I’m a sewer and a quilter. My mother studied home economics education in college (though I’m not sure she ever taught home ec). I learned to sew, knit and crochet in elementary school. In 7th grade I sewed a shift dress with waist darts in a Madras plaid fabric (and all the plaid lines matched). I made my own dress and crocheted a wrap for junior prom.
I took my very inexpensive Brother machine (bought with Green Stamps) to college where I sewed down jackets, sleeping bags and down comforter for DH and myself in my dorm room. In grad school I made draperies & some slipcovers for our student ghetto furnished apartment.
Post grad school, we bought our first house and started to have some money. Dh wanted a dog; I wanted a new sewing machine. I bought a midline, mechanical, all metal-geared Pfaff that I still have. That Pfaff was built tough. I taught years of Brownies how to sew on it and even they never broke anything.
My husband’s aunt had a treadle Singer that I lusted in my heart after. I hinted how much I wanted it, especially after I gave them a couple of hand made and hand quilted double bed quilts for the home. Aunt Sis said maybe, but one of her daughters claimed it. The daughter kept in it an outdoor shed where it rusted and her second husband sent it to the landfill after she died. That broke my heart.
I made all of the nursery decorations for my kids’s rooms. Sewed tons of little girl dresses. I used to set my machine on the kitchen counter and sewed standing up while watching the 3 years old play. Playmates would often come over in one outfit and go home wearing a new knit dress I’d sewed for them during the play date.
I taught myself to quilt because the dog jumped on the bed and ripped the quilt my paternal grandmother had given me. (She used old, wore out men’s shirts to make her quilt tops and the fabric was quite fragile.) I decided instead of repairing the quilt (which I did do), I would just make a new one. That first quilt–a queen sized quilt– took me 5 years to finish.
I took tailoring lessons and pattern making lessons at the local Joanne’s in the 80’s. I made Dh a custom-tailored wool herringbone sports coat he wore until his death 20 years later.
As my kids got older and self conscious about “home-made” clothing (instead “brand name”), I mostly did repairs and alterations.
Both girls took sewing classes at a Bernina dealer’s store. (My friend worked there and she taught the kids’ classes.) One has never sewn anything since (though she has asked me to repair, alter, embellish her thrift store finds.) The other loved Project Runway and did some sewing in high school, but not since. (Though they both suture–does that count as sewing?)
I have a Brother Innovis circa 2005 that I’m using. I wanted machine that could make nice automatic buttonholes. Right now it’s still packed up from my move last fall and I feel vaguely like I’ve had something amputated. I’m jonesing for my sewing space to get set up. I have a boxes full of quilt tops to quilt and fabric that need cutting. Plus there’s a whole new generation of little ones whose clothing & toys needs repairing & altering.