The Old Folks Home

[Sequel]

My grandmothers, mother, and her sisters were all excellent at sewing. Most of my aunts on the other side of the family were good at it too. Not only that, but because they were so good at it, they always had top of the line sewing machines. My cousins sew. I HATE sewing with a passion. Yes, I can do it, and well, so it's not that I don't know how, or that I don't know enough about it. I simply can't stand doing it. When I'd make an outfit, or something, I wouldn't wear whatever I made, because it reminded me of how horrible it was doing the sewing on it.

I had to take Home Ec in high school and the sewing part was my very worst experience in school! I didn’t gain anything from that class except humiliation!

 

[pennyJo1960]

I do recall I was too busy. I could get allot done in a day.
I could not sit still long enough.
Not quite that busy anymore leaning to crochet

 

[Peep_Show]

How much of that stuff did you keep? Reading about stuff like this from people who are older is interesting.

I kept the formal dining room set (flame mahogany table, chairs, hutch and buffet) and then some odds-and-ends things of sentimental value:

1) Portrait of my father painted by a POW when he was an MP in the Philippines during WWII
2) My great grandfather's discharge papers from the Civil War
3) A fraktur birth certificate from pre-Civil War
4) Barware and some fun glassware
5) Quilts and cedar chest
6) Mantle clock
7) Some non-plastic cooking utensils (anntique meat grinder, ricer, potato masher)
8) Assorted jewelry pieces and Dad's watch, comb and zippo lighter
9) A couple of paintings purchased by Mom or Grandma
10) A large ceramic rabbit
11) Houseplants


The estate sale proper: Friends who attended commented that the line to get in went around the block and that the first items to come out were the party punch bowls (which said friends recalled held that infamous rocket fuel eggnog during the Christmas Eve parties -- 1 glass you join the party, 3 glasses you are the party.) Items that did not sell (grandfather clock, family silver, assorted statuary and art objects) then went to an estate auction house and the remainder to Goodwill.

 

[notabitail]

The estate sale proper: Friends who attended commented that the line to get in went around the block and that the first items to come out were the party punch bowls (which said friends recalled held that infamous rocket fuel eggnog during the Christmas Eve parties -- 1 glass you join the party, 3 glasses you are the party.)

Rocket fuel egg nog? I can imagine the stories that that would make.
Do you have the recipe?

 

[Debbie292d]

What do you find at the Amish market?

The "traveling Shipshewana" came to Grand Rapids many years ago. We went and I was VERY disappointed. I was thinking it would be hand made furniture, home made / grown foods... It was cheap CRAP. Stuff like CHEAP acrylic yarn, plastic toys, stuff made in China. I didn't see one single thing I couldn't find of better quality in a local store.

Here it's like two grocery type ones. One everyone nicknames it the "bent and dent store," where you can get boxed goods like cereal real cheap, and bent canned goods. The other sells stuff in bulk, like for example, unbleached flour 50#, plus they have about every spice known to man, make their own freeze-dried soups, (excellent), and some homemade crafts like cowboy hats, aprons, etc.

 

[pennyJo1960]

I have my Dad's discharge papers from the Navy January of 1964.
He was only 53 when we lost him.

 

[RedwoodCoastChick]

Ah, sewing stories!

I HATED sewing from the awful/humiliating experience in Home Ec in 7th grade. Mom didn't sew (she was great at knitting and other crafts) so no exposure to it till Junior High. Awful projects (apron, A-line skirt) and school machines that kept breaking down/messing up seams. LOTS of seam ripping... So many classmates had learned at home and already sewed for themselves so I felt like an idiot and the teacher was impatient with us newbies.

But later, in high school after my family moved from rural Georgia to Los Angeles for Dad's work (ye gods, like being dropped onto a hostile alien planet at age 14!), I took it up on my own with the gentle help (and sturdy old tank of a machine) of my dear Aunt Shirley. It was the late 60s so I tried making some granny dresses to wear to school and found out it wasn't hard and was fun to have my own unique style. (Not talking "tailoring" here .)

Fashions were all over the place -- miniskirts, Twiggy, hippy, mod, bohemian, etc. so anything that didn't expose too much skin was okay at school. Trips to the fabric store were nirvana for me; Mom would drop me off and leave me to it while she did other shopping.

That led to making costumes and getting into theater, which helped me survive my rough high school years. Mom saved up Green Stamps and used them to give me my own sewing machine on my 16th birthday, a portable Singer that I still use today. (Can still get parts, thank you Singer!) Renaissance Faire costumes, sewing Star Trek tribbles for a Trek memorabilia business, my Edwardian-pattern wedding dress, then later Halloween outfits for my kids.

My eldest wanted to learn and made her first dress (with step by step help) before 1st grade. She got into costuming at school, made formal dresses for herself and friends, and later studied to be a professional costumer at LA City College. (Alas, COVID and having 2 little kids killed that career path in recent years.)

Most recently, I made a "pregnant tribble" for my little grandson -- fake fur critter with a Velcro opening and several little furry tribbles inside. Those, you don't find in toy stores!

 

[Sally PB]

Ah, sewing stories!

What great stories they are! Thanks for sharing them.

 

[Nomadicus]

I had an aunt that did a lot of knitting. I think I might have been the only boy that entered a pair of hand knit socks in the county fair and got a blue ribbon on them. 10th grade. That was the only thing I ever made but I was determined to do it. Wool knee highs with Rayon toes and heels for better wear.

 

[Nomadicus]

Goodnight Old Folks