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WALK into the modest railroad-style brownstone apartment and it feels less like Brooklyn and more like stepping off the steam train into “Little House on the Park Slope Prairie.”
My mother did a lot of sewing, but what she really loved was knitting. She would knit hats, scarves, sweaters, mittens, gloves, socks, and all kinds of other items.
As long as I can remember she'd always end her day with knitting. She also did lots of canning and other self-reliant things that saved money and made a home feel more like a home.
She hung out clothes year round and I still smile thinking about the times I took them off the line when they were frozen stiff as a board.
This was back in the late 1960s and all of the 1970s btw. Not in the 1800s.
My mom can’t so worth a lick. It’s odd because she worked in a garment factory from the late 50s through 1985. Now she can stitch up a small tear, but it looks unsightly, and generally tears out in short order. In fact, most women I’ve been with couldn’t sew. In 1990, I married a beautiful woman that couldn’t cook or sew. One night, early in our marriage, I heard her typical rant. [i]bleep, bleep, bleep![/img] Alarmed by her distress, I inquired if she’d broken another nail. I remember how stressful it was for her when she broke a nail, so much to my relief, I found out she had torn one of her favorite articles of clothing, but much to my dismay, this was worse for her than a broken nail. It was late, so she tossed the garment in the trash and went to bed. I fished it out, and stitched up the 6-inch gash. Luckily, she’d only torn the seam so there was no evidence of the repair. I placed them on the end table, and the next morning, she woke me from a sound sleep, “How did you fix that? Wow! I can’t even tell it was torn” she said with great delight. You see, to her, eye candy with no skills, but very intelligent despite her vanity, sewing up an article of clothing meant it wouldn’t hold and it looked ugly. I had taken the material, rolled the seam over and pinned it. I turned it inside out, and I then lined it up, and I took a ruler and placed it against the seam where I was going to stitch, and I held it in place with small alligator clips. I then made level evenly spaced buttonhole stitches, so when I was done, each stitch made a knot, so if one tore, the rest wouldn’t pull out, and the end result was a rather handsome repair that looked like a machine had done it. She asked me where I learned to sew, and I told her, In the Marine Corps. That always cracked up every woman I’ve ever been with after she asked me how I learned to sew so well. They taught me how to repair my uniforms, and I paid attention. Yea, my job was to rain steel and they taught me well, but they also showed me how to go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, and clean things very well. I still repair my clothing, and my mom generally comes to me with repairs she needs on her and my dad’s clothing.
I can’t relate to the knitting aspect, but I do understand where you’re coming from. On my dad’s side, family of 13, most of his sisters knitted. Some even made blankets, and like you, this was in the 60s through the 80s.
I still hang my clothing out. The dryer beats clothing up too much. When you clean the lint filter after each load, and I hope you do, all that lint is your clothing. It’s like taking your spare change at the end of the day and throwing it in the garbage. That’s what you’re doing when you use a dryer. I hang everything out. During the winter months, I use 3 clothing dryer racks. If you put a little vinegar and baking soda in your wash, it doesn’t get as stiff, and during the summer months, plan your was days around breezy weather, and you’ll never have stiff clothing.
I can relate to your topic. Thanks for starting it.
I sewed my first project at the age of 10; a bathing suit. I was very short and oddly built (and still am, BTW), and off-the-rack didn't fit me. I made my own prom dress out of glittering red jersey, and many skirts, dresses, and blouses, some of which I have to this day. I also learned to make tied baby quilts - not with fancy machines, but on a Quilting frame. When I was pregnant with my first child, I made all of his clothes, even with embroidery and rolled trim. DH learned to sew long before we ever met, and we both can whipstitch a hem in a few minutes. When we moved in to this house, there were some nasty old curtains, so I had to make new ones. I am currently working on several quilts, and have my own sewing room where I can rip out anything in a few hours. DH built me my own quilting frame for my birthday last year.
I love the material I can get and turn into pretty things, I order it by the bolt or half bolt on sale and use it up. One of my current quilts is a reversible; it has different fruits, vegetables, and spices on the front, and Christmas scenes and colors on the back; both are 'squared' with dark green. With the leftover 'vegetable' material, I made DH a lined apron for his kitchen chores, he not only loves it, it goes with our rustic French bistro kitchen decor, along with the kerosene lamps and antiques that we bought for next to nothing at auctions.
Our whole attitude has always been 'just because we are poor and handmake almost everything, doesn't mean we can't make things pretty'. A good seam anymore is worth its weight in gold, now that most of the textile work and sewing is done overseas and falls apart in a single season of wearing.One of the things I have noticed lately is the decline of the tensile strength of most threads; good cotton thread is hard to find and a gold mine when you do.
My mother considered sewing, knitting, crocheting and embroidry necessary skills. We lived in the country and had livestock. She never let my father go to the feed and seed store alone. She went with him so she could pick out the correct Purina feed bags. These bags were cotton and had printed designs. She made dresses for us with the printed bags. The plain cotton bags (I think it was chicken supplement) became daddy's boxers. Unfortunately the print on the plain bags was printed onto the cloth. It wouldn't wash out, so for years my father had 'Purina' going across his buttocks.
Right now, I don't have the time. After retirement, look out!
All of our bed linens do have crewel embroidry designs. I find crewel embroidry is relaxing. I have had people ask me to teach them. When they find out it takes patience, they quit. Most people want something that can be done quickly.
The best socks I ever wore were knitted to fit my foot. I have never been truely comfortable in the one-size-fits-all socks.
I just gave a friend of mine a book that has 501 things kids can do that don't need a computer or TV. Cracked me up that someone actually wrote a book on this.
This was back in the late 1960s and all of the 1970s btw. Not in the 1800s.
I'm from the same generation as your Mom -- old, back-to-the-land, tie-dye-wearing, long-haired hippies are still around everywhere, even in Brooklyn! Thanks for posting that article.
Being required to take Home Ec classes and growing up on a self-sufficient farm gave me life skills like sewing that I assumed everyone knew how to do. I was utterly mystified the first time a Gen X coworker freaked out about a missing button on her blouse. When I asked her to show me the side seams, there were two extra buttons the manufacturer had generously included. I clipped one of them off, whipped out my little purse sewing kit, selected a similar color thread to the blouse, and proceeded to sew on the missing button while she was standing there. She seemed fascinated, so I asked if she knew how to sew on a button -- nope, nobody ever taught her such a basic skill.
With me, the hand arts passion has always been crocheting. (I'm hopeless at manipulating knitting needles and have to have a hook.) I've used string, twine, jute, yarn, and even vines to fashion all sorts of things just because I took sewing classes and know how pattern pieces fit together. I've made everything from elaborate afghans and tablecloths to sweaters and scarf and hat sets. My DH jokes that I could crochet us a house if he could just find enough yarn in the same dye lot.
I agree that the "instant gratification" mindset of subsequent generations to my own makes it difficult to teach and transmit the love and usefulness of hand arts. Such a shame...
My grandma sewed things nearly every day until she passed at 86 back in 1972. She made all my and my brother's baby clothes, our shorts and seersucker shirts for summer, all but our underwear and school uniforms. I remember getting some hand-me-downs from wealthier cousins when I was about 12. As the oldest, I got 'em first. I remember that they were real, store-bought garments, and I felt quite the 'man' wearing those duds!
I also remember my grandma's button box, kept in the kitchen in one of her cabinets. Boys are always losing buttons, and Grandma would let us pick out the button we wanted, and she'd sew it on for us. In those days, she washed our clothes by hand and hung them out on the backyard clothesline. Kids today don't know what a "clothes pin" is!
We didn't get a real washer until about 1970, and a dryer until about 5 years later. We lived in the city, and by then, neighbors looked down on you if you hung your clothes out to dry. Go figure.
Nowadays it'll cost you a fortune to buy "bespoke" suits (tailored just for you), so I buy off-the-rack. I thought about it a few years ago...I spent my childhood wearing "bespoke"!
I grew up in the 60's/70's. in a small town in upstate NY. We didn't have a farm but we did have chickens, ducks,2 pigs and a steer...not all at the same time, though.
I was in 4-H from age 9 to 17 when I graduated high school, so I learned how to cook,sew,garden,work with the animals,make nature crafts/crafts in general.
My mom didn't know how to do any of those things as she grew up in the big city(New York City).
She wanted to live out in the country and learn how to do all the things that country folk did. So we learned, some things together.
growing up, the thing I HATED the most was gardening. It was a lot of hard work digging the garden with just a shovel and hoe!! But we got it done and enjoyed the fruit of our labors all winter long, with home canned veggies, jam, pickles etc.
I raised my family, (1 girl), and tried to pass on what I could to her, but she wasn't as interested in the "domestic, country things."
I made a lot of her clothes when she was small. I still have one or two of the things I made for her. I used to do a lot more sewing for myself back then(late 80's) but a divorce forced me to get a "real job in the real world" and my crafty days ended. I still would end my days in the winter especially with crocheting. Now even that has become a hit and miss thing as I can only crochet for short periods of time due to some physical challenges(both hands & eyes).. but I do try.
I've thought about going back to machine sewing clothes for myself, as I definitely don't like the quality of clothing available in the stores, besides the fact that most are not suitable for a 55 yr. old woman who's short and wide what's up with that whole scenario, anyway? There's very little clothing made appropriate for an older woman now-a-days.
I very seldom shop for clothing other than at thrift stores, and what other people give me that they're getting rid of. Some things fit, others don't so I pass them along to others. Haven't bought any new clothes for myself in many years now.
Anyway, the old ways are going the way of the dinosaur, with a pocket or two of revival here and there. OH for the simple days of not so long ago...
All the Christmas or Birthday presents I got from my grandmother, were all crocheted or sewn. All my doll clothes. Every year she would give me a small doll with a different outfit. I think people need to get back to basics and appreciate craft work, done with love.
....stonecypher5413... I also was required to take Home Ec in school and thought everyone knew how to sew.
I've made everything from elaborate afghans and tablecloths to sweaters and scarf and hat sets.
I don't think we ever bought a blanket. My mom made them all. Or afghans, not sure if the two can be considered the same.
She also made some of the most beautiful angora sweaters you've ever seen.
And my parents also made their own beer, which my mom enjoyed a glass of while knitting. There were seven kids in my family and not much cash. But if there's a will there's a way, and my mom found a way.
She was indeed a domestic goddess.
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sewing patterns used to popular
what's up with that whole scenario, anyway? There's very little clothing made appropriate for an older woman now-a-days.
