A Thread Through Time

My mom came over on Saturday for a few hours and brought her sewing machine with her. She had come to help me make part of the Halloween costumes for Nina and Lyla, and since I don't own a sewing machine and probably wouldn't know how to make what I needed if I did have one, I was very thankful for her help. After we finished our creations, Nina asked my mom to teach her how to sew. She got a single square of material, and out of it, she created three things for Nina's animals while teaching Nina how to sew. After some instruction, Nina was doing it all by herself. She was moving the bobbin up and down as need be, stitching and backing up her stitches, guiding the material, etc. I couldn't believe it. Being able to create things by sewing is a skill I am pretty much devoid of. When I was a kid, I remember my mom sewing us everything. She made dolls for us and clothes for our dolls, she made bags for us, clothes for us, quilts, curtains, etc. She even made our house a huge rug once. I remember going to the fabric store to pick out patterns of stuff we wanted her to make for us, and she made it.

I watched Nina get so excited while making the little outfits for her animals, and I thought it was something really special she was sharing with my mom. I think the craft of sewing is still mastered by some people in my generation, but it certainly isn't something I think most girls in my generation know how to do well, but I think it's something in my mom's generation that they all knew how to do very well. Judging from the things my mom made when we were kids, and judging from the beautiful hand made quilts and blankets Mark's mom made both of our girls when they were born, and other things that I remember my mom's friends making, or things that my sister's mother-in-law makes now, I know those women had a lot of skills that my friends and I don't have now. However, thankfully, in my case, my mom and her sewing machine are just a call away, so I got help with my girls' costumes, and Nina got a great sewing lessen and three items for her little friends.

Her first item of business was making a dress for Froggy.
Then they made a cape for Itsy, her spider (and a matching cape for Lyla's spider).
Then they made a hysterical evening gown style dress for Lizard (the picture didn't load, so I'll have to go back and try again), and then they added some embellishments for each and a bow for Froggy's dress. It was very cute!