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As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, in addition to writing I started a small craft business a couple of years ago as a way to supplement my retirement income. I knit, crochet, create hand-painted or stenciled greeting cards, make a variety of silk flower table/buffet decorations, and of course, I do quite a bit of sewing. I take the items I create to farmers markets, craft fairs, holiday fairs, etc. Stuffing it all in my car along with my bulky display tables and a canopy is an art form unto itself.
I recently had a long day at the sewing machine and my neck and shoulders were killing me. I looked at the clock and it was 7 p.m. I had started about 5:30 a.m. While putting my day’s work away and turning everything off here in my little office/craft room I started thinking about women all over the world doing the very same thing. In developing nations it’s for their actual survival, not like my supplement to a modest pension. Once this shared camaraderie crept into my mind I couldn’t shake it. I started thinking about those women and, in particular, my grandmother, who at times in her life used her skill at sewing to provide herself and her children with a living. I know men also sew but they can write their own blogs.
My son and I watch lots of foreign films, subtitled, not dubbed. Many are historical fiction, some substantially fact-based. Others are modern treatments of cultural issues confronting developing nations. Some are funny, some sad, and some take our breath away. For us, it’s our way of traveling and learning about other cultures, which is something we have always loved. In fact, we are in the process of planning a great trip to the land of some of our ancestors: Portugal.
Quite often when viewing foreign films, somewhere in the background or even on prominent display, we see a sewing machine. Sometimes it’s important to the story as a sole means of income for the mother of the home. In one film we watched a few years ago the single parent mom lived in government housing with her (disturbed) teen children. Though the fact that she sewed for a living was mentioned it was only part of the story to explore the circumstances of the family. In one scene she was excited that her social worker approved a voucher for a new machine. Her old machine required constant expensive repairs and she had waited for years to be eligible for a newer model.
In another movie the women sat around in the evenings after working in the fields all day, and after maintaining their homes, then began their hand sewing. Some of the sewing was for their own purposes which consisted of mending worn clothing. At one point one of the women said she would not be able to mend the shirt much longer. It was now primarily made of only mended sections and they all laughed.
Ever mend a sock? Probably not. You can buy a bag at Wal-Mart for a few dollars so why mend them. At one time, women mended socks. I tried to mend socks and learned very quickly that if you do not mend the sock very carefully and correctly, the mended portion brings great pain to the wearer. A bulky, poorly constructed mend will grind into the foot like a railroad spike after a while. These women knew that. They made painless mends. (Unless they had an issue with their husbands. Wonder how many men examined their socks after fighting with their wives.)
Mending clothing is an art. Women who did this, or are still doing this, have learned how to make the tiniest most unobtrusive stitches. Pride in workmanship is key to the maintenance of their family’s clothing longevity. However, there is often a basket in these films filled with new materials to be worked on for income, often ordered by the people in the village or town or perhaps for a larger and more complex enterprise based on a cottage industry.
In some cultures sewing is the only means of support for a family. Often sewn items are sold at souvenir stands and are crafted by indigenous people (quilts, shirts, decorative dresses and much more). We buy goods made by developing countries on industrial machines in factories (run by children and women for pennies a day) but cottage industry goods are gathered together by a distributor of sorts and sent to a packing company, a shipping method is contracted, and eventually the items are shipped around the world. Almost everyone makes a good chunk and when it finally gets to retail the prices are given a high profit margin and sold to customers in industrialized countries. The women who make the items typically make the least but they need the tiny sums to keep their families going.
There are many other handmade items created by millions of women throughout the world. In some areas without electricity sewing machines are driven by foot power. I’m sure we all remember those old foot treadle machines our grandmothers and great grandmothers used. My grandmother had one and I loved it. In one documentary I watched years ago a young boy pedaled a bike on a stand that was cleverly attached to his mother’s sewing machine. Pedal power! But the best part was that the bike was then taken off the stand and the boy loaded his back with his mother’s labor and pedaled off to town, miles away, where trucks were waiting for the local women and their items.
My grandmother had a fourth grade education. She left school early to help her mother care for their very large family. By the time my grandmother grew up she was an expert at food preparation, sewing, crocheting and managing life without help or a husband. She had a husband but it didn’t work out well, so she raised two kids by herself using her wits and talents. That was in the ‘20s, if you can imagine. Sometimes she worked as a cook for large affluent families. Sometimes she worked in a cannery processing foods. And quite often she was a professional seamstress. She was not, nor was my mother, a member of the June Cleaver Club. The women in my family worked. The term “stay at home mom” was unheard of in my socio-economic community.
My grandmother loved to look at fashion magazines. She would pick out two or three dresses she liked then simply make them! My youth wardrobe was probably 40% handcrafted by my grandmother. I would pick out the school clothes I wanted for the year from magazines and she would make them. When I was very young she thought it was important that I learned how to use a sewing machine. She once told me, “You never know when you might need to make a living if you have trouble with your husband.” How prophetic.
I was an only child and a girl. My dad was one of those men who could build anything and knew everything about how things work. He had a love of machines and passed it on to me. He also taught me how to use tools and how to study the way things work. I therefore loved the sewing machine just as today I love the computer. I love my computer and I spend quite a bit of time on it every day creating amazing things. I use every single aspect of a computer and learn new things with great joy. I recently partitioned my hard drive. Not your typical every-day user.
So the sewing machine was all that to me way back then. And I became proficient at it. When I got married my grandmother bought me a Deluxe machine, a Kenmore. When we bought it, for $25 including all the attachments and a snappy carrying case, it was already 30 years old. She examined many machines in a large sewing machine store in downtown Detroit where I was living at the time. It was her opinion that I was in danger because I did not have a sewing machine. As stated above, I was married and did not have a fall-back profession.
My grandmother was a world-class shopper. She could spend hours just looking at notions in Woolworth’s and never get tired. We used to beg her to take a break so we could have lunch. She would look at everything and touch everything and we’d be gone for hours. When we got home she would take her purchased item, usually a spool of thread, put it away, and start dinner. So our time at the sewing machine store was lengthy. She tried them all. Except the ugly ones. It had to be functional but it had to look nice. After all, she explained, it would be sitting out for everyone to see.
When she got to the 30-year-old Deluxe Kenmore, with attachments and carrying case, she commented that the previous owner had used it a lot and was very careful with it. She closely examined the case, the attachments, and when she lifted the metal top of the machine (they were made with metal attachments too) she noted there was no dust inside the unit. The machine was threaded and had cloth in place under the presser foot for sample sewing and she tried it out quite thoroughly. Finally, she announced it was “the one.” That was in 1967.
During the entire time I used this machine, which I used constantly, it required only one repair. However, in 2007 it finally gave out. [For the math impaired it was 30 years old when I bought it and I had it for 40 years. That’s 70 years. Do you have anything you are still using that is that old? If so, kiss it good night and make sure you keep it oiled.]
The demise of the Kenmore had been coming for a long time but I was told that it would be cheaper to buy a new one than repair it. It was not easy giving it up. (I still have it tucked safely away in a closet.) With that old Deluxe Kenmore machine I made dresses, pants, fancy jackets, prom dresses, curtains, draperies, slipcovers, placemats, napkins, quilts, clothing for over-sized pregnant friends, and clothes for the kids. When the kids were little I made Halloween costumes they wore each year. I was horrified when my pre-teen daughter wanted to make a costume of assorted items she and her friends found in their respective homes. They ended up looking like hookers. I hope that was unintentional but I just don’t know.
I once made Cinderella’s ballgown from the Disney film. My daughter had the matching Disney book and we studied the photo of Cinderella, as her birds and fairy godmother dressed her, and I made the dress. Exactly. I once made my son a gorilla suit from the neck down. We purchased a gorilla mask. I think he was King Kong, a family favorite. Sewing on thick fake fur is more difficult than ballgown material.
Though I was sad my beloved machine was on its way to oblivion, I knew computerized machines were out there and I admitted to myself I’d love one. I was shocked at the cost of the machines then realized they were actually computers but with intricate moving parts. What did I expect? $25? So I bought a mid-ranged model, a Brother, and I’m very happy with it. It’s all plastic so I don’t know if it will go for 30 years, but I don’t know if I will go for 30 years.
It is not the machine of developing nations and I know it. I appreciate that I have it and that it is providing me with a little extra income. I admire those women out there in the world who use their machines for so much more than a supplement. And I know what machines they are using. Some women and children (and men and boys) are using heavy-duty industrial machines and some are not safe and do not have safety features. A quick review online the other day brought forth sad articles about nasty injuries and worse in sweatshops and factories. I presume this may also happen in the homes where sewing is also done for a living. Some machines are very powerful so that they can sew through thick materials such as leather, canvas, denim, and plastics. Even shoes and boots are sewn on machines.
Throughout my life I have rarely met other women who sew. Some do in my age group but younger women are not sewing as much. Those who do crafts or are in fashion of course learn to sew but the average woman I’ve met throughout my life never learned to sew.
Many people do not know how to knit or crochet or embroider or any of the old hand crafts. In some cases it’s the competition between activities that has taken women away from needle arts and crafts. Physical activities, long commutes, computer applications, TV, and a myriad of more things to do in our modern world. Sewing used to be an outlet for women to express their creativity but now there are countless ways for us to express ourselves.
I taught my daughter how to sew, crochet and knit. She knows her way around a sewing machine and can make a garment from scratch using a pattern. We made a glorious prom gown together. The theme of the prom was Phantom of the Opera and we made a spectacular ballgown complete with a hoop underskirt.
The point of all this is, it feels good to take a piece of formless fabric which is folded into a small, flat square when you leave the fabric store, and then turn it into a ballgown or a gorilla suit. It’s often overwhelming when the project is done and you see your child standing there in his or her glory parading around in something you made with a needle and thread, and an aging 30-year-old Deluxe Kenmore sewing machine with all the attachments and a snappy carrying case.
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