I was in the fabric store yesterday and watched as a mother helped her young son look through the patterns to find one for a beginning sewing class he had apparently signed up for. That made me think of this delightful poem from one of my collection of vintage books:
A Young Seamstress
(author unknown - published 1910 in "New American Speaker" -- a collections of poems and recitations of the 1800s)
"I am learning how to sew, though I'm such a little maid;
I push the needle in and make the stitches strong;
I'm sewing blocks of patchwork for my dolly's pretty bed,
And mamma says the way I work it will not take me long.
It's over and over -- do you know
How over-and-over stitches go?
"I have begun a handkerchief. Mamma turned in the edge,
And basted it with a pink thread to show me where to sew;
It has Greenaway children on it stepping staidly by a hedge;
I look at them when I get tired, or the needle pricks, you know;
And that is the way I learn to hem
With hemming stitches -- do you know them?
"Next I shall learn to run, and darn, and back-stitch, too, I guess.
It wouldn't take me long, I know, if 'twasn't for the thread;
But the knots keep coming, and besides -- I shall have to confess --
Sometimes I slip my thimble off, and use my thumb instead!
When your thread knots, what do you do?
And does it turn all brownish, too?
"My papa, he's a great big man, as much as six feet high;
He's more than forty, and his hair has gray mixed with the black;
Well, he can't sew -- he can't begin to sew as well as I.
If he loses a button, mamma has to set it back!
You mustn't think me proud, you know,
But I'm seven, and I can sew!"
Now, both girls and boys may learn how to sew -- but is no longer considered a necessary skill by many. As one who was taught at an early age, I grieve the loss for those who don't know even how to sew on a button or repair a seam. But, there is also so much more we can do with the art of sewing these days as well! For those in the past, it was considered a necessity and much of Great Grandma's time might have been committed to darning socks or stitching up a seam. Now, the sky is the limit on how a needle and thread can be utilized creatively. Just look at these amazing pieces from the Boomers and Beyond Etsy shops, including lots of items that can be incorporated into stitching!
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