Today I am grateful for the many women in my life who sew. I know so many women who sew, and do it beautifully: my moms, aunts, cousins, friends. But, more specifically, I am grateful for my grandmothers, who sew.
I think my earliest memory of someone sewing, or making, their own clothing comes from my grandmother Tanner, my mom's mom. I remember going into her sewing room and admiring her sewing machine and spools of thread on her wall. I remember looking through her boxes of fabric and notions. Whenever my cousins and I would come for a family dinner at Grandma's house, we would get out some material that Grandma had set aside just for us, and we'd proceed to drape the fabric on our bodies to make costumes. I don't remember a year when we acted out the Nativity on Christmas Eve without the girl playing Mary wearing some of that fabric on her head. My mother sews extremely well, but I remember learning that it was possible to make our own clothing *shocker* because my grandma Tanner used to make us shorts to wear in the summer. She would tie quilts, and let us join her. In fact, at a church activity before we moved to Arizona we tied quilts, and I recalled my grandmother's quick and painless way to do it (and, of course, passed on the knowledge). Of all the memories I have of my grandmother Tanner, very few don't include sewing of some sort.
My grandmother Werner was a master seamstress. She worked for ZCMI (now Macy's) for years and years in alterations. Having experienced a small amount of what she would do on a daily basis, I have a deep appreciation for her talents. When I was little and my family would visit my grandparents Werner, my grandma would let us look through a box of stationary they had sitting around. We were able to pick out whatever we wanted to take with us. I almost always chose the cards that could be folded in thirds and held together with a sticker, making it the envelope as well. One year, my grandma made me a stationary holder, with pockets for all of the stationary and cards; it's something I still have today, and have passed down to Eliza. I remember playing with the charm necklace my grandma wore all the time. There was a little pair of scissors on there, with other sewing paraphernalia, and I thought it was so cute and fitting. But, I think my fondest memory of my grandmother Werner is of a time a few years ago when we were in Utah for a wedding. Adam was only eight months old, and we had been asked to provide ties for my boys to wear for the wedding reception. Light blue ties. Not only that, but my girls were asked to be flower girls. So, I made my girls' dresses before we went to Utah, but I didn't get the ties made. I went to my grandma's house to visit with her, and she let me use her sewing machines to make bow ties for my two boys. I think I love this memory so much because my children were in my grandma's sewing room (which wasn't very large to begin with), I was sitting at one sewing machine, my grandma at another, and we were talking and sharing. It's such a dear memory for me, and I hope it's one that she holds dear as well. A few years ago when my grandma moved out of her house and into an assisted living facility, she had to give away a lot of the things she had in her house. She gave me her serger. (The picture above is of the model I have, but not mine.) I love that serger, not just because of the work I am able to do with it, but because every time I get it out, I remember my grandma.
I have quite a legacy of sewers in my family. My mom spent what little time she had to make my costume for a high school musical, and then turned right around and worked on a quilt for me to take to college. Both of my grandmother's, and my mom shared their sewing talent with me. I think that's why I chose to begin sewing when I was twenty-years-old with a newborn baby girl waiting for a blessing dress. A blessing dress that was made from my wedding dress. I look at that dress now and see all of my errors and mistakes, but I cherish it much more than my most recent project .... it may not have been the most practical thing to make as a beginning seamstress, but I chose to make it with love, and a determination to live up to the sewing legacy I'd been handed.
Comments
So glad you shared it!