Week 41 Passed Down

“We can pass down lots of things: stories, clothes, special items. What is something that has been passed down to you or that you’ve passed down to someone else? Feel free to post your links and stories in the comments below.” prompt by Lisa Johnson Crowe for week 41.

My mom, Helen (Kirkwood) Cook, didn’t have many spare minutes in her life as far as I remember. For her leisure time she liked to read, crochet, knit and sew. She was a master at crochet. Occasionally she would knit too, but she would shut herself in her room for that so she wouldn’t be interupted and lose where she was in the pattern. I consulted with my sisters about this post and their memories are different than mine. My sisters remember our mom sewing often and making most of their clothes as well as some for herself. That’s the difference between being one of the first born or one of the last. Different family dynamics can make memories diverse. My sisters helped me find some pictures that were examples of mom sewing and crochet work.

I remember matching outfits she sewed for my younger sister and myself. They were pedal pushers, I thought I would need to explain what pedal pushers were but I guess (from a google search) some people still call them that name. I loved the outfit because she added pockets to the top. The pockets were made out of the same fabric as the bottoms, a bright colored stripe. I always wanted pockets in everything. My mom called me pockets for awhile. My sister, Judy, who was second in line remembered mom making matching outfits for her and Jean, the third in the family.

Here is Judy in another dress made by mom. I am lucky to have sisters who help me look through photos for a specific theme.

Here are a couple of group shots. All of the girls may have mom made dresses in these two photos. I don’t know if she ever made clothes for the guys in the family. You would think we always wore dresses when you see the pictures. My sister said dad always took the pictures and he was pretty much only home on Sunday, so we were dressed up for church.

My sister Jo found this next photo. It has my mom in a dress she made for herself and it has Jo in a dress Jo made. Competition for the sewing machine was fierce with four sisters and my mom all wanting to sew. Those old Singer’s can work hard. Jo said mom helped her learn a lot about sewing when she first started to sew.

My younger sister found a few more photos for me by going through old home movies and taking screen shots. I have to dig out my video of our home movies because I’m not remembering many of the photos she sent. Here are a few that we thought included Helen Kirkwood Cook’s sewing skills.

I learned the very basics of sewing in 4H. I found my mom to not have much patience when it came to teaching so most of what I learned was self taught until later in life when I took some classes here and there. I think she may have been a little tired of teaching the basics by the time I was learning. My mom had some sewing/craft magazines and I poured over those. I made these two pictures from one of those magazines.

Can you tell it was the 70’s? I made them for a present for my mom and dad. I kind of liked them even if they are primitive.

I also made some of my clothes. I wasn’t great at picking fabric always but I enjoyed sewing. This is a dress I made. Very bright seventies style fabric. Flower Power!

I am the second one on the right. I made the dress and short jacket I am wearing. I was proud of this one, it was the most complicated one I had made yet. Invisible zipper, lined jacket and I liked the fabric!

My husband gave me my own sewing machine for our first anniversary. It was a top of the line Kenmore and I loved it. I used that machine for 24 years. On our 25th Anniversary I moved to a Bernina. My mom and her sewing machine inspired me to continue to sew throughout my life. A short time before she passed away she gifted the machine to me. So full circle I have used it occasionally again. I had to replace the cord and clean it up a little because she hadn’t used it in years. Very excited to have this piece of my childhood back in my life.

Later I also was gifted my mom’s button box. I remember sorting buttons when I was young into many different groupings by color, size, what they were made out of, any category I could think of. I guess I am still sorting buttons because here are my buttons today. I have a dozen different size jars.

I had to include some of mom’s crochet work because she really could make almost anything with a crochet hook. She made a baby blanket for each of my kids that I just love. It’s such a cute pattern. I never have been able to figure out how to crochet.

She started making Christmas stockings for each grandchild. Her sister helped her when she got to the heel because that was a tricky spot for my mom. Her sister passed away and mom developed macular degeneration and arthritis so not everyone got one of them. They were a true work of love and art.

Jo also had a photo of a little plate with a crocheted edge that mom made. Jo puts it out for Christmas each year with a little candle on the plate. It is another little treasured memory of our mom.

I used my sewing inspiration from my mom and her sister to create many things over the years, some successfully, some not so much. Most of all I used it to have fun and learn new skills one project at a time. I made many things for my home, for my kids for my husband and for myself. When my kids were older I learned about art quilting and began some new adventures with those skills. I started a blog, kind of like a diary for myself so I could look back and see what I had learned along the way. That was my first attempt at writing a blog and I had ups and downs with that skill too. All and all it was a fun journey. Here is the post I made when I first inherited my mom’s sewing machine. Funny I used the same photo of my pedal pushers and I really had to look to find it for this post.

Have you had something passed down to you that inspired you throughout your life? Do you have something to give to someone else in your life? Is there something you wish you had but it disappeared? Maybe you were passed down some experiences that stick with you and help you in your own life story.