Sewing mamas!Calling all AmityMama's who like to sew! Do you make quilts, clothes, diapers, bags? Do you love to run your fingers through fiber? Can't get enough just sewing, but want to talk about it too? Come on in!
A couple posts lately have me thinking about this. What are your most treasured sewing heirlooms from your Mom, Grandma, Aunt, Friend or someone else special?
I have the dress my Mom made for my first birthday in well, lets just say the mid 1960's. My dd wore it for her first birthday.
My Mom recently gifted me my Grandmother's and Great grandmother's dressmakers shears, used to cut out my Mom's and my baby clothes.
I will have my Grandma's sewing machine when I have a good place to put it.
Its nice to think about the history and tradition wrapped in our sewing items and to imagine passing them along to the next generation someday.
Mine is big: I have a Singer sewing machine from the 30's? 40's? in it's original cabinet with the treadle and it has *not* been electrified. I it. When my grandmother died, it was the only thing I wanted and my grandfather was kind enough to oblige me.
honestly... the only thing I can think of, but isn't material... is my gift and love of sewing. I don't have anything that was really given to me, or any old clothing that was made... but my grandmother taught me to sew and I love her for it
Oh wait, I do have baby quilts that my mom and my aunt made me when I was baby that Chloe is using right now
I have a small set of drawers that were my step-grandfather's mothers. When my grandpa died, my grandma was getting rid of some things and I mentioned that I'd really like the drawers and she told me that she really needed to give them to one of my aunts/uncles because they had belonged to Grandma Frances. It really hurt my feelings because I was close to Grandma Frances my whole childhood...blood wasn't important. After a week or so, she reconsidered and apologized, then gave me the the drawers. I looove them. I'm not making good use of them at the moment, but they sit on my filing cabinet and make me smile every time I see them. They remind me of Grandma Frances, and of my grandfather because I got them right after he died, and of my grandmother because she is the one that gave them to me. I'm the only one in the family who sews, so it seems fitting that I should have them (even though I didn't sew when she gave them to me)
j
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Jamie, wife to Joe, momma to Lauren (1/27/02) and Tara (2/3/05)
I have that pin cushion that's on the board right now, of course. I also have an older machine that I actually know very little about... It belonged to my great grandfather (on the other side of the family). He was a tailor and this was his personal machine.
__________________ ~*Meagan*~
Mama to my Sweet Pixie, Sophie Elise
Eventually we will be inheriting 3 quilts made by my dh's great great grandmother. I love looking at all the tiny stitches on them and they were all sewn by hand. One of them is made from old feed sacks. My mil still has them. She also has the old pedal style machine that I think is 100 years old and been in her family the whole time. That will be ours someday too.
Both my grandmas sewed but neither one of them seemed to save anything. My one grandma used to make me and my sister lots of matching stuff when we were little. My mom gave me the matching Strawberry Shortcake aprons to my girls last year that were me and my sisters. She didn't think she'd saved anything else though.
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Amy, mom to 4 girls (10, 8, 4, & 2) and 2 boys (4 & 10 mo)
Summer 2005
I have lots of doll clothes (for Cabbage Patch Kids) that my mom made for me that my girls play with now. And a quilt that my uncle made for his firstborn son that my aunt gave to me when our oldest daughter was born (with lots of hand embroidery! No wonder he only made the one, lol!!). And a doll my grandma and grandpa made for me when I was younger, and a king-sized quilt my grandma & aunt made as a wedding gift. And a queen-sized and baby-sized quilt dh's grandma made for us and our oldest daughter before she died. And a quilt dh's other grandma made for our 2nd daughter. There are lots of sewing-creative folks on all sides of our family.
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Mommy to Miss Ariel, Peanut Ava and Sweet Baby James
I also have a quilt my mom made me for my double bed when I was 11. She hand embroidered cats on all the squares.
My mom has a collection of quilts from her grandmother and great grandmother that will be mine someday. A couple of them are handsewn from bits of old clothing and some of the clothes she can identify.
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Allison
mama to Ara, Simone, and Zarin
I have lots and lots of buttons. My Grammie saved every button she ever saw. LOL Many of them are in bad shape, but some are still usable. And some are so old, they're bone, wood, or glass.
I use some of them for my projects and it warms my heart every time. I know my Grammie would be thrilled that I used some of her old saved buttons.
I also have my Grammie's old pin cushion. I use it all the time.
My Grammie wasn't much of a seamstress, but she loved to crochet. I have lots of stuff she made me when I was a kid. When I taught myself to crochet this past fall, I felt so close to her. I think that's one of the reasons I love knitting and crocheting so much. I miss her terribly.
What a fun thread! I also have quite a heritage of sewing. My mom tells me all the time how proud my paternal grandma and maternal great grandma would be of my sewing. Grandma sewed all her own clothes, which is what I'm aiming for (though she did it out of necessity, I do it for fun, creativity, and a better fit). She taught me how to hand sew as a child, but passed away before sewing became my passion. I have some flour sack dish towels she hand embroidered.
Great Grandma could quilt like no tomorrow! I have a precious twin size log cabin quilt she made for me when I was born, and she embroidered her name and mine on the back with the date (by hand of course!), and that is so special to me. I was born in '73, so it's fun to see some of those retro prints in it. I also use one of the pincushions she made. I took a photo since we're all talking pincushions lately!
And my mom made lots of things for us kids when we were little, but now she only sews a project a year or so. She made Daniel pjs once, and a fleece blanket, and I have all the doll clothes she made for my Mandy doll. Do you remember those?
Ahhh... good memories! Thanks for reminding me!
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Sarah
mama to Daniel, 5 yrs., and Amelia, 4 yrs.
My great grandma died a couple days before Jac was born. She had lots of stuff, but some of it my grandma (her daughter) kept.
I did get the quilt she made in the 1920's for her hope chest. It's hanging in my room. Oh, and I have her buttonhole scissors. I also have several jars of buttons that she and my grandma saved over the years.
Nothing really :0( I hope to inherit my grandma's old treadle singer with cabinet too (she had 11 children and sewed all of their clothing). Right now the sewing machine is in LA...used as a decorative piece by my uncle. Hopefully it will return to Fresno someday!
All of my mom's sewing stuff was thrown out long ago...we never saved any of her handmade items either...except for Halloween costumes (but then she loaned them out to numerous people who never returned them).
I don't have a lot of sewn heirlooms but I have a stripey afghan my grandma made for my high school graduation. I have a quilt she helped me make when I was 13, it's horrible but I love it--double knit polyester in all the lovely colors. It will last forever. My dad just told me he has the fancy satin and velvet crazy quilt she made and that one day it will be mine. I also have some doilies crocheted by my great-grandmother and some hankies with crocheted edging but I'm not sure who did it.
On my mom's side--my great grandmother quilted and I hope to have a quilt she made someday. I have a few pictures of quilts she made and I think I'll make a copy of at least one of them someday.
And then, maybe not an heirloom yet, but my wedding dress (that I made) is pretty special to me too.
My mom has her grandmother's Singer Treadle machine with the wood/iron stand that will one day come to live at my house. It still works like butta' !
Dh has a cloth picture/activity book his late mom made for him when he was little. it has hand embroidered animals, numbers, letters, a page with buttons and zippers and velcro to fasten etc.. it's very cute and ds likes it too.
My dd wore it for her first birthday.
it. When my grandmother died, it was the only thing I wanted and my grandfather was kind enough to oblige me.
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