Handmade Treasures and More

Well, folks, I have not touched my sewing machine since last week! I came down with a stomach bug Friday night/Saturday morning (why do these things always strike in the middle of the night?), and was down for the count the entire weekend. Monday, I was out of bed, but only barely, because I had a show to go to on Tuesday. A show? You know, the crafty kind, where a group of (in this case) stay at home moms that make stuff (or rep product lines) get together and try to sell it. This was my first, and not terribly successful for me, but not really for too many others there either. Very low attendance. One of the casualties of my illness was a practice set up, and you can tell by my cluttered and unattractive table, a practice would have helped.

On to prettier things.

Since I have nothing to show sewing-wise, I thought I would share a little bit about the woman who initially taught me to sew, my grandmother, the late Wilma Lawton. On a visit to her house in Seabrook, Texas when I was 12, I made a vest and skirt outfit for my upcoming confirmation. I still remember how she made me rip off the patch pocket and start over because the stitching wasn't perfect. I've named my seam ripper "Wilma" in her honor! One of these days when I'm visiting my mom, I'll try to dig up a picture of that outfit. (My mom has also had a huge influence on my sewing. I'll do a post on her sometime in the future.)

There's Wilma, and there was probably nothing she couldn't make (although I don't think she ever made any quilts). She made many, many of her own garments, and if she were here today, I would love to sit her down and talk about sewing, style and fashion through the decades. Sadly, she passed away in 1996. Besides sewing, she loved to try new crafts. Many of these were needle-oriented, as in some form of embroidery. I have several of her pieces, and want to share two with you.

I don't know what the technique for the first is called, so please share that with me, if you do. It is some sort of cross stitch on a needlepoint canvas type of thing, with other embroidery stitches, and ribbon and seed pearl work.

She made this small one for me, and I believe she made another small one for my sister. My mother has a much larger piece, and they are all done in these beautiful, muted colors.

Wilma had a way with yarn as well, and enjoyed knitting and crocheting. I confess that she did not pass any of those skills to me, but my mother is quite talented at knitting. I have this lovely pillow that she made, and I believe the "lace" is a crocheted piece done with cotton thread. I'm not entirely sure, so if you what it's called, I would love to know.

The pillow has had quite a bit of wear, which you can see along the piping around the edges, but I love it, and think of her whenever I pass by.

I do have several other things she made, but wanted to share these two with you today.

Handmade Treasures

Every so often I want to do a little show and tell about some of the handmade treasures that I have in my house. These are the things that really have some meaning in my life, and I just want to show off the talent. This little series will not be about the treasures that I've made, but those made by others, some I know personally, and some not.

First up is something I received in high school. I was a member of the W.T. White Caballeras, the high school drill team. If you're from Texas, then you know the kind of drill team I'm talking about. Unlike dance teams in schools today, we marched and performed routines with the marching band accompanying us. No canned music here. I was on the drill team for two years, and it was a highlight of  high school for me.

My handmade treasure is made by the loving hands of an unknown drill team mom. There was a Mother's Club, and I suspect more than one mom contributed to the production of these dolls, but I still have mine displayed on a shelf in my studio. The detail and accuracy is amazing. Meet Barbie, WTW Caballera extraordinaire:

 

I don't know if she had a hat.

Our hair couldn't be touching the star on the back of our vests.

So accurate, down to the little scarf we tied around our necks. Below is a picture of me in my uniform for comparison.

There were about 80 of us. That's a lot of dolls!