"Now let me say this about that..."

I'm sorry, I've always wanted to use that line, ever since I heard President Nixon say it. Makes me laugh :) Please don't get the idea that I'm upset with my Mom for keeping her secrets, because I'm not. In fact, I was very motivated to learn stuff on my own and I guess she provided me with a good lesson to "go find out" what I wanted to know. I have done exactly that, too. I have learned how to spin yarns and threads, I can crochet, knit, tat, embroider, quilt and sew some quality goods! I have experienced a lifetime as a "seeker", enjoying every moment of discovery and mastery. Mom did teach me how to sew but that may have been in the interest of saving her machine from trial and error learning. Besides, it's kind of hard to hide a sewing machine - ha, ha, ha!

One of the skills I developed was in tatting; working not with a needle, or hook but a shuttle and some very tiny thread! I got "hooked" when I found a little box at a yard sale filled with ity-bity spools of multicoloured threads and a plastic fish-looking thing with thread wrapped around its middle. No internet then, it took a lot of research in the library to find out what it all meant and a tiny "how-to" book I found at Newbury's "5 and dime" store. My Mom said I was crazy, I brought back memories of the old ladies on the New York subways and buses. Actually, I remembered seeing old ladies chatting away, never looking at their work and never missing a stitch! I wanted to be like them. Well, I got the "old" part down, at least.

Tatting shuttles are just neat! They used to come in all kinds of sizes; not to long ago you could find them about 4 inches long and hefty enough to handle some thick yarns. Some have fixed bobbins - a part of the shuttle body - some have removable bobbins, so you can push in refills when you are in need of thread quickly. See the one with the grumpy old lady's portrait? That one has a special place in my heart - no we are not related. That is Lydia Pinkham; on the other side of the shuttle is an advertisement for Lydia E. Pinkham's vegetable compound aka "spring tonic". That was the nastiest stuff you could ever force down a child's throat but, starting at age eleven, my Mom made me take a spoonful every day - "good for what ails ya", the old folks would say. I think you can still get it at the pharmacies, only it's in capsule form (not fair!).

Treasure Box

Many decades ago, my father-in-law's mother, Goldie, and I became fast friends when I rescued her needlework tools and her baby doll from an "unauthorized" yard sale. She couldn't work with the tiny crochet tools anymore and gave me her needlebox and its contents for safe keeping. The box was locked but the wood was not strong enough to hold the clasp and when it popped open I was amazed. Inside were hooks of steel, bone and "Bakers plastic". Knitting needles, crochet hooks and hairpin lace holders among other things. As I began to catalog them, I found crochet hooks from pre-WW2 days, England, Sweden as well as "Boye" hooks that sold from $.10 to a whopping $.45! Some of the hooks are so fine in point that today's sewing thread is almost too big for them to handle.

Goldie past away many years ago but I have kept her needles safe and I have work with many of them to make fine thread crochet pieces. My Mom also had quite a few crochet hooks of her own but she kept them hidden away in boxes and drawers along with the beautiful motifs she started making in the late 1930's. I started bugging her, when I was in the 4th grade, to teach me how to crochet or knit but she said that she didn't know how to do either. Of course, years later, I was to learn that she did know how to knit and crochet - after I had taught myself! She made beautiful sweaters for my children when they were babies. One day, she pulled out of her stash a couple of balls of size 20 crochet thread, yellowed from age, and a beautiful star motif that had been made on a size 12 hook. I have since found many balls of thread and several of the motifs joined. What I can't find is the pattern; a lot of her sewing things date back to the early 1940s, late 1930s, and a couple of items I know she had as early as 1920. The thread, though, is probably from 1938 or 1940.

I think you can see with the single motif that she was quite skilled with a hook. The piece is tight, even, and doesn't buckle. In short, it is beautiful; all my attempts to recreate the motif haven't come close to her work!

Pin Cushion Dolls

I found these two ladies, wrapped in plastic bags, hiding in a box full of hem tape, thread, and remnants. They are "half dolls", popular during the last 2 centuries and maybe even earlier. The porcelain bodies are dressed in 18th century fashion, powdered wigs and revealing bodices. The ladies are dressed in taffeta that was once a cherry colour and now brown, stained and faded. What you can almost see is that the skirt of the forward doll is no longer intact in the back. Knowing my Mom, she probably found them in an antique "quick sale" bin, bought them out of sympathy, and intended to repair them - someday. Mom rescued poor and ailing dolls, repairing them if she could, occasionally providing hair replacement therapy, and always making them new clothes. She never got to these two, so I have begun the task. Taking them apart was a dusty, dirty job. I found so many "lost" needles in them (thankfully not in my fingertips!), they filled up my own needle sharpener. The bodies are post WW2 Japanese made porcelain, and they were filled with something softer and denser than cotton batting - in fact, one filler felt like silk! I cleaned them up and added an architectural feature (my secret) to keep them from getting tipsy again, and repacked the original filler into a sleeve of netting to hold it firm. I still have to make the skirts. I started to tat some lace for the skirt decoration but one of my old cats decided to do some tatting of her own with my work - it just didn't meet my standards. When they are finished I will post them in a before and after view.

Pin Cushion

If you sew, you have a pin cushion. My Mom had lots of pin cushions, which is why she often couldn't find a favorite set of pins. Most people that I know who indulge in sewing can't understand how she could have a "favorite" set of pins. I learned that pins, like any other tool, can serve very different purposes. Some pins won't go through stretch or fleece fabrics without a fight; some pins get lost in fake fur because they don't have large enough or colourful enough "heads" to be seen; some pins leave nasty marks on delicate fabrics, etc. So, different pin cushions were supplied to do different jobs.

This was a favorite pin cushion of hers (because she liked mouse dolls and made lots of mouse dolls). I think if you look at the pins you can guess what fabric she used this set for. I think you can also see that it got lots of use and is kind of beat up. One or two of the cushions I've found so far have literally dissolved from age and use.

A Story

My mother past away one week after her 96th birthday. She left behind a legacy of skills with needle and thread, garden shovel and green fingers. She also left behind a frightening collection of "stuff" that, one year later, I'm still trying to sort out. In the couple of years prior to her death, she had recurring illnesses that required bed rest, breathing machines, and visiting nurses. In her little room, the walls were lined with boxes of fabric and doll parts that she had been collecting forever. Her closet was totally unusable for all the "stuff" that filled it. I began talking her into letting some of the stuff go, because she wasn't going to use it anymore and the dust it held wasn't helping her to stay well. I can't describe the looks she gave me every time I took something away but if you have a teenager at home, chances are you have been given the same look when you tried to remove the toddler toys from his/her room. Eventually, the room was accessible without climbing over boxes; I know she never forgave me for that. Now, I am slowly sorting through things: old photos, seventy years of sewing notions, laces, fabric, doll parts galore, and for some unknown reason she kept jar after jar of old screws and nails ( I could build a house with what I've found so far!). This has been a daunting task; I don't want to throw her things away, so I try to find people who will make use of many of the items. It is especially difficult when I know, and can tell you, the stories about all the odds and ends in her collection. In this blog, I'm going to share some of her legacy with you through the things I find and the skills I have because of the passion she nurtured within me for creating. Who knows, you might find some inspiration here for yourself.