PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook
Please note – this is non-fiction!
This sewing machine reminds me of the one in my grandma’s room in China. I’ve only seen her use it once and I remember feeling curious. It looked fun the way she’d turned the wheel and operated the pedal as the needle bobbed rhythmically and stitches appeared on the fabric like magic. Of course, I wanted to learn but she wouldn’t teach me. Something about me being clumsy.
Stubborn as always, I took a chance in 10th grade and signed up for Home Economics, seizing the opportunity to learn to sew on a modern sewing machine with a built-in computer.
(100 words)
Each week, Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple hosts Friday Fictioneers where we’re challenged to write a piece of flash fiction in 100 words, more or less, based on the picture above.
My mum had a sewing machine similar to this one. It was a Singer made in Scotland. She sewed and knitted most of our clothes. Sadly, she died at 42 when I was just 14. This post reminded me of her great gift for sewing.
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Glad you can relate to this. I’m not sure what brand was my grandma’s sewing machine but I hope she kept it. Thank you for reading. 🙂
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Neat story Yinglan. My Aunt Josie had a similar machine. And my Mom sewed her clothes growing up, her and her sister I think. They learned in home economics as well. My Mom was good and her family didn’t have much money growing up. So fabric was cheaper and you could make a dress, suit, bathing suit etc to fit you perfectly. She even sewed for my brothers and I when we were in grade one and two, before she worked about half-time.
Thanks for sharing your memories.
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Thanks. That’s cool. Your family must had very unique fashion. Everything you wear would had been one-of-a-kind. It must had been nice too, having clothes that fit perfectly. There’s always some part that didn’t fit quite right with the clothes from the store.
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As older kids, we wore the same as everyone else. But when you’re younger, you don’t think about it. It was nice to have a really warm winter coat and snow pants when it was cold and snowy outside. I was maybe seven or eight and they were in purple. More for my Mom, she had good style and fitted clothes as she sewed in highschool and for her diploma. And things like Suits for church, etc.
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That’s great that your mom has great styles. It’s definitely something a seamstress should have if one were to make clothes, I think.
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Thanks 🙂
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I signed up for home ec once, too. I made one blouse using a sewing machine. It wasn’t very good but I was proud of myself anyway. Sewing is an art! Thanks for sharing your story.
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I wasn’t very good either. I mostly just wanted to learn to operate a sewing machine. I made a pair of boxer shorts and top and bottom pajamas in that class. It was fun. Thank you for reading.
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I learned to sew from my mom, who learned from her mom …. I sewed my own clothes all through high school. A good talent to have. Your story is a great reminder.
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Absolutely, a great talent to have. Thank you for reading.
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My grandmother had one too.
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A lovely snippet.
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Thanks. 🙂
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Kudos to you for not giving up. My mother sewed all my clothes when I was a kid and I hated it. There were no kids patterns around at the time, and the dresses she made were for ladies. The other kids laughed, they had the fancy brand names clothes… Much later I laughed about it and learned to sew. I’m not very good, but I can do stuff if I have to. We didn’t have home economics at school.
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That’s good that you learned to sew. It’s a good skill to have. Thank you for reading. 🙂
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the sewing machine had always fascinated me as a kid, great you found a way out
http://obliqview.blogspot.in/2016/09/superstition-dont-ever-dispose-ofthis.html
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🙂
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