I have only have a few regrets in my life but they are nothing awful thankfully, and they have all taught me something. The only real regret of mine is that I never learnt anything from my grandmother who made us clothes, costumes for plays, curtains, jumpers etc.
I never had a sewing machine when I was little but I did try and make clothes for my dolls using a needle and thread and any scrap material I could get my hands on. I seem to remember trying to embroider little flowers once but giving up and running off to do something a little less demanding. I did have one sewing job though that was when I was about 5/6 was sewing up the knees and elbows of my dad’s ‘garden’ jumpers. Sure that this shortened the legs and arms but he never complained!
I have a list as long as my arm of things I want to make and can’t help feeling it would go a lot quicker if I’d spent time with my gran learning how to make things. Everything she did – whether it was cooking, baking or making clothes seemed to be instinctive. I have to wonder if she was just extremely talented and/or she was brought up learning these skills, putting them into practice raising a young family in the war. Making do and mending, turning old socks into jumpers etc.
The time I did spend with my gran was in the form of piano lessons. I look back and though I’m thankful for the start she gave me (I took music with me to degree level and ended up being taught by the most amazing teachers at the Royal Academy of Music); I feel that I would have liked to have crafted instead.
When she died a few years ago, we had to clear out her house. There weren’t many memories in the house, everything was new. She had all new clothes, nothing from the era of when she was a young woman, even though she still had the same figure as back then. There as a lot of wool though, for projects she never got around to, threads, needles, tape measures etc. I gathered these things up and took them home, still not owning a sewing machine but that year I got one. It seemed to me that her sewing and knitting defined her and was something that she carried with her through her whole life and I feel that way to with the skills I’ve had to teach myself. I want to share whatever I've learned though.
It would be wonderful to know how to knit more than a scarf and make a kitsch Christmas jumper that I can inflict on my nephews and do it quickly! I am just amazed at those people who can knit while doing other things. I am also envious of people who don’t need patterns and can just create a garment from a photo. Could I have learnt that from my gran? Maybe but would I have been interested in sitting down and concentrating while her other grandchildren , my brothers and cousins – 4 boys, ran around having all the fun.
Too late now to ask these questions so I come to why it’s a regret. I am slowly teaching myself though and this year I will knit myself a jumper. I bought this book to inspire me at Vintage and Goodwood and up to this point just admired the photos. I know I could have come home and gone online and bought it cheaper but I wanted it then and there!
The book is called A Stitch in Time: v. 1: Vintage Knitting & Crochet Patterns 1920-1949. Here's the link:
Even making a pair of socks for Mr P would give me delight, not sure he’d wear them but they would be made with love and if he’d never wear them we could put catnip in them, sew them up and give them to our cat Gomez. This is he:
So list of projects for 2011 are:
A whole load of dresses (I'll put these in another post as it's a long list)
A jumper from the book above, that if I start now it might be ready for winter!
Socks for the hubby/toys for the cat
Some corsages likes these ones:
Some lovely lacy effect gloves
Shouldn't be a problem aside from the fact that I work full time, can't really knit, and wish the weekends/evenings were longer! Oh well, what I lack in skill I will make up for in patience and enthusiasm!
No comments:
Post a Comment