the best wear of them. As they were handed down year after year she eventually wore all three of them. :)
DeleteFunny, no one mentioned holding my can-can costume together with duct tape. I thought maybe you would, but no one did. It did do the job though! Duct tape is amazing stuff. :)
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