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I remember when we used to wander all over the place, too - not just in the neighborhood, but in the surrounding fields and woods (there were a lot of them then). I remember once my friends and I tried to climb a nearby rock quarry. I almost made it to the top, then slipped, and slid down the side of it. I went home without much skin left on my body (I was 13 at the time). My mother's reaction? She found me an occupation much better suited to a "young lady". Sewing class!!!!! I had to spend two evenings a week that summer in sewing class. I would have preferred two beatings a week as punishment. I never learned to sew, and to this day wouldn't touch a sewing machine if my life depended on it. But I still love to rock climb!
Edit: Did anybody else's mother INSIST they needed to learn to sew (mend and/or MAKE their own clothes???)
I remember when we used to wander all over the place, too - not just in the neighborhood, but in the surrounding fields and woods (there were a lot of them then). I remember once my friends and I tried to climb a nearby rock quarry. I almost made it to the top, then slipped, and slid down the side of it. I went home without much skin left on my body (I was 13 at the time). My mother's reaction? She found me an occupation much better suited to a "young lady". Sewing class!!!!! I had to spend two evenings a week that summer in sewing class. I would have preferred two beatings a week as punishment. I never learned to sew, and to this day wouldn't touch a sewing machine if my life depended on it. But I still love to rock climb!
Edit: Did anybody else's mother INSIST they needed to learn to sew (mend and/or MAKE their own clothes???)
YES!!! OMG! I was forced, against my will, to take Home-Ec in 8th grade. It was horrible! Boring....awful, horrid class! The cooking segment was fine I guess, except that there were way too many cooks in the kitchen. Most of the other gals didn't know a thing about the kitchen though and it was a huge pain in the butt for me. I'd been cooking, canning, baking, since probably 3rd or 4th grade....independently following cookbook recipes, etc. Oh my gosh, having to teach the girls in my group how to do the simplest things was frustrating to say the least.
The sewing part though...ugh. I'd been sewing on a "commercial Pfaff" since I was little too, making my dolls' clothes, pillow shams, etc., but the torture of having to pick a pattern, pin it, do gathers, inset sleeves, slit neck, lined bodice. What a pain and again.....boring. "Oh GOD just let me go outside and play baseball or something!!!!!!!" Honestly, I think I resented it so much that I really didn't learn/retain anything. I did, however, make many of my children's baby and toddler clothes, as well as many cutsie outfits for my daughter when she was in gradeschool. I was ready and settled though...not like in school at all!
My mother never made me sew, in fact I flunked that portion of Home Ec. But, I had to iron my father's handkerchiefs every week. Once I mastered that she added pillow cases to the mix. Now, I never iron. My DH and my sons do a better job of it than I care to.
Oh, forced Home Ec! Our 7th grade teacher used to run her hand down our backs to make sure we were wearing bras! Anything I really learned about sewing and cooking, I learned from my mother. We had to take a class in 8th grade called Family Living where we had to pretend marry someone, plan a wedding and budget our lives around our incomes from careers we picked out of a hat. I was a truck driver. Oh, and we also learned about the 4 Cs of diamonds in that class. Useful, right?
I had home ec in 8th grade and skipped most of it.
My friends and I would set a certain time to meet during class and we would each leave and go to the bathroom and talk for a bit and then go back to class.
I HATED cooking, sewing, anything like that with a passion and always would rather have been outside playing, swimming or climbing something. My mom wishes I was better at that stuff but I can repel down a mountain, splint a broken leg and stabilize a neck injury and I am fine with that.
Ah, it's not either/or. I can both sew a hem and hang drywall. Both are useful skills.
Absolutely! As adults, there are very few things that I would classify as "useless skills". If you don't know how to do it, you better be making enough money to pay someone to do it for you....and be willing to settle for them doing it their way, not yours! Ahhhhhh but knowledge is wasted on the young, who have no real appreciation for it. They think they know it all, and yet know so very little....helpless little buggers that they are!
My mother - and aunt - both loved to sew, and couldn't understand why I didn't share the interest. To them, if you wanted/needed an outfit, you SHOULD MAKE IT YOURSELF. It would start out, we'd go shopping - I'd look at a dress or whatever I liked. "We can find a pattern and make it." Even pants or jeans - "We can find a pattern and make it." Jeans!!!!!????? You've never seen anything weirder than a homemade attempt at jeans - ugly denim pants is what they turned out to be. Anyway, I'd end up dragged to the fabric store where we'd spend an hour finding the pattern, buying all the material, zippers, thread, etc., and it turned out to be more expensive than the outfit in the store. AND it never fit right. My mother's home sewn clothes were at least a size too big.
Now, I can assemble a great wardrobe and spend little - I shop yard sales, thrift and consignment shops, and clearance sales. And, to me, that is more fun than sitting at a sewing machine.
I wish I knew how to sew. I'd love to make my own clothes!
Mags, knowing how to sew is a wonderful thing, it really is, and it can be fun, too! As Mrs. S. said though, making your own clothes can be terribly expensive. When my children were little, it didn't cost much....after all, it didn't take much fabric to make an outfit. In fact, many times I'd go to thrift shops or garage sales and buy certain garments, which had hardly ever been used, in order to get the fabric for their clothes. Also, I would hit any "bag" sale that came along, specifically picking up items with many nice buttons ($$$) and really good zippers! I could get $100 worth of "buttons/zippers/fabric" in a bag...all for a buck!!
When my kids started to school, I became a "re-maker", of sorts. I would pick up really nice clothes and do alterations on them to fit and match the current style. I did much more for my daughter than I did for my sons, for pretty obvious reasons, I mean, you can only take jeans in just so far, and many of the "guys" shirts, had been worn pretty well. You can take in t-shirts and polos though. I made my daughter some of the most gorgeous dresses out of "brand new", donated dresses, even combining the fabrics from 2 or more dresses, simply using the purchased (for $1 or less) "blanks/foundations" for her. Some of them took a considerable amount of time, but I do love creativeness and thriftiness! LOL
The way I figured it, if I could go out and buy a dress that contained 5-7 yards of $15/yd fabric for $1-$2, turn around and use that dress to make and accent 2 or more articles of clothing...that = fun! LOL Clothing prices are not what they use to be, Mags. If you want to learn how to sew, in order to make your own slipcovers for furniture, drapes and curtains for windows, etc., that's where you save the money and get what you want. There are many things out there that can be turned into house furnishings by using flat sheets (on sale), items from thrift stores and garage sales, etc. I think you SHOULD learn to sew. Honestly, it's not hard, it just takes practice. Just think of the money you'd save on throw pillows if you make new covers for yours...or purchase "like new" ones second hand and re-cover them!
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Ahhhhhh but knowledge is wasted on the young, who have no real appreciation for it. They think they know it all, and yet know so very little....helpless little buggers that they are!
