Question:
How about a contest?
Memorable Sewing Moment Contest:
Do you have a favorite "sewing" memory? Is there something special you've sewn, either for yourself or for someone else, that stands out in your mind? What was it and why? Or, did your Mom or Grandmother or someone else, sew something for you that you have especially fond memories of? What was it and why? Or, do you have a sewing disaster that will haunt you the rest of your life? What was it and why?
This contest is for everyone! Please don't think you need to be a professional seamstress to respond.
The name of everyone who posts a response before midnight Thursday (except Elaine & I) will be tossed into a hat and a winner drawn.
We even have a prize! A colorful Fimo clay and glass bead eyeglass chain.
Good luck and let's have some fun!
Answer:
Thought I would get the entries started just to give some ideas.
At first I considered things I had sewn myself. Possibly the first thing I ever sewed on a machine when I was about 8, a rag doll that I didn't have a pattern for or anything. I also made her a blue gingham dress and she had yarn hair. When I was about 10 my grandmother taught me how to use her treadle sewing machine. She lived in a teeny tiny town in Pennsylvania and we took a cab to a nearby town and at the dime store I bought red fabric (can't remember the print) and made a purse on her sewing machine. I also remember the patchwork skirt I made out of kettle cloth for 8th grade Home Ec. The other gals were working on basic patterns but I had already been sewing so long I made the skirt and hand-embroidered all the seams like a crazy quilt. It even won a prize! Believe it or not, I still have both the rag doll and skirt...I can't believe I don't still have the purse!
I have dozens of special memories of things my Mom sewed for me. When we were growing up she made almost all my clothes. Lots of time she made them from taking apart something of hers and cutting the pattern from that fabric. When I got married she made my wedding dress, the four bride's maids dresses and the two flower girl dresses - that's pretty memorable!
But I believe the most special memory is the Barbie doll clothes she made for me when I was little. Unlike girls today, my sister and I each had one doll - Karen had a Barbie and I had her friend Midge. My Mom made us the most spectacular clothes. I can still clearly remember an amazing black wool coat with a real fur collar. I don't think I ever even understood she made them because we couldn't afford the store-bought clothes. I had a Barbie case full of her creations and spent hours playing with them. I had the best Barbie clothes on our block! I really wish I still had them but I gave them to a younger cousin when I got older. And many years later my Mom told me she absolutely hated making the clothes! She never liked working with the tiny pieces...but now she quilts!
OK, let's hear your memories!
Answer:
What a good idea. I have sew many good memories that I need to think about it for awhile but I'll be back.
Joan
Answer:
Ooooo, ouch, brings back painful memories. I was taking sewing class in high school, and I was also a cheerleader and we had to make our own cheerleading outfits. My mom was helping me with mine, but she forgot to remind me to move my fingers so they weren't so close to the needle that was bobbing up and down. When all of a sudden I felt pain, and the blood was oozing out of my finger onto my skirt I was sewing. I also broke the needle, and needless to say, my mom had to start the skirt part over. She would not let me touch the sewing machine the rest of the day.
I still hate to sew as of today, it's just not a fun thing for me. I will crochet forever because those needles do not hurt if they hit a finger.
Answer:
Over this summer sewing curtains for the dining room, and NOT really paying attention to what I was doing, I sewed the sleeve of my shirt into the lining of the curtains. I must admit, that was the FIRST and hopefully ONLY time I've ever done anything that silly.
Ripped my shirt sleve removing the stiches, but the lining was ok.
Answer:
My sewing memory still haunts me.
When I was in the 5th grade (this was during the 50's) the girls took sewing and the boys took woodworking. We chose the material to make a blouse and matching skirt and at the end of the year we were supposed to model our creations in front of our classmates, teachers and parents. I was always very nearsighted and had lots of trouble threading the needle and sewing in general - I was slow and behind everyone else even with extra help.
The school year was over and because of my slowness and inepitude (sp) at sewing I never got to put the buttons on my blouse or on the skirt! During the 'fashion show' I remember clutching the side of my skirt to keep it up and wearing the blouse open like a jacket! So embarrassing!!!!
Answer:
I learned to sew at my grandmother's knee, literally. She would spend most of the summer with us making school clothes on a treadle machine for my three sisters and me because my mother couldn't sew a stitch.
Since I was the oldest, she taught me how to do the handwork and from the time I was 9 yrs. old, while she did the machine work, I would do the hems, buttonholes, etc.
My favorite dress was a red taffeta prom dress that we made for my junior prom. It was so gorgeous......I thought it much nicer than all the store bought dresses.
Another favorite was when I dug out an old doll that had been a Christmas gift for my 30 something daughter when she was 5 years old. I cleaned her up as much as possible and made her a new dress but the hair was such a mess that I couldn't do much with it. Anyway, as soon as Susan opened the box she recognized the doll that she hadn't seen in over 20 years and started crying. I think it was the best gift that I have ever given to her.
I've had my share of boo boos, also. Like the time that I tried and tried to set a sleeve in a bride's maid dress and it simply wouldn't fit. I ripped it out 4 times before I realized that I was trying to set it in backwards.
Kathleen, I've stitched more than a few things together that didn't belong together, too.
Joan
Answer:
Yeah, I have one...
It is 6th grade and the teacher is doing a round of Home Ec topics.
Today is basic sewing...
And the nice teacher is letting all the boys go outside and play!
Except me.
My thoughtful Mom requested that I learn to sew!!!
Auggh imagine the horror!
I was teased mercilessly for days.
And I thank Mom every time I sew on a button!
Actually, simple sewing on a machine USED to be a decent ability of mine. T'was fun!
(She did the same dam thing when it was time for the SCHOOL WIDE sex ed movies.... 1 for boys 1 for girls... and me!)
Answer:
I never had any experience with making a quilt, but one time in the '70's I decided to make a tied whole cloth comforter using two cotton tapestry print bedspreads from India. What could be easier? I sewed the tapestries together around three sides, like a pillowcase. Then I unrolled the batting and tried to fit it smoothly into the "pillowcase". That didn't seem to work. Finally I crawled inside the tapestries and patted and pushed the batting into place, sort of. The end product was very lumpy but I loved it and kept it on my bed for years.
Perhaps my best thing done recently was a Halloween costume for a granddaughter. She is a very large child and she wanted to be Dorothy. We found a pattern that was a couple of sizes too small and I was able to alter it and make a really nicely fitting gingham dress that looked just like the one in the movie. She wore a wig and red glitter tennies. There was a contest at WalMart and she won first prize for her costume!
Answer:
Hennypenny, the mental picture of you inside that quilt trying to pat down the batting has made my day. Thanks for posting that.
Joan