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Fashion 👗 Clothes making, knitting and other domestic skills

Maister

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Dance Fashion GIF

Seeing this old pattern in the gif reminded me of when my mother used to use patterns like this, fabric, thread, scissors and a sewing machine to make her own clothing. This was back in the late 60s/early 70s. I'm sure it was cheaper at the time than buying new clothes. This is just one more example of a domestic skill that's fallen by the wayside. Did anyone else's mother (or any other family member) know how to sew? Did you ever learn to sew or knit? I gather it was a standard skill to have 100 years ago, but at some point - probably around the early 80s - clothing made by third world labor just became that much cheaper and it no longer made sense to toil at a sewing machine for days to make an article of clothing that could be manufactured in Bangladesh for 80 cents an hour.
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Unless you get a great deal on fabric, it's cheaper to buy most clothing.

My mom hemmed clothes. I like to sew, and lately have made a few dresses. I sewed all of my kids' Halloween costumes and I sew my own curtains. I like the feeling of accomplishment when I sew things.
 
Unless you get a great deal on fabric, it's cheaper to buy most clothing.

My mom hemmed clothes. I like to sew, and lately have made a few dresses. I sewed all of my kids' Halloween costumes and I sew my own curtains. I like the feeling of accomplishment when I sew things.
My mother sewed a clown costume that was used by my brother and the following year by me for Halloween. That's an example of the type of sewing she would do. I can certainly understand the whole feeling of accomplishment thing. I get that when I pressure can, say, green beans or pickle cucumbers that I grew in my own garden and enjoy them throughout the year. The truth is factoring in the capital costs of the canning equipment and actual labor costs, they probably would prove to be somewhat pricy green beans. But saving money isn't really why I grow and can my own produce. It's more for knowing what went into the product and the sense of satisfaction I get. Plus, it's actually kind of fun.

You know the old saw - "With only a little bit more money, time, and effort, you too could make something yourself at home that's nearly as good as that which you could buy at the store!"
 
My mom sewed a lot when we were growing up, although mostly it was patching and hemming. She quilted a lot as well. Mormons made (and make) lots of quilts. At our wedding, my wife and I had displayed all the quilts that had been made for us. I think there were seven. We've still got five, including the giant one made out of denim cut from the pockets of old jeans from the families. Every kid got one of those from my mom. They are real treasures.

It seems to me like sewing and that kind of thing is coming back into vogue with some of the Gen Zs, just like thrifting and such. My daughter Goldie sews. Has a machine, has made a few shirts and upcycled some stuff she's thrifted, etc. She's very into it, and now my mom will teach her to quilt this fall, and maybe pass on the quilting frames; may God have mercy on our living rooms, which are already crowded.
 
Mom used to sew all kinds of clothes for us kids. We were the worst dressed kids in school because we got pants made from corduroy and shirts from whatever fabric she had.
Daughter sews enough to hem her own clothing and make simple things.
Mom also knits sweaters. I have the most awesome sweaters on the planet that win grand prize at the state fair. Too bad I live in a state where we only wear sweaters for maybe a month or two.
 
My mom loved to sew! She made a lot of our summer dresses, costumes, and then as we got older, homecoming/prom/graduation gowns, concert gowns, etc. I used to spend time with her at the fabric store going through patterns and fabric, mixing and matching.

Quilting is another craft my mom did well. So does my aunt. Grandma made a lot of Barbie and other doll clothes, which I still have. My other aunt knits and does some sewing.

I crochet. I technically can knit, but I don't find it as relaxing nor as much fun as crochet. I can hem, replace a button, and other basic sewing repairs, but do not have a sewing machine nor the urge to learn.

When society breaks down, I will need to make friends with some folks who have farms with yarn animals and other friends with those who can spin it into yarn.
 
Like @Salmissra I can hem some pants and replace a button. I can do some basic patching (I have a pair of Jeans that I am planning to try some traditional boro patching on when the time comes) and I can even remove the collar from a button down shirt when it gets too worn and "turn" it and sew it back in place to extend the life of a shirt. That's about as complicated as I can get.

Our oldest daughter loves to sew and knit and crochet and always has some sort of project going. She has knitted sweaters and hats and gloves but she really likes to crochet and makes some pretty intricate stuffed animals for presents for her sister and cousins and friends.

My mom used to do a lot of knitting and quilting but stopped for the most part years ago. However, when she retired from her full-time job she went back to work part time at a Joanne Fabrics and got back into quilting. She stopped working completely a few years ago but she still does quite a bit of quilting and we have some very nice, intricate quilts that she's made for us.

My aunt (my mom's youngest sister) does a lot of sewing and knitting and much of her own clothing for years. SHe retired from her teaching job a few years ago and got a part time job at a knitting and yarn store in the little downtown she lives in and went all in on knitting. She eventually bought a few different looms and her own spinning wheel and now buys some unprocessed wool from a few local farms and makes her own yarn. A couple years ago at Christmas she brought a big bag of socks that she had made from scratch (she did everything but sheer the sheep herself). They were pretty good but very basic. She's come back each Christmas with another bag of socks for everybody to pick from and each year the quality gets better and better. Now she gives lessons on spinning wool into yarn at the store she works at and leads a bunch of knitting groups there and their local library.
 
My great-grandmother owned a dress shop in Nashville from the 1940-1960s. My mother stayed there most days after school and in summer. My mother hated sewing and would seldom do more than a quick hem or sew a button. She made sure we all knew how to do that but would not make anything beyond simple repairs. My wife's mom made clothes because they were poor and it was how they could have nice dresses. She made a few things for our daughters. My wife decided she would make some pants for one of the daughters but it wound up taking about 4 hours and cost more than I could have bought something similar even in a non-bargain store. Both daughters have loved wearing them though.
 
My mother had one of those adjustable dress making mannequins in our basement in the 1970s. Probably had it long before that. I remember seeing packages of patterns but never recall seeing her use them. My grandmother was a prodigious knitter. Myself and three siblings all have an afghan she knitted with her scrap yarn. Was not uncommon to get a sweater as a gift that she knitted.
 
We had a knitting and yarn store open up in our downtown. The lady who owns it has a trust fund for a backup, but talking to her friends it has really become a fairly profitable business with multiple knitting circles a week.

My mom took all of the scrap quilt pieces from my grandmother and had them made into teddy bears for kids and grandkids. They were cute.
 
There's actually a longstanding tradition of sailors knowing how to sew. Back in the days of wooden ships you needed lots of hands skilled in the art of sailmaking and sail repair. Many sailors upon leaving active service would set themselves up on shore as tailors.
 
I can shoot, field dress, process, and cook several different small and large game animals over an open fire pit. Does that count?
 
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