tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post3526435305932215161..comments2023-10-11T04:09:53.564-07:00Comments on materfamilias writes: Stitching up a memory . . . .materfamiliashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16062766947897513369noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post-14311683298176804432013-01-29T08:58:35.378-08:002013-01-29T08:58:35.378-08:00I truly have no idea. I have to ask. I only assume...I truly have no idea. I have to ask. I only assume that they were sent out. On my own clothes, frequently, I just lived without a button. Never occurred to me to ask my mother about fixing. (Scary, I realize).K.Linehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15350615302797686048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post-77380906925874799292013-01-28T18:50:11.157-08:002013-01-28T18:50:11.157-08:00You sound like me -- although I never flew all ove...You sound like me -- although I never flew all over the world, nor worked 70-hour weeks. But life seems to have interfered, for a few decades now, with my enjoyment of sewing. One of these days . . . <br />And I do believe Cath Kidston can be found in Canada, but not so easily -- from what I've seen, I agree that it's gorgeous. materfamiliashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16062766947897513369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post-73776331781949460892013-01-28T18:48:44.911-08:002013-01-28T18:48:44.911-08:00How interesting and how practical of your father t...How interesting and how practical of your father to be able to do his own mending, and to be so organized that he had needles and thread ready. Realistically, during their military service, many men must have learned these skills (and perhaps many of them tried to cleverly "forget" what they had learned in favour of delegating the mending to their wife)<br />I like your last comment -- letting others "feel free" to use the sewing materials is much better than guarding all the mending tasks to oneself! ;-)materfamiliashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16062766947897513369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post-28264026519077856142013-01-28T18:46:32.918-08:002013-01-28T18:46:32.918-08:00Yep! My buttons too.
From a child's perspecti...Yep! My buttons too. <br />From a child's perspective, a sewing kit must be quite magical. I remember sorting buttons from my grandmother's Button Box, and then watching my children do the same thing with mine (got rid of it at some too-efficient moment of downsizing, sadly!)materfamiliashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16062766947897513369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post-73833210893438417232013-01-28T18:44:55.240-08:002013-01-28T18:44:55.240-08:00Did she sew for you and your sister, or mainly for...Did she sew for you and your sister, or mainly for herself? And if for you, can you remember any particular garments?materfamiliashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16062766947897513369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post-26431348514357504682013-01-28T18:44:02.685-08:002013-01-28T18:44:02.685-08:00Interesting. How do you think garments got mended?...Interesting. How do you think garments got mended? Were hems outsourced along with button-replacements? This makes me wonder, now, what my daughters do, especially the two with their own daughters. Now to approach the subject, oh so cautiously . . . ;-)materfamiliashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16062766947897513369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post-38110363902523207822013-01-28T18:42:43.726-08:002013-01-28T18:42:43.726-08:00My Mom didn't have a sewing machine but the ma...My Mom didn't have a sewing machine but the machine was always set up, open and ready to go -- and you're right, it was so convenient. I used to have a corner that I kept mine in, but somehow in the move to this house (almost 20 years ago) that got forgotten. I really want to work it back into my life, I'm beginning to realize, and all these wonderful comments are really affirming that desire. Thank you!materfamiliashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16062766947897513369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post-88161480352606951442013-01-28T18:40:02.252-08:002013-01-28T18:40:02.252-08:00So do you have a button box? Or is yours a stash o...So do you have a button box? Or is yours a stash of buttons on cards? Or? You'll have fun searching out five new matching ones for a baby sweater -- such a dangerous distraction! ;-)materfamiliashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16062766947897513369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post-8619237994503683412013-01-28T18:38:58.576-08:002013-01-28T18:38:58.576-08:00This is where I've got to as well, and even th...This is where I've got to as well, and even the simple things like securing the loose buttons, often mean a garment languishing in the mending pile for far too long. . . .materfamiliashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16062766947897513369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post-53162271165294711332013-01-28T18:38:14.743-08:002013-01-28T18:38:14.743-08:00Now you're making me envious . . . I want mill...Now you're making me envious . . . I want millions of spools as well, and I'd love to store them in an antique pharmaceutical cabinet. Wonderful!materfamiliashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16062766947897513369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post-87892039573569882013-01-28T18:37:18.841-08:002013-01-28T18:37:18.841-08:00I love that your kids know where to grab a needle ...I love that your kids know where to grab a needle and thread to do some mending on there on. <br />It does seem practical, keeping the needle in a curtain at the ready, doesn't it? I rather miss it, although I hadn't even thought of it for years and years.materfamiliashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16062766947897513369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post-6525374122745281382013-01-28T18:35:57.484-08:002013-01-28T18:35:57.484-08:00What a great gift for your nieces -- along with th...What a great gift for your nieces -- along with the bigger gift of teaching them to sew.<br />Interesting that your sewing basket came to you through your MIL, as did my sewing machine cabinet.. . Hope your ferry was on time and that you had a smooth sailing!materfamiliashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16062766947897513369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post-22575542268277735092013-01-28T11:44:55.583-08:002013-01-28T11:44:55.583-08:00My mother hated sewing and always had a too large ...My mother hated sewing and always had a too large needle with too thick thread, invariably black or white, so that anything she did had cross, clumsy stitches all over it. My grandmother by contrast was a demon with the sewing machine, an old treadle. I like to sew although I abandoned it for years when I was working seventy hour weeks and flying all over the world. Now I have a rather beautiful Cath Kidston sewing box (not sure if you have Cath in Canada, lovely stuff) but also half a dozen boxes filled with my mother in law's sewing things which I neither use nor throw away!Elizabeth Musgravehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09473705107636868753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post-62808399692321923862013-01-28T11:12:27.890-08:002013-01-28T11:12:27.890-08:00Never heard before about the kitchen curtain tip. ...Never heard before about the kitchen curtain tip. It sounds like a very practical place, as women earlier spent most of their time in the kitchen.<br />I have no memories of my mother or grandmother sewing anything, but my father had a small roundish zippered leather case, where he kept his needles and threads. He mended small things ( his own ).<br />My late MIL had an ugly sewing kit. No one was allowed to open it without her permission. Luckily I never had the need.<br />My own " sewing kit " is in three small boxes in a chest of drawers. I pull out the thread from the needle when I´m finished.<br />Everyone is free to use the needles and threads ; ).mettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13732534795009852825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post-33559899836175544942013-01-28T08:38:11.300-08:002013-01-28T08:38:11.300-08:00I loved this post. When I was a child, my mom had ...I loved this post. When I was a child, my mom had a sewing kit that I just thought was the most amazing box of goodies ever. It was a large, latched box with multiple compartments. These days I have no idea where my small travel sewing kit is. So my buttons often go unreplaced for long stretches of time when I lose one. Raquelitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13138113830990586689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post-24642522642358962802013-01-28T07:46:43.598-08:002013-01-28T07:46:43.598-08:00Mother was a great seamstress. She had oodles of t...Mother was a great seamstress. She had oodles of thread and needles and a very full pin cushion. <br />Your post transported me back to the days when I would sit by and watch Mother ply her craft. <br />What a beautiful post to wake up to mater. Thank you. hostess of the humble bungalowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06453827257671312902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post-9541267435498462312013-01-28T07:29:17.212-08:002013-01-28T07:29:17.212-08:00What an evocative post! I have no memory of my mot...What an evocative post! I have no memory of my mother ever sewing or mending anything but she did have a wicker sewing basket with a top handle (derelict-seeming) that she probably had had since her childhood. I wonder where that went.K.Linehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15350615302797686048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post-74075970854640737882013-01-28T06:59:47.671-08:002013-01-28T06:59:47.671-08:00Gosh, sewing was such a part of our lives growing ...Gosh, sewing was such a part of our lives growing up. My mother actually had a sewing room, and a wicker sewing box with all the usual tools. Just having the sewing machine in a place where you could just plunk yourself down and stitch a quick seam was fabulous. I've never had that though I spent many years sewing my own clothes. I consider sewing a basic life skill and it is reinforced every time a see a woman (both young and not so young) wearing pants meant for a person 5" taller. No one, it seems, knows how to hem pants or even bothers to pin them up. They just wear them out and throw them out. That's the real legacy of fast fashion. I have a sewing box and there's nothing I like better than darning and patching. What a lucky baby to have a knitted sweater with buttons and buttonholes. A good start in life.L'age moyenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03297717031402619963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post-63312027795984346582013-01-28T05:57:39.719-08:002013-01-28T05:57:39.719-08:00Love this post! It especially resonated because I...Love this post! It especially resonated because I just finished baby sweater yesterday -- and discovered there are not five matching buttons in my stash, so I must go shopping. I keep needles threaded with black, white, and khaki thread in the drawer of my bedside table for those last-minute button replacements. I hadn't heard of the kitchen curtain tip -- but I love it!Triciahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12979113683683598684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post-57864707367863699222013-01-28T02:49:04.698-08:002013-01-28T02:49:04.698-08:00If it's something simple, like a loose button,...If it's something simple, like a loose button, I do it myself. Anything else I leave with my tailor. I have a very old sewing box with threads, needles, etc., but I'm sure it's dusty from so little use.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14708996600777344290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post-81675260647788039592013-01-27T20:48:43.189-08:002013-01-27T20:48:43.189-08:00I have a vintage Chinese Wedding basket I use as s...I have a vintage Chinese Wedding basket I use as sewing basket. It is stocked with pin cushion, needles, buttons, scissors etc, but my needles are not threaded. I keep my millions of spools in an antique pharmacists cabinet.Jenniferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04723360304687997220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post-45221017047781532872013-01-27T18:12:49.678-08:002013-01-27T18:12:49.678-08:00What a lovely post. When I was a child, all sewing...What a lovely post. When I was a child, all sewing stuff (and there wasn't a lot as my mother can sew but hates it!) was kept in an antique lacquered wooden basket - actually, she still keeps her stash in there. I have a much less attractive sewing box, and a stand for my spools of thread, but we do still know where things are - in fact, just this morning Kid 2 went off to locate needle and thread to sew up some holes in her favourite blankie, while I stitched up the jumper I'm working on. And yes, I always leave a few threaded ... I love the idea of keeping a threaded needle in a curtain, but we don't have curtains in our kitchen. I will stash that thought in case I ever have a house in which that will work! Tiffanyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11536212906241844509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904021173466473381.post-2788931826041961612013-01-27T14:38:28.071-08:002013-01-27T14:38:28.071-08:00Oh the memories this post stirred up. My needles a...Oh the memories this post stirred up. My needles are in a basket inherited from my MIL's second husband's first wife's mother. Layers and layers of sewing history there. There are always a couple of needles threaded - sometimes three. There will be black and white and whatever other colour was last used. I don't sew much anymore but all is ready. My mum had a sewing tin that always sat on the kitchen counter. I have the tin now too but use it for embroidery notions. <br />Neither of my sisters sews so I've been teaching my nieces each time I visit. Last Christmas I gave each of them a stocked sewing basket.<br />Happy Sunday from the ferry terminal at Tswassen where I wait for the ferry to take me to work for the week. .......Pondsidehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02407539138546412482noreply@blogger.com