Hello friends!
I was looking at the rest of the schedule that
Debi posted for the second Sew Grateful week and saw:
- Write a reflection post (on what your 'sew grateful' for): post by Wednesday, February 8th
- Finish a sewing project: post by Saturday, February 11th
Well, I am late for getting my reflection post up by Wednesday, but I thought I would combine the two into one nice post.
I feel that most girls learn sewing from their mothers. I love my mama, and she helped me hem somethings while I was younger (with gritted teeth I imagine), but even she will tell you that I did not inherit my crafting gene from her. Both of my grandmothers were wonderful seamstresses, even my daddy has some way better than adequate sewing skills (although he hasn't pulled those out in years). I definitely got my sewing obsession from my grandmothers. They have both passed away and I sure wish that I could pick both of their brains for sewing help and thank them properly for all the inspiration they have given me.
One memory that I have of my maternal grandma Winona, is of her teaching me how to cross stitch! I don't really remember much of it now, all the counting and tiny stitches gave me a headache. I do remember though, that she patiently taught me how to do the stitches, how to count the rows, she let me use her big magnifier to make it easier, and she also bought me the cutest bear patterns to cross stitch! I also remember playing dress up in her closet of fantastic mu-mu's and polyester track suits. Her eyes would laugh as I tried them on, and she would tell me about making them.
My paternal grandma, Enid, was a professional seamstress. She taught me the basics of sewing, letting me learn on her machine, and letting me pick out fabric to make a skirt with! I remember rolling my eyes when she tried to explain to me the importance of matching my plaids... I really didn't get it at that point! Haha, how things change.
I have both of these women to thank for so much. Not only did they teach me so much, but they also left me many sewing and crafting related goodies to play with. My first sewing machine was inherited from my grandma Enid, and the serger that I still use was Winona's. Since they have passed away, I have gotten boxes of fabric, and lots of haberdashery! Which leads me to the finished project portion of the post.
I already had posted a few pictures of my finished Peony for you, but I wanted to post a few more pictures, especially showcasing these adorable buttons! I first spied these buttons when I opened up a box of haberdashery that I had gotten from Grandma W. they were sitting right on top, and I remember squealing in delight, and then promptly forgetting about them. When putting the finishing touches on my dress, I was about to head to trusty JoAnn's when I remember that I had boxes and boxes of vintage buttons; and what should be on the top of the very first box I open...? You guessed it. Perfection!
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| Peony! Sorry for the dark night-time photo. |
It is hard to tell in these photos, but the blue almost perfectly matches the light blue background color in the print. And the buttons themselves are so fun! They remind me of the waves at the ocean, part smooth, part foamy/lacy. Very pretty! And I really love the contrast they make with the saffron sash.
Fun side note. Can anyone guess what my new fun word of the day is?! Haberdashery!! So, maybe I am just behind in my vocabulary, but I had never heard of this word, until I started reading some blogs based in the UK. I finally looked it up, because I was prone to believe it meant tom-foolery But when it was so often used with sewing in context I realized, it must not be related to mischief! Trusty Wikipedia helped me out with this definition (for anyone else who may be wondering...)
A haberdasher is a person who sells small articles for sewing, such as buttons, ribbons,zips, and other notions. A haberdasher's shop or the items sold therein are called haberdashery.
So, as a final word, if you haven't signed up for my giveaway of a great little gadget (dare it be called haberdashery), please do! Go here and leave a comment telling me what you are grateful for!
P.S. My computer is tweaking out and not letting me post the wonderful pictures that I have of my grandmothers, so I will keep working and update the post if I can figure out what the glitch is. Thanks for stopping by!
