Sew buttons

When I was 5 years old I had this favorite little white dress with animals on it and I recall the Whale button on this dress falling off. Now to some five years olds this was the end the world however to this 5 year old Mommy would fix it, or so I thought. I remember bringing the button and the dress to my mother asking her to fix it. Instead she goes to her sewing chest picks up a needle, thread, and scissors sits me down on the couch and teaches me how to mend my button.

It is such a simple memory but a powerful one. Since then my hobbies have grown but sewing is still the essence of who I am.I have a number of circle skirt, shirts, and dresses that I have made,given away a number of hand sewing projects and it all goes back to that button.

For centuries mothers have taught their daughters to sew and it all starts with something simple. It is a skill every housewife need in her bag of tricks and most of the time she is mending. Since the dawn of sewing, which may I say is the oldest form of art, most of women's sewing has been mending, from buttons, to patches, to darning and even re hemming, mending is the chiefest of sewing. On occasion a housewife might get to make her own clothes yet she still going to be mending.

At my day job I do a fair amount of sewing in front of visitors and I can't even tell you how many ask, "what are you knitting?" For me both have been so much a part of not only my life but my families lives that I have to remind myself that everyone has a different up bringing and I know nothing about sports. So I explain that I am sewing, mending an apron, pillow bear or what ever it is I am working on and then say "I can't knit for it is a mans trade or a widow woman or orphaned child's task." (I'll explain that in a later blog.)

Today clothing comes so cheep that when we tear a shirt, loose a button or just get tired of it we throw it either away or in the donation pile. Yet up until the 1950/1960s cloth was so expensive that every piece was cherished. A jacket became a vest, a shirt became a hankerchief, socks became legwarmers and a dress became a quilt. Everything was patched or darned until it couldn't be anymore. You can even tell the prosperity of a people and era by how much cloth was used. Even in not so prosperous time people found ways to make it look like they could afford more, hoop skirts (crinolines) where not only to make a more defined large hoop shape but also so you weren't carrying around 3-6 layers of petticoats, bigger the look equals the more cloth meaning the  more afluet you were and less likely you were a laborer. I have hauled around that many petticoats can tell you I slept well that night.

 So tonight I leave you with the house wife's task on your mind... and sew buttons...