I’m a big fan of vintage ads, and I ran across this one the other day:
I can’t help but wonder if the Susan they’re planning on sewing is the woman with the shocked expression, lower right corner.
Anyway, it made me think of the time I spent with my grandmother when I was young. My sister and I used to spend at least a week with our grandparents every summer, and one of the activities my grandmother had for us was learning to embroider.
I’m still thankful she took the time to teach me this old-fashioned skill. A lot of embroidered pillowcases and tea towels came out of those lessons. I took pride in creating a piece so neat and tidy that the back looked almost as good as the front.
It was my first foray into crafting. Later I got into knitting, crocheting, sewing (with very little success, I’m afraid), jewelry-making, and many other self-invented craft projects. There’s a wonderful sense of accomplishment when I finish a project and see it in use, or give it as a gift. And being a confirmed home-body, there’s nothing more satisfying to me than a cozy afternoon or evening at home with a project to keep my hands busy.
Today our son can sew a button, mend a tear, or create a hem better than I can. I think I showed him one time how to thread a needle and knot the thread, and then he was off and running.
I’m still working (though not very hard, as she has so little interest) on helping Oldest be a little more proficient at her own mending.
The afghan we made for Oldest Sister, in its new home in Baltimore.
My biggest success in the “passing down my love of crafts” department is Middle Sister. Her interests lean more toward drawing, painting, and card making. But she can turn her hand to almost anything, and has been my partner in crime in the crochet revival taking place at our house in the last few months.
One day, maybe I’ll be the grandmother teaching my grandchildren the joy of crafting.
I did a lot of beaded baskets for Christmas gifts a couple of years ago, and had to do one for myself, too.
I got sick of most of the cross-stitch pieces I did years ago, but I still love this one.
Mom Goes On 
I have this this vintage ad, its actually a package of needles they are inside it flips open my belonged to my grandma who passed away in 1981 and she had for years, thanks for posting it always nice to know others like vintage ads
LikeLike
Wow – that’s awesome! How special that you have that needle package to remind you of your grandmother. Thank you for reading and commenting! -amy
LikeLike
It is special to me, it stays in her sewing box along with a lot of other little treasures, better than a real to me. Your welcome it catch my eye seeing it, thanks for the reply, sherry
LikeLike
I love this! One of my grandmas taught me to knit; the other to crochet and embroider. My mom taught me to sew. Your post is bringing back fond memories of those teaching sessions. 🙂
Can also relate to the satisfaction of finishing a craft project. It gives me a bit of a rush–kind of like finishing a blog post. 🙂 (Do you get that, too?)
LikeLike
Yes, I know what you mean! I hadn’t thought of it that way before…
LikeLike
Very beautiful end results. The caption on that old advertisement is one which would make a case in punctuation. I’m not an expert in this department, but I do love the look of shock on the woman in the corner.
LikeLike
Yes – I was trying to figure out how to fix the ad so it wasn’t so strangely ambiguous…maybe if it weren’t all caps, so that Sewing could be capitalized?
LikeLike