It's been a nothing sort of day. I've tried to keep moving (back still v bad but following Sarah's advice and giving it a good rub has helped). My tumble dryer fainted this afternoon but now is apparently fine. Bear continues with his determination to make himself a quilt for his bed and I'm not sure I'm up to helping him finish it off, but I will see what we can manage. I'm being completely honest about my skills and the lack of them because I think it's only fair that bear knows that even if you don't always have the exact skills, you can still have a go.
My late mother apparently could do dressmaking and embroidery and all sorts. She told me about how her great aunt used to sit her down and make her set a cuff with hand sewing and how at the very nice school she went to they did all the home making sciences properly. She could follow a pattern, and she could knit and embroider and crochet, but she never really did much. She had a tapestry which was a large piece of tapestry canvas which she called her sanity saver as whenever she was feeling particularly stressed she pulled it out and did odd shaped blocks of different shades of green. She taught me how to sew on a button and how to switch yarns on a knitting pattern. My late grandmother taught me how to knit - cast on, cast off, knit and purl. The rest of it I more or less taught myself.
Looking back, I feel like there was something of a switch and bait. My mother could cook, but very rarely did and I taught myself most of the skills I know. She taught me how to do laundry and she did a very good job of that. Despite the disasters I write about, I think I keep our clothes clean with the minimum of wear and a lot of that is down to her. But she never really showed me much of the skills she had or she said she had. .
I grew up feeling inadequate next to my mother, but looking back I think I knew more, even from my teens. I'm determined to make sure bear doesn't feel like that. I hope I can show him that he can learn stuff from me, from his teachers and from books and the internet and I have told him that one day I am sure he will be teaching me things. The knitting and sewing can be a great adventure, so let's enjoy it.
You can learn an amazing amount from books and the internet. I grew up fascinated with sewing and crafts. My mom's mother was a dressmaker, but I think all that skipped a generation and my mother was not interested in sewing (just mending and embroidery). I spent as much time as possible learning from my grandmother until she passed away, then I went on to learn from library books. I started quilting in the 80's when I started a family. I had no one to teach me, so I just sewed squares of leftover sewing fabrics together, layered them with an old sheet and batting (I think you call it wadding) and tied it together, making knots with yarn in the corners of each block. It was tough going and I used pliers to pull the needle through. Later I did some hand quilting and then machine quilting. I wished that I had youtube back in those days- so many tips and ideas. For the past 18 years I have been running a longarm quilting business from my home. My husband and I both quilt. Too bad we are in Canada, I would be happy to quilt Bear's first quilt. I wish you both all the best and happy quilting!
ReplyDeleteBarb from Canada
I think bear is following in your footsteps! The business sounds fascinating, and I wish I could bring bear's 'quilt so far' to you. I'm pointing him in the direction of YouTube a lot! LM x
DeleteLessons learned from generation to generation aren't always the physical ones x
ReplyDeleteAin't that the truth! LM x
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