The Stitch Up

Crafting Inheritance

My grandmother passed away two years ago and my mother has slowly been working through her things, seeing who might want to keep certain items as mementos.  I was of course interested in any of my grandmothers sewing items.  She was not as prolific as my great grandmother, but she liked to knit us the occasional scarf and she was really good at making clothes for herself.  I think she actually used to modify some of the patterns she bought to give them a little pizzaz.  And she wisely made any shirt or pants she liked in a variety of colors so she always had something she liked to wear.

Me and grandma way back in the day.  She's rocking a pair of pants of her own creation I believe.

My brother, my Grandmother and me.  I remember this as one of her favorite outfits - the shirt had a mandarin collar which she seemed to prefer and I think she actually made several versions of this in red which was her favorite color.

I was actually visiting my mom when she started going through my Grandmother's sewing basket and it was like looking through my own stash.  It made me wonder how much of the desire to create - and even what inspires us - is genetic.  

Amid lots of extra bobbins, thread and needles were little patterns that my grandmother had obviously saved in order to make something.  These were little chick and bunny patterns which I think was probably intended for someones baby.  There were also snips of little designs from hotel stationary or napkins, anything that she found inspirational for a new project - which is totally something that I do as well.

I had no idea how to use this, but it just seemed so vintage and cool.  I have since googled it - it's apparently used to get exact spacing for things like button holes or hemming.

Using things that belonged to my grandmother, even things as utilitarian as some extra bobbins, keep her in my mind.  It makes my hobby feel more like a tradition I'm carrying on and honoring. 

 

Grandma's Knitting Needles

I have so many great memories of my great grandma, my great aunt 'Rene, and my grandma, making things with their hands for me and my cousins.  Sweaters, afghans, quilts, scarves - things to keep us warm and cuddled.  Things that told us they loved us and we were special to them.  I still have many things that my great grandma and my great aunt 'Rene made.  They are beautiful in themselves and I value them more for bringing me back to moments I shared with those wonderful ladies.  

My grandma is still with us - she is still a source of great advice and inspiration.  A friend to bounce ideas around with.  She can't sew or knit anymore:  her eye sight has gotten too bad and her hands don't work like they used to.  Recently she moved and decided to get rid of a few things, including her stock of knitting and crochet needles.  She very kindly passed them on to me, as she knows my love of crafting, and they are now sitting in a place of honor in my craft room.

It makes me smile to see them every day and even more happy to make things with them.  It feels like I'm continuing some family traditions.  I definitely have that need to make things for my family and friends that keep them warm, cuddled and let them know that they are loved and special to me.

 

 

Stitched Together

I think my greatest inspiration with sewing and crafting and so many other things is my great grandma.

I unfortunately did not have a lot of time with her.  She passed away when I was 9, but she left a big impression.  All of the sewing I did with my mom growing up, some of the quilts I used to snuggle under and pillow cases I used to dream on were all a result of her influence or things that she made while caring for her family.

My mom told me lots of stories growing up about great grandma making clothes for Mom and her sisters when they were kids.  Lots of these stories were passed on while my mom was making clothes or Halloween costumes for me.  My great grandma was not a precise sewer.  She made a lot of her own patterns and I think she was pretty well known for adding on some trim or just making a snip here and there if something didn't hang quite right.  Hers favorite saying when there was a minor mistake on one of the dresses she made for my mom or my aunts was "No one's going to notice it galloping by on a big, white horse."  Which is totally true. I think people would mostly just be freaked out by a horse in drag.   Apparently however, one of my aunts misunderstood that phrase when she was a kid and thought my great grandma was calling her a horse as in "No one will notice the mistake on the dress since you're just a big horse".  Which was not the case.  She was very hurt until everyone figured out why she would get so bummed out when it came time for dress fitting and corrected her misunderstanding of the phrase.

My mom remembers all of the outfits that great grandma made for her in high school and I have to say, between Mom picking out fabric and Great Grandmas patterns, Mom had a stylish wardrobe:

 

Check all that 60s hotness!  That flowered skirt was one of my mom's favorites.  

My grandma (My mom's mom) worked, so my mom and my aunts spent after school with my great grandma.  They would also walk over to her house from school during their lunch hour with their friends and eat lunch with her.  She kept them all busy learning to sew and crochet and knit and quilt.  

From what mom tells me each of the girls picked up different techniques.  Some of them have continued on with these crafts and others have left them behind, but they all started from the same place.  When they were too little to even hold a needle, my great grandmother would start each of the girls with a spool knitting doll and they would learn to knit.  She would make a basic doll out of an actual wood spool and 4 small nails tapped into the top.  Mom would make hot pads and rugs and other little projects from the cords she made with the spool knitting doll.

I was fascinated by Mom's stories of her time spent with great grandma and that everything Mom learned and Great Grandma taught her, started with the knitting doll.  I wanted to try out the craft that started it all, so I picked a couple of knitting dolls up on Amazon so Mom could show me how it's done.  These were a bit fancier than just a wooden spool with some nails in it, but the process was the same.

These are actually sold as "For 5 years old and up" but I have to admit Mom and I both had a little trouble figuring out how to get started.  After a quick google search we found these great videos on you tube by Noreen Crone-Findlay.  She's the queen of spool knitting!  Her videos were easy to follow so we were churning out a basic cord in no time.  Mom's skill came back with a quickness:

The next step is to wind it all together and make a hot pad or something.  Mom and I are both hard at work.

I loved trying a craft with my mom that had so many memories for her and gave me a little more family history.  I know my love of just about anything with a needle comes from some genetic place but recreating this first step that my mom took with great grandma to learn to knit made me feel like I was learning with her as well.  This was another precious memory to share with my mom and a lovely tradition to carry on from my great grandma.