07 September 2010

Stitches in Time

Continuing my month long September Sewing Celebration....


I don't even recall making this ensemble, unless I concentrate really hard and imagine myself deciding one day as a young girl to dress my first doll in something more becoming than what she originally came with.  Her baby dreadlocks didn't deter me from making her a more flattering little frock.  Could it really be 20 years after the fact that this dressmaker inspected her work, only to be rather impressed with the principles used in the construction of the simple jumper and sleeveless shirt?  Everything done by hand:  a hem, a slight gather, embellishment [you see my love of beads budded early], buttons and even the tiny buttonholes.  Pearl found this doll tucked away somewhere and promptly tucked it under her arm to become the mother to this baby whose face [er, hair] only a mother could love.  She began asking me detailed questions of the life of this doll.  Name, why her hair was like it was, was she my favorite, and if I knew the very exciting feature that blowing into the baby's mouth made a high-pitched baby cry.  I did know that, oddly enough.  I suppose at one time there was another method such as squeezing or burping that triggered the sound.



I bring this up not without reason.  I grew up with creative resources at my fingertips put there by two artistic parents.  We called it the Drawing Room, not the Laundry Room, a very conscientious label by my parents.  We were at liberty to create.  Always.  An even earlier recollection of using fabric, though I don't even recall for what I was using it, I found some beautiful cotton tucked away next to some unfinished doll quilts and requested the use of it.  My mom granted permission with the stipulation I do not cut in the middle of the fabric.  I complied.  Mostly.  I didn't cut it in the very center of the entire piece, but I cut in the center of the edge.  I don't think she even said anything about my slight deviation of her directions.






I recently reorganized my fabric.  I put all my scraps in removable, easily accessible drawers.  I did it for myself, but I mostly did it for my children who may or may not have my desire to always manipulate material.  I want to give my children the artistic freedom to create, create, create.  [And if I can just steer them toward my craft, it is so much easier to vacuum thread and fabric than clean paint off every surface within reach!]  I see this need especially in Divine.  She is very much like her momma which drives us all crazy, yet simultaneously creates a bond. And so continues the chain[stitch] of creation.




What was your first stitched project?



20 comments:

  1. My first stitched project was a counted cross-stitch for my grandma. There are a few crayons and it says "Tara loves Gramma."

    And it's still hanging in her living room. :-)

    Tara
    www.tarabeingtara.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. wahoo! first comment!

    so this was, when you were... 10-ish? you WERE a seamstress from the beginning! what a fun treasure. love the close-up on the baby dreads too! :)

    anyway, goooood job

    ReplyDelete
  3. oh dang. someone beat me to it as i typed. :(

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hilarious BOTH you and Pearl knew that blowing into her mouth would make a high-pitched cry!

    ReplyDelete
  5. oh, and since third time is a charm, one of the first stitched projects i remember was a handkerchief. my grandma taught me step-by-step of how to remove threads along the borders of the muslin, and then use the space to 'embed' the embroidery threads into the space. i lived with my grandma then, so she really was there for the whole project... hope it still counts as "mine."

    ReplyDelete
  6. such a fun post! your baby reminded me of so many of my childhood dolls~
    my mom was a beautician which lead me to play "beauty parlor" on my dolls~ I don't think I had a doll with any hair~

    ReplyDelete
  7. I sewed pockets obsessively. I was allowed to use my mom's scraps also so I'd sew them into a little pocket, stitch on a button and cut a little button-hole. I was also probably about 7 or 8 when my mom started letting (or perhaps requiring!) me mend pillow cases or other straight-stitch jobs. I felt very grown up and she got out of the drudgery. Brilliant!
    My 8 year old's first sewing project was a sock monkey (I make a lot of them). She had strep throat and needed a project to perk her up. The monkey is... unique, lol. But she loves it and it has lots of character.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I also began sewing for my dollies. Even when I was too old to "play" with my "babies", I still created amazing wardrobes for them. Now off to work on some dresses for my real-live dollies.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I think my grandmother helped me make a simple shirt and short ensemble. This was the 80's when "jams" were popular.

    I was glad to see your doll's dress! I used to make Barbie clothes for my sisters. I never had a pattern to work with, I just had to look at the clothes they had and kind of wing it. Wish I still had them...or pictures!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I don't remember that doll but I do remember that material and it brought back memories of the two of us sitting downstairs in front of the unused white fireplace at a card table using the sewing machine to make our dolls clothes. Remember how the whole table would shake??? Ha ha.

    My first stitched project was my handmade dolls, I was in fourth grade and won first place in the whole school art contest. Do you remember those? I'll have to dig them out and do a post.

    ReplyDelete
  11. My grandmother's sister made drapes, etc., and she would pass the salesman samples to my grandma (which, at the time, were probably the size of a fat quarter.) We would cut and stitch and create on her old singer (in a cabinet--it lives with me now). She never told us what/or how to do things...she just let us create! Parisian gowns, opera capes, you name it--we created it! My very best memories! Thanks for letting me remember them!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I used to do cross stitch as a child, but I have lost all patience for it now. I didn't sew anything until my Arts & Crafts class in highschool. I made a jester's hat.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I've read that in parenting books: to keep pencils, paper, glue, and other creative materials accessible and available. It makes kids smarter. Good work.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love the hair! :)

    My first sewing machine creation was a doll that I made for myself. My mom has it and wont' give it up! My first hand sewing article of clothing was a pair of mittens I made for myself with my Aana (eskimo grandmother) out of some extra furs she had laying around. She ripped my stitches until they were perfect.

    Today, I can sew clothing, bags, sheets, pillows, and just about anything I see on the internet with a sewing machine. (Thanks Finnish Grandma) And I can sew with my hands to make beautiful Mukluks, mittens, parkas, hats, etc. out of fur we catch, skin and tan ourselves. (Thanks Eskimo grandma!)

    My daughter is seven and she is working on her first Atikluk (Eskimo summer dress) out of fabric on her sewing machine. Last winter she made herself a pair of mouton/beaver mittens to go back and forth to our fish camp on a snowmachine. My son has made several things by handsewing, but he's only ever hemmed his pants on my sewing machine! :)

    P.S. my sewing machine was a birthday gift when I was 16. I still use the same one!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I loved to make the bag that Ariel carries with her on Little Mermaid. I used to sew these at my grandma's house. I also loved to trace my stuffed animals and make them little clothes. My grandma had us doing iron on dishtowel cross stitching and those plastic holey squares that you use yarn to make into like kleenex boxes (do you know what I am talking about??) whenever we came to visit!

    ReplyDelete
  16. a quilt that my mom still has in her basement somewhere:)

    My dad worked for a fabric store til I was in high school, so there was always a lot of sewing done by my mom and scraps for us.

    ReplyDelete
  17. This post inspired me to write a post about this topic on my blog....http://www.catchick6creations.com/?p=1413
    Thank you so much for the inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  18. My first stitched project was a skirt made from an old sheet. My mom gave me the old sheet so that I could practice without messing up some real fabric :) I did it all by hand and it was the ugliest thing, but it fit! After that I was allowed to use real fabric :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. First time sewing... When I was in fifth grade, I made a skirt with an elastic casing. Sounds harmless, right? The sewing part was harmless, but the fabric I chose did much to accentuate the just-before-you-get-your-woman-shape bulkiness that happens in 5th grade. Pastel rainbow colored stripes going in the wrong direction are very harmful to a young girl with a poochy tummy!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Katy, I had to laugh about the doll. My 7yo dd begged for months for a "corn-silk hair cabbage patch doll." I searched high and low and found the one on sale. 3 days after Christmas I walk into her room and find tufts of blond corn silk all over her carpet and dd holding the scissors to the dolly's head. Me: (weakly)"...but A! you CUT your corn-silk cabbage patch dolly's hair!!!" She: (looking surprised) "...but that's WHY I wanted her!")

    Then the other dolly was something like a Justborn baby who came with a plastic sleeve covering her hair (that should have been a warning). After 2 days of play, her hair turned into a matted knotted kinky snarly mess. Her best friend's mom said "A, what happened to your new baby's hair?" A (in her usualy blase manner) "she was born that way."

    ReplyDelete

Be a lamb & tell me what's on your mind.