I'm going through the trunk at the foot of my bed and I'm finding the outfits I used to bring the kids home from the hospital (my oldest baby turns 22 today), and bits of yarn and fabric meant for that project 'some day.' And then I came across this tea towel. I'm going to make you date yourself because it would be fun to know, do any of you have any relics like this in a closet from your childhood?When my mother was little, little girls were taught to embroider and you were to learn to edge handkerchiefs and make tea towels and dresser runners for your home. So when I was a little girl, she taught me how to embroider as well and I always had a dresser runner on my dresser in my bedroom. I know I was very proud of myself for making all of those French knots! You can see them in the closeup, on the bonnet and in the skirt and on the flowers. I don't remember the names of the variety of stitches I learned, I haven't embroidered in years. And I never use this for real tea, I just put the cup there for reference!
When my girls were young I was a single mom and didn't have spare time to teach them these types of things. A while ago this was all still considered so old fashioned. The schools dropped classes like sewing and home ec long before any economic downturn. This summer though, my high school senior wants me to teach her how to quilt. Her sister will be home from college too and I think we'll do it together. I'm really looking forward to it. I've seen a huge resurgence in crafts and creating the past ten years and it is beautiful to see the lovely things on blogs all over the web.
But question time now . . . how many of you were taught to embroider when you were small? And do you have any pics of what you made that you can share with the rest of us? :) I'd love to see it!
