Just wondering...
#22
#24
Super Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: England Alton Towers
Posts: 6,673
I can remember my great aunt, finger pressing seams open on the side of her treadle sewing machine. She taught me as well as my mother to sew. Each of 3 sisters were taught different skills. My gran was the cook, her 2 sisters one sewed the other knitted and crocheted.they had few items to help them.
#25
My iron
I herited/spared from the dumpster this little jewel. As I understand, it has a compartment for hot coals. Growing up in a rural area, my relatives gardened in the summer and quilted in winter. I can imagine this being used in winter months fireside.
#29
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 682
The blue iron was heated by using white gas. You had a pump on the tank so it used air pressure to difuse the gas some way. My mom wouldn't let me use this one. But it was sure a improvement from having to heat on the stove.
#30
Super Member
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 4,688
When I was little we lived with my grandma while my dad was overseas. Grandma had a wood stove in the basement and 3 irons that she used to set on it until they were hot and then used them to iron clothes (she did not quilt). I spent a lot of time in the basement helping her when mom was working. I would take an iron off of the stove and bring it to her, then take the cooled one back to the stove -- the irons were so heavy I remember holding them with 2 hands and worrying about dropping them. After a few months she got me a child size ironing board and I got to iron the old handkies using one of those irons -- it was real easy to scorch clothes if the irons got too hot. I was 5-7 at the time -- can't imagine what would happen to me if I let a child do something like that today. She also had a washer that you had to feed the clothes into a wringer to get the water out of the clothes -- I stood on a box and turned the crank since I was too little to reach the wringer.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
cjomomma
General Chit-Chat (non-quilting talk)
43
04-02-2011 06:18 PM