My sister reminded me of something the other day…..that we used to have an “crafts” room in our house growing up. It was a designated room where my mother kept her sewing machine and all the other projects she was working on. It was overflowing with silk flowers, fabric, thread, craft paints etc……and none of it was ever off limits. We were allowed to go through any of my mother’s things and use whatever we wanted…..it made us fearless when it came to creating.
Growing up my mother was always making drapes, comforters, pillows, and flower arrangements for our house. I can picture her repainting the kitchen cabinets, weeding 2 acres of landscaping by herself, and sewing clothes for us. She was super woman….and I wanted to be just like her:
She would illustrate everything from handwritten notes and cards to my baby book with little characters. She still to this day sends letters and cards with little cartoons drawn inside them. She draws little cartoon stories with Boo when she comes to visit.
I wasn’t always thrilled about clothing items she made me (that’s me in the center, my sister is on the left, my brother is pretending to be a robot…eek)…but I can appreciate the handmade love put into them.
Who has influenced your creativity?
Thank you for such a personal insight into your life..I too like you got my creativity from my mom and like you believe it goes much deeper…on so many levels..I ran a succesful dance studio while I still lived in California, I learned how to dance from my grandmother…I attribute so much of my "craftiness" to my mom and grandma, I only hope I can pass it all down to my Sadie…thanks again for this wonderful post! trisha
I love this post!!
My mom was the opposite of yours. we werent allowed to go through her sewing stuff because she was really paticular as to where it went. I started with hand me down fabric from my grandmother and i started making patterns when i was about 14. haven't really kept up with it but it sure was fun making my own clothes from vintage fabric in HS.
What a beautiful post. I hope I can be like that with my daughter someday. Right now she is only a year old and just enjoys taking my sewing things back and putting them back in. It's a good game, but maybe someday we can do more than that together. I'm going to remember this, so that I don't hold her back from anything. My mother worked a lot of jobs to keep the family going while my dad went to college again after we came to the US, but my grandmother was the same way and let us use all of her craft supplies to create.
My Nana! She gave me full access to her giant avocado colored sewing machine, her drawer of fabric that was too heavy to open without help, and the most amazing bag of buttons you have ever seen :o)
a gorgeous post!
My grandma is still making clothes for my daughters (her great-grands) and she's 81! She is by far the inspiration for all of my craftiness.
Thanks so much for sharing!
What a heartfelt post. I think that we can't help but absorb the things that take place in our own homes and families. Thankfully, crafting had a prominent role in mine.
My mom!
She taught me to sew when I was 7. Not only did she teach me, but she also taught my older brothers (even though they may not admit it!). She was so patient and she taught me by making the same item as I did–she would do it, then I would watch and do it on my own project.
I can't wait to teach my daughter (17 months)! I have sewn a little with my niece (9), but I insist that she learn from her Grandma–it will make for a special memory.
My mum always says she has NO idea where I got my creativity from, because neither of their families are creative. Well, that's what she says. But my nana was a florist and had her own flower shop (not many woman owned businesses in those days) and my dad's mum created the most gorgeous yemenite jewelry and wedding costumes. Just oodles of silver, gold and stones. My grandfather and my father could literally take two sticks and build anything in the world from it, and my fathers dad could sew anything. So I am guessing it's somewhere in the genes, but can't pinpoint where 🙂
Loving your post ash. xox
Love this post.
… and that hilarious picture of your brother. Too funny!
Genes and osmosis. My grandma had two dressers stuffed with fabric and trims. I spent hours in the room playing with all of them. My adopted mother made amazing mosaics. My biomother makes jewelry. One aunt was a weaver and made shawls. My other aunt does stained glass.
I'm been stingy with my craft stuff but my kids are both quite artistic. Perhaps I should start being a little more generous. Thank you for your story and your inspiration . Your mom sounds pretty amazing.
Great article! My mom and grandmother definitely got me hooked on arts and crafts at an early age. My grandmother never had a room dedicated to her craft, it started as a corner with her supplies and sewing machine and spilled into the rest of the house. (I loved going through her stuff.) There is a great picture (from 1980) of me at age 6 and Nannie holding up dried flower arrangments wreaths as we were setting up for a craft fair. My mom has some hand sewn ornaments and held onto some clothes she made for my sister and I. My mom now has all of Nannie's craft supplies and her sewing machine (much neater and more organized than my grandmother was).
Last summer I was knitting around the campfire with my uncles and they all said that Nannie would be proud! This summer I made all their daughters, my cousins, twirl skirts. (Nannie had 8 kids, 6 were boys, my mom was the oldest girl.)
Now my son loves to work on different projects and I hope my little girl will be able to express her creativity through arts and crafts as well!! (If not, I'll just continue to make skirts and dresses for her 😉
I love all the pictures you shared. BEAUTIFUL. My mom taught me almost everything I know about sewing and crafting. We are lucky to have parents to who encouraged creativity. Thanks for sharing.