acjacques

My mother was a professional seamstress and I learned from her. In school we learned to knit, crochet, and anything else that girls are supposed to learn to be better 'housewives'. When I got married and came to the US my DH's grandmother taught me how to make patchwork quilts, that was 42 years ago and I have been quilting since, between those years of raising children, getting a career and trying to establish other business.
Luckily my DH supports my passion for quilting, and hopefully when he retires he'd help me make some more.

pittsburgpam

One of my grandmothers taught me to knit and the other taught me to crochet when I was very young, don't remember what age. The one who taught me to crochet also made quilts. My mother didn't sew very much but my older (by 10 years) sister sewed and made her own clothes. I remember making a dress in home ec class and then we all had a fashion show.

I didn't start quilting until my kids were very small, at least 20 years ago. I just love creating things.

mosquitosewgirl

I don't remember ever not sewing...my grandmother's both sewed (both of them step-grandmas), one of them a professional tailor. I learned first on her treadle, then on the motorized version. My mom sewed and made all of our clothes. When I was eleven she had what they would have called a nervous breakdown that lasted almost a year. So, I took over the sewing. Over the years life has sometimes gotten in the way, but I've always had a sewing machine and the knowledge that I could use it any time I wanted. I'm now trying to learn to give myself permission to spend time with all of the arts I do, especially quilting...

Victoria L

Wonderful stories.....thanks for sharing.
I can remember having a plastic needle and the cardboard sewing cards. Then my mom bought me a sampler and I learned to embroider ...and from that to make doll clothes. My mom taught me to crochet also. My dad's grandmother sewed and quilted, in fact she taught him, and made everyone help quilt once she had the top pieced. Dad helped me with the sewing machine.Later I made clothes for my daughter and sons. I learned to cross stitch and did that for years making many gifts. I have only a few things for myself. I started buying fabric from the clearence tables in hope of one day making a quilt. Started out on little projects. Now I am quilting and loving it.

such a sew and sew

I was about 8 when my grandmother taught me how to hand embroider on flour sack towels. My mother always sewed on the machine for us four children. When I was about 11 she started me cutting out patterns for her. Soon I was sewing however she said I didn't like to follow the directions. So in 7th grade I took homemaking class. Unfortunatly I was kicked out of the class. First project was to make a gym bag. Was suppose to take 6 weeks. I took it home and finished it that night, the teacher accused me of having my mother sew it. Then for the test of threading the machine, I showed all the kids the secret sewing guide on the inside cover of the machine, that was the last straw, she kicked me out. My mother continued to make me sew while my brothers were playing baseball. I was mad. It wasn't till I had my own daughter at age 20 that I took it seriously. The rest is history.

Fab-ra-holic

I don't know where my passion came from. My mother couldn't sew for anything. My father, on the other hand, was a master of all trades. He dabbled in sewing a little, mostly mending socks, but I always contribute my talents and skills to him. He was very gifted and I feel I have been blessed with, somewhat, of a talent.

kwilter

My dear grandfather come to the US from Czechoslovakia as a young man with wife and 2-yr. old child. He was a tailor and they gave him his heavy-duty s.m. when he retired. However, my grandmother had a treadle Wheeler-White s.m. on which I watched my mom sew. Then I did sew on it too, making most of my high school clothes in the early '50s. My daughter now has it (in a closet-she does not sew) and I'm going to ask for it back..too many memories to be in a closet!

:?

clem55

All wonderful stories, and reading them you realize that for most of us, it is a built in desire and love. I can remember sewing hems on feedsacks on my grandma's treadle when I could barely reach the treadle. My mom made all our clothing, and recycled from one child to another. I never cared about knitting or crochet, but mom and grandma did a lot of crochet work and embroidery. Back then, if you wanted something nice and pretty for your self or your home, you made it. Learned a little about embroidery basics as a kid. In 5th grade we girls had to take a cooking and sewing class. Sewing was first, we had to make an apron , a potholder, and headband to use in our cooking class. That is really when I fell in love with sewing( hatrd cooking!) In 7th grade we had to make a dress, and I was so proud of mine. On the other hand, I begged for a store bought skirt and sweater that same year. The first store bought clothes I ever had. From then on I made almost all my own clothing, especially wool skirts for winter and full summery skirts. I learned real fast I could have a lot more if I made them!! I hated making buttonholes, so mom did those for me. None of my sisters cared about sewing, but they liked me to sew for them. When my daughter was born, I started sewing for her, and I made all her clothing and mine after that. still love sewing, it is a very important part of my life. I made an embroidered quilt for my first, I was about 26. It seemed to take forever! Then a few years after that, I got an ad for a lap quilting book, and I was hooked. I would spend hours planning out patterns on graph paper, figuring down to the inch how much fabric I needed for each thing. I didn't even know you could buy patterns, so every time I saw a quilt in a magazine that I thought was pretty, I would start about making my own pattern of it. Made lots of patterns, but only a few quilts. LOL gave up doing that when the grand children came along, went back to clothes for first GD when she was born, and now that I'm not doing much clothing anymore, I decided to get back to quilting, got hooked on this QB, and if I don't stay off the PC I'll never get anything done except bookmarking ones I see and love!!

Quilter2B

I learned to sew in my 7th grade Home Ec class (yep, back then in the 60s when you had to take it in grade school); learned to crochet in my Freshman biology class (no it was not on the class curriculum), tried to teach myself knitting but could never cast on without having a big loop at the end of the first row; hooked rugs and did some needlepoint in my early 20s, caught cross-stitch fever about 15 years ago and now that I think about it I made my first "quilt" when I was 17 (back then I thought it was just sewing) but really never got into quilting until six years ago.

jbj137

I think I was born sewing.
J J